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Fermentation Atlas

Alcoholic drinks

African opaque sorghum beers (catalogue)

Made in 4 steps over 2 days. The longest step, mix maize meal and malts with warm water and leave to sour, takes 24 h and runs at 25–30 °C.

Key numbers
Main step24 hMeasured[xolo2024][hlangwani2023]Mix maize meal and malts with warm water and leave to sour
Temperature25–30 °CMeasured[xolo2024][hlangwani2023]Mix maize meal and malts with warm water and leave to sour
AciditypH 3.5Measured[xolo2024]Strain

What makes this one different

All share malting, lactic souring and a short yeast fermentation, and are drunk while still fermenting. Sorghum starch gelatinises at 67–81 °C (barley 51–60 °C), which is why the grist is boiled. The beer is drunk within 24–72 h.

Alcohol
2–4.5 % v/v
pH
pH 3.3–4; lactic acid about 0.26 %; suspended solids 5–7 %
Fermentation
10–24 h at ambient temperature (a barley lager takes 8–15 days at 10–16 °C)
Shelf life
24–72 h; spoils within about 3 days in summer and 5 in winter
Malting
Steeped to 42–48 % moisture over 18–22 h at 30 °C; germinated 3–7 days at 25–30 °C; kilned at 55 then 65 °C; malting loss about 20 %

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedWhat goes in. No source gives amounts for this ferment.

Total time across the recorded steps: 2 days

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
StarchSugarAlcoholCO₂25–30 °CpH 6 → 3.33shapes, not to countLactic acid bacteria

What changes: Maize meal and malt soak in warm water and lactic bacteria sour them

Step 1 of 4 · steps of Umqombothi (Xhosa/Zulu maize-sorghum beer)
Mix maize meal and malts with warm water and leave to sour
Time
24 h
Measured
Temperature
25–30 °C
Measured
Salt
None given
Acidity
pH 6 → 3.33
Measured
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria
Yeasts
Moulds

Output: sour mash that separates into liquid and solids.

Flavour
turns sour
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

lactic bacteria from the grain and malt sour the mash

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

Variants

  • Pito (northern Ghana, Nigeria, Burkina)sorghum/millet malt mashed, decanted, boiled, then fermented with yeast from previous brew; Geotrichum candidum, Lactobacillus, Candida reported [TAMANG2016]; Nandom/Dagarti/Kokomba styles (reported). Now a full entry.
  • Dolo (Burkina Faso, Mali)red sorghum malt; overnight fermentation with dried yeast cakes or back-slop (reported). Now a full entry.
  • Tchoukoutou (Benin, Togo)sorghum malt beer, malting-based [TAMANG2016]. Now a full entry.
  • Burukutu (Nigeria, Ghana)guinea-corn (sorghum) malt + gari/cassava, dregs back-slop (WP caption; reported)
  • Merisa (Sudan)sorghum: 'surij' charred malt-dough stage + 'deboba' sour starter, multi-step (reported; verify). Now a full entry.
  • Bilibili (Chad)red sorghum beer (reported). Now a full entry.
  • Ikigage (Rwanda)sorghum beer [TAMANG2016]. Now a full entry.
  • Bushera (Uganda)germinated sorghum/millet; non-alcoholic to alcoholic depending on age [TAMANG2016]
  • Chibuku (Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Botswana)industrial opaque sorghum/maize beer sold actively fermenting in cartons ('shake shake') (typical); listed under doro-zimbabwe.
  • Oshikundu (Namibia)pearl-millet (mahangu) bran + flour, low alcohol, one-day ferment (reported)
  • Omalovu giilya (Namibia)sorghum beer fermented in gourds (WP Sorghum beer caption)
  • Malwa (Uganda)Finger-millet drink of Uganda (Hawaz et al. 2025); now a full entry, malwa-uganda.
  • Busaa (Kenya)maize/sorghum/millet; S. cerevisiae, Schizosaccharomyces pombe, Lb. plantarum, Lb. helveticus [TAMANG2016]; distilled into chang'aa
  • Pombe / mtama (East Africa)generic Swahili for millet/sorghum beer (reported)
  • Amgba (Cameroon)sorghum beer (reported). Now a full entry.

Made the african opaque sorghum beers way

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

  1. [tamang2016] Tamang, Watanabe, Holzapfel, "Review: Diversity of Microorganisms in Global Fermented Foods and Beverages", Front. Microbiol. 7:377, 2016paper
  2. [wp-sorghum-beer] Wikipedia, Sorghum beer (outline only)wiki
  3. [lyumugabe2012] Lyumugabe F., Gros J., Nzungize J., Bajyana E., Thonart P. 2012, Characteristics of African traditional beers brewed with sorghum malt: a review, BASE 16(4):509–530paper
  4. [hawaz2025] Hawaz H., Bottari B., Scazzina F., Carini E. 2025, Eastern African traditional fermented foods and beverages, Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safetypaper