OnTap Magazine

starches to sugar – and fermentation seeming to take place in the same pot. Fermentation takes a day or two, depending on the temperature in your home and of course on your personal tastes. Some prefer a grainier, more subtle avour, while other umqombothi connoisseurs like a little more funk to their beer. Although the beer is strained, it’s a rudimentary process and plenty of grain particles remain in suspension when it comes to drinking. And unlike clear beer, drinking time comes quickly. Sorghum beer is sipped when young – it fact, it is best consumed when still actively fermenting. is is why you’ll never see umqombothi in a glass bottle – it’s a guaranteed way to shower your home with shards of glass and pinkish puddles of sour sorghum beer. While umqombothi has always typically been brewed in the home, it is possible to nd commercially brewed versions. United Breweries is the only commercial sorghum beer brewery left in South Africa, producing a range of brands including Chibuku, Ijuba, Leopard Special and Tlokwe. Recipes and avour pro les vary, but one thing that the brews all have in common is the way that they’re packaged. Instead of a glass or even plastic bottle, the beers are served from cartons the like of which are perhaps more familiar as a vessel for fresh milk. e cartons do feature something a milk carton wouldn’t though – a small vent designed to allow CO2 to escape. ose in the know will opt not for a completely clean carton, nor one with dried-on beery residue but a carton with small bubbles of beer emerging from the vent. is one will have reached its peak of fermentation, allowing for a little more sourness and a slightly boozier beverage. Umqombothi is a low alcohol brew though, with ABVs usually only reaching around 3 - 4%, at least in a commercial version. THE ORIGINAL CRAFT When brewed in the home, particularly for a ceremony or special occasion like a wedding or coming-of-age celebration, the beer is traditionally sipped from a communal vessel – at least in the pre-Covid world. e brewer – almost always a woman – will likely have a decorative ukhamba or clay drinking vessel, alongside a range of other traditional paraphernalia, including a woven strainer for lautering. In some rural regions, brewsters y a ag to let villagers know there’s a fresh brew for sale, and thirsty neighbours arrive with containers to take the beer home in. Despite the di erences in appearance, process and avour pro les, umqombothi really has a lot in common with craft beer. It’s often made in small batches by passionate, experienced brewers. It’s about as artisanal as brewing gets, replacing things like thermometers and pH meters with intuition and experience, and relying on natural elements instead of refrigeration or pitching an isolated and perfectly packaged sachet of yeast. It is best drunk as close to source as possible, and if you plan to take it away, the original sour, hazy beer is best transported home in the original growler, whether that’s a clay pot handed down through the generations or a ve-litre water bottle. Just be sure to keep the lid lose so that it doesn’t explode on your way home. 200l & 500l Craft Brewery Systems in Shipping Containers! We also offer: Custom-made Breweries Stainless Steel Tanks & Piping Brewing Accessories Bottle Washers, Fillers & Cappers HAVE YOU ALWAYS WANTED A BREW-PUB OR CRAFT BREWERY? WE HAVE THE ANSWER! Make your brewing dreams come true. Contact us today! tiaan@containabrew.co.za +27 83 461 0801, www.containabrew.co.za