OnTap Magazine

54 | Spring 2024 | ontapmag.co.za BREWING WITH SORGHUM You can expect the flavour of this excellent grain to be slightly grainy, bready, nutty as well as some earthiness. In my experimentation, I have found that it adds to the maltiness of the mouthfeel. WHERE TO GET SORGHUM? Probably the most important thing to think about when wanting to brew with Sorghum is where to get it. As much as this is an African cereal, it is not always the easiest to find. If you know someone who stays in the township areas, you can maybe ask them to bring you a few kilos from their local supermarket. Unfortunately, none of the homebrew shops currently stock it, hopefully with more interest and increased demand, this will lead to increased supply. The most commercially available brands are King Korn and Umoja, which you can find in grocery stores. Personally, I don’t have much of a preference between the two and highly recommend either based on availability. WHICH BEER STYLE TO BREW? The percentage of sorghum you want in the grain bill will influence your choice of beer style. *Disclaimer, I also haven’t brewed enough with sorghum to say which beer styles it will suit best, or what it might not work on. I hope as we get more brewers brewing with the grain at varying levels, we will start to gather the necessary information to help us understand the grain better, as well as its place in South African brewed beers I have brewed the Tolokazi Sorghum Pilsner with 15% grain bill as Sorghum and the Tolokazi African Pale Ale at 20%. I understand the Ukhamba Beerworx uses 35% sorghum. I have previously done some work at Kweza Craft brewery in Rwanda that uses up 80% sorghum in all their beers which can range in styles, such as Golden ale, Pale ale, IPA, Amber ale and more. I think choosing the style to brew and the percentage of Sorghum is still up to the industry to play around with and for us to see what works best. MILLING Personally, I buy the commercially available Sorghum which has been pre-milled. I have been generally happy with how it is milled and must say the grain has become cleaner in recent years with fewer sticks and other foreign matters in the packs. If you happen topurchase unmilledgrain, remember Sorghum is amuch smaller grain in size compared to barley. Check your mill gaps and adjust accordingly otherwise the grain will just pass through uncrushed. MASHING I have not done any work around water profiles specifically for sorghum and still use the overall water profile as per base beer style. If you want to extract the fermentable sugars from the sorghum you will have to ensure it is gelatinized before mixing with barley mash. Sorghum has a higher gelatinisation temperature (~75-80°C) compare to Barley (~60-63°C). I mix the Sorghum in boiling water and let it stand for 15-20 minutes and then add onto the barley mash. LAUTERING If you are using sorghum at more than 50% of the grain bill, I would highly recommend the use of rice hulls to aid with the lautering process, otherwise you are definitely going to get a stuck mash. BOILING I boil for the recommended 1-hour boil for the various beer styles and when Pilsner malt is used or Sorghum is over 50%, I would recommend a 90 minutes boil. For my beers I have been using more noble hops that give earthy notes, I think these complement the grainy, earthy character of Sorghum well. Once again, I have not fully experimented with this and it is required for more brewers to play around with different hop combinations with the sorghum. WHIRLPOOL Depending on which sorghum malt brand you use and what percentage of the grain bill, you may find that your wort is more “mucky” or “muddy” than normal. I would highly recommend the use of kettle finishings and ensure more efficient trub removal. FERMENTATION I also haven’t experimented much with yeast types to use that are complimentary to sorghum grain. This is another area that needs further exploration. FILTRATION I have kept my beer slightly cloudy to showcase the use of sorghum. The traditional versions are typically “muckier” still with some suspended solids. By not filtering it allows a bit of that character to be carried through into the modern version as well. Brewers could also look at filtering their beers, this is perfectly fine as well. For me it goes back to the brewer’s preferences and the beer style she or he is trying to brew. I hope these tips were useful and helps you get started on the journey of exploring sorghum as an ingredient in your beers. Happy brewing!