Tusker is a

beer Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from ce ...

brand owned by

East African Breweries East African Breweries Limited, commonly referred to as EABL, is a Kenyan-based holding company that manufactures branded beer, spirits, and non-alcoholic beverages. Overview The group's headquarters are located in Nairobi, Kenya, with subsi ...

, with over 700,000

hectolitre The litre (international spelling) or liter (American English spelling) (SI symbols L and l, other symbol used: ℓ) is a metric unit of volume. It is equal to 1 cubic decimetre (dm3), 1000 cubic centimetres (cm3) or 0.001 cubic metre (m3). ...

s being sold in

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

per year. It is also the largest African beer brand in the

Diageo Diageo plc () is a multinational alcoholic beverage company, with its headquarters in London, England. It operates from 132 sites around the world. It was the world's largest distiller before being overtaken by Kweichow Moutai of China in 201 ...

group. It is a 4.2%

ABV Alcohol by volume (abbreviated as ABV, abv, or alc/vol) is a standard measure of how much alcohol (ethanol) is contained in a given volume of an alcoholic beverage (expressed as a volume percent). It is defined as the number of millilitres (mL) o ...

pale lager Pale lager is a very pale-to- golden-colored lager beer with a well- attenuated body and a varying degree of noble hop bitterness. The brewing process for this beer developed in the mid-19th century, when Gabriel Sedlmayr took pale ale bre ...

. The beer's slogan "''Bia yangu, Nchi yangu''" means "My beer, My country" in

Kiswahili Swahili, also known by its local name , is the native language of the Swahili people, who are found primarily in Tanzania, Kenya and Mozambique (along the East African coast and adjacent litoral islands). It is a Bantu language, though Swahili ...

History

In 1922, Kenya Breweries (now

) was formally incorporated as a

private limited company A private limited company is any type of business entity in "private" ownership used in many jurisdictions, in contrast to a publicly listed company, with some differences from country to country. Examples include the ''LLC'' in the United St ...

. The company's first beer was brewed on 15 December 1922. The first batch was delivered to the

Stanley Hotel The Stanley Hotel is a 140-room Colonial Revival hotel in Estes Park, Colorado, United States, about five miles from the entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park. It was built by Freelan Oscar Stanley, Co-founder of the Stanley Motor Carriage Co ...

, where it was met with mixed reactions. The beer, originally from Kenya, shifted through to

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...

and other countries in the

African Great Lakes The African Great Lakes ( sw, Maziwa Makuu; rw, Ibiyaga bigari) are a series of lakes constituting the part of the Rift Valley lakes in and around the East African Rift. They include Lake Victoria, the second-largest fresh water lake in th ...

region, and soon began to be exported. The company's first annual general meeting was held in 1923. George Hurst, the company's founder, was killed in an

elephant hunting Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae and ...

accident and in his memory, his brother Charles decided to name the first beer brewed "Tusker". In 1929, the company's board moved to use

malted barley Malt is germinated cereal grain that has been dried in a process known as "malting". The grain is made to germinate by soaking in water and is then halted from germinating further by drying with hot air. Malted grain is used to make beer, whi ...

in the beer's production instead of using imported

malt extract Malt is germinated cereal grain that has been dried in a process known as "malting". The grain is made to germinate by soaking in water and is then halted from germinating further by drying with hot air. Malted grain is used to make beer, whi ...

s, significantly improving its taste and colour and saving the company at least £780 (approx. US$1,240 or

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists o ...

985) per year. In 2012, that is approximately £35,400 (approx. US$56,220 or €44,690), assuming an annual

inflation rate In economics, inflation is an increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy. When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services; consequently, inflation corresponds to a reductio ...

of 2% from 2011 onwards. Wooden beer cases were replaced with plastic cases in 1970. In 1987, Central Glass Industries also began producing Tusker bottles for the first time. In early 2008, the UK supermarket chain

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British Multinational corporation, multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues an ...

began selling Tusker, followed soon after by

Sainsbury's J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is the second largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom, with a 14.6% share of UK supermarket sales. Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company ...

Varieties

*''Tusker'', sold in

keg A keg is a small barrel. Wooden kegs made by a cooper were used to transport nails, gunpowder, and a variety of liquids. A keg is normally now constructed of stainless steel, although aluminium can be used if it is coated with plastic on th ...

, widget cans and bottles: 4.2% ABV pale lager *''Tusker'': 5.0% ABV premium lager *''Tusker Lite'': 4.0% ABV lite lager *''Tusker Cider'': 4.5% ABV Apple cider *''Tusker Malt'': 5.0% ABV Pilsner-Lager > The three varieties of Tusker beer are a Gold award-winning products from the World Quality Selections, organized yearly by

Monde Selection Monde Selection is an annual non-competitive award open to food, drinks, and cosmetics products, created in 1961. It is run by the commercial company, International Institute for Quality Selections, Brussels, Belgium. Consumer products are tasted a ...

. The taste and quality have also received recognition at the prestigious

’s International Awards.Product details
, tesco.com

References

External links

Tusker
Brand website
Tusker
at the

website
St. Killian
is the Importer of Tusker to the United States {{Diageo plc Diageo beer brands Beer in Kenya Kenyan brands