
Stella Artois is a pilsner originating
from Leuven, Belgium.
(Image: Stella Artois)
Media personality and socialite,
Kuli Roberts, will be one of the
judges for the South African search
for the ultimate draught-pourer.
Image: DSTV)
MEDIA CONTACTS
• Ryan Bayliss-Lane
Stella Artois – Brand Manager DGB
+27 11 653 1000
Ray Maota
South Africans who believe they can pour the perfect Stella Artois draught stand a chance of participating in the 15th Stella Artois World Draught Master Champs in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on 26 October 2011.
This is the first year South Africa is competing in the event.
Stella Artois is a pilsner originating from Leuven, Belgium. Stella means star in Latin, while Artois refers to the family name of Sebastianus Artois, a master brewer at the Leuven brewery in the early 1700s.
Participants needn’t be beer experts – they simply have to be over the age of 21 and enter their details on the Stella Artois website.
Although the minimum legal drinking age is 18 in South Africa, the winner of the world champs will have to travel to other countries where the minimum age is 21.
The top eight local entrants will be announced on 30 September and will take part in a showdown on 6 October to determine the best draught-pourer in the group. The winner will then represent South Africa at the Buenos Aires finals.
Ryan Bayliss-Lane, brand manager at DGB, said: “The company is looking forward to seeing aspiring South African champions step up to the plate. Pouring the perfect draught is an art and we’re hoping to see some excellent competitors.
“Who knows, we might just have a South African World Draught Master this year.”
DGB is the South African distributor of Stella Artois.
The final round of the South African competition will be judged by Kuli Roberts, socialite and media personality; the Naked DJ, a radio personality; singer Ross Learmonth of rock group Prime Circle; and Cameron van den Bergh, a South African swimming champion.
The master of the South African round will win an all-expenses paid trip to the contest in Argentina. He or she will also be crowned the South African champion draught-pourer and take home a Stella Artois hamper.
Pouring the perfect draught
Stella Artois recommends following a “nine-step ritual” to pour the perfect draught.
These steps, including technique and presentation, will be used in judging the entrants for the South African leg as well as those in the international championship.
The steps are the purification, which is the use of a clean and branded glass; the sacrifice, which is letting the first drop from the tap drip; liquid alchemy, which is holding the glass at a 45° angle under the tap without touching the tap; the crown, which is the lowering of the glass to allow the formation of foam; and the removal, which is moving the glass away from the tap.
The final four steps involve the beheading, which is the cutting of the foam build-up; the cleansing of the glass; the judgement, which is checking that the size of the foam build-up is two fingers; and the bestowal, which is the presentation of the beer on a coaster, with the logo facing the consumer.
Worldwide zythology campaign
The competition, now in its 15th year, honours those who have perfected the nine-step-ritual, which preserves and enhances the pilsner’s aroma and flavours.
The overall winner will become the Stella Artois Ambassador throughout the world, travelling back to Argentina, and to Russia, Australia, China, the US, Canada, Ireland, Brazil, the UK and Belgium.
The champion will be schooled in zythology, which is the study of beer and the beer-making process, and will teach this and the art of the perfect pour in all the countries listed above.