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Fermentation Atlas

Alcoholic drinks from Benin

Tchoukoutou and chakpalo (Benin and Togo sorghum beer)tchoukoutou

Tchoukoutou is an opaque, sour beer brewed at home from red or brown sorghum malt. The malt is mashed, soured overnight by lactic bacteria, boiled for hours and then fermented for about half a day with a dried yeast leaven called kpètè-kpètè. It is drunk while still fermenting, at about pH 3.2 and 4 % alcohol. Made in 7 steps over 5 days – 6.3 days. The longest step, germinate, takes 3–3.5 days (Lyumugabe F 2012). Saccharomyces cerevisiae, almost the only yeast by the end of fermentation and Lactic acid bacteria that sour the mash, and those carried in kpètè-kpètè do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step3–3.5 daysReported[lyumugabe2012]Germinate
AciditypH 3.2Measured[kayode2007]Add kpètè-kpètè and ferment
Fully documentedAlcoholic drinks5 days – 6.3 daysMore alcoholic drinksMore from BeninMore from Togo

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceOne household brew as described from field studies in Benin; brewers measure by eye.
About 27 kgSorghum grain (red or brown varieties) · One household batch; millet or maize can be added or used instead[lyumugabe2012]
Water[lyumugabe2012]
Kpètè-kpètè · The leaven saved from earlier brews, holding yeasts and lactic bacteria[lyumugabe2012][ntcha2017]
Starterbackslop (kpètè-kpètè leaven from earlier brews)

Total time across the recorded steps: 5 days – 6.3 days

Start
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Close-up: water moving into a grain

What changes: Sorghum grain soaks up water

Step 1 of 7
Steep the sorghum
Time
9–12 h
Reported
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Yeasts
Lactic acid bacteria

Output: wet grain.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

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

What makes this one different

Tchoukoutou boils its mash residue and then its wort for hours, souring the mash overnight in between, and is fermented for only about half a day with a dried leaven. Dolo and amgba also boil their wort; East African sorghum beers such as ikigage do not.

Leaven
Kpètè-kpètè, a dried leaven saved from earlier brews (the name used in the Bariba, Denti and Yoruba languages)
Finished beer
Sour, opaque and pink, about pH 3.2 and 4 % alcohol

Related ferments

Variants

  • ChakpaloA clear, sweet, more fluid beer from the same malt.
  • Pasteurised bottled tchoukoutou (trial)3 h of fermentation in the bottle, then 15 min in a 75–80 °C water bath, kept the beer stable for at least six months (Osseyi et al. 2011).

Safety

Like other traditional sorghum beers it is drunk while still fermenting and keeps only about one to three days. In a trial, bottles fermented for 3 h and then pasteurised in a 75–80 °C water bath for 15 min stayed stable for at least six months.

History and sources

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

Tchoukoutou has important social uses in Benin; it is an ancestral drink used in traditional ceremonies, and brewing it gives household income that goes towards family needs and children's schooling.

  1. [lyumugabe2012] Lyumugabe F., Gros J., Nzungize J., Bajyana E., Thonart P. 2012, Characteristics of African traditional beers brewed with sorghum malt, a review, Biotechnologie, Agronomie, Société et Environnement 16(4):509–530 (tchoukoutou section citing Kayodé et al. 2005, 2007 and Osseyi et al. 2011)paper
  2. [kayode2007] Kayodé A.P.P., Hounhouigan D.J., Nout M.J.R., Niehof A. 2007, Household production of sorghum beer in Benin, technological and socio-economic aspects, International Journal of Consumer Studies 31:258–264, doi:10.1111/j.1470-6431.2006.00546.x (abstract)paper
  3. [greppi2013] Greppi A. et al. 2013, Yeast dynamics during spontaneous fermentation of mawè and tchoukoutou, two traditional products from Benin, International Journal of Food Microbiology 165:200–207, doi:10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2013.05.004 (abstract)paper
  4. [ntcha2017] N'tcha C. et al. 2017, Antimicrobial activity and chemical composition of kpètè-kpètè, a starter of Benin traditional beer tchoukoutou, BioMed Research International 2017:6582038, doi:10.1155/2017/6582038paper
  5. [johansen2019] Johansen P.G. et al. 2019, Occurrence and importance of yeasts in indigenous fermented food and beverages produced in sub-Saharan Africa, Frontiers in Microbiology 10:1789, doi:10.3389/fmicb.2019.01789paper