How to brew sorghum beer at home using simple ingredients

How to brew sorghum beer at home using simple ingredients

Brew sorghum beer at home: As alcohol ban continues in this lock down, access to booze remains illegal and lands you a jail time. Here is a simple recipe to brew your own sorghum beer using everyday ingredients

BREW SORGHUM BEER (UMQOMBOTHI)

The major and key ingredients in this recipe are sorghum, water and mealie meal these can be bought in local shops or are readily available at home.

Before starting it is essential to ensure you have the right equipment to manage a large volume of beer. If not, consider halving the recipe. This will minimize spillage costs.

Makes: 10 litres of sorghum beer

What you’ll need:

20 litre plastic container or bucket, well washed

20 litre saucepan

Large dishcloth

Large conical sieve

5 x 2 litre cooldrink bottles with lids, well washed and sanitized

Ingredients:

6kg mtombo (sorghum) 

3kg mealie meal

5 litres boiling water

6 litres cold water

How to brew sorghum beer

1. Mix half the sorghum with the mealie meal and add the boiling water. Leave to cool.
2. Stir in another 1kg of the sorghum. Allow to stand overnight.
3. The next day place the mixture in a large saucepan, add 3 litres of cold water, bring to the boil and boil for an hour. Leave to cool.
4. Place mixture in a large bucket and add the remaining 2kg sorghum. Add the remaining 3 litres of cold water and mix well. 
5. Cover mixture with a damp cloth and allow to stand for at least 12 hours to brew. For a stronger brew leave it for a further 12 hours.
6. Strain the mixture well through the sieve, making sure all the liquid is pressed out. Pour into the cooldrink bottles; don’t seal the bottles too tightly*.
7. Serve cold.

Related: Recipe: How to make Redd’s cider at home

Please note that fermentation attracts flies, leave the containers covered to minimize the risk of being spoiled by houseflies. Fermentation also builds up pressure in containers. It is of paramount importance to leave container lids a bit lose to allow controlled flow of air. Pressurized sorghum beer containers possess a threat to humans as lids have the ability to pop out and cause injuries. Exercise caution when opening.