Development of a Novel Lager Beer from Sorghum Malt

Abstract

Pito is a fermented alcoholic beverage from malted sorghum. It has a characteristic sour taste and contains 3-5% alcohol by volume because the production involves a combination of lactic acid and alcoholic fermentations. The product quality is variable because processing methods have remained at the artisanal level. Pito is drunk while still fermenting and has a limited shelf life of 3 to 5 days. This work reports on the production of a novel larger beer, based on standardizing the procedures of pito production according to specifications for malting and brewing.

Sorghum is malted according to standard procedures. The malt is coarse ground, slurried in water (1: 5 ratio) and stood for 60 minutes to settle. The supernatant enzyme-rich liquor is decanted, and the mash is boiled. The supernatant is recombined with the boiled mash and taken through a programmed mashing regime. It is left to sour and filtered, boiled and hopped to a final extract of 12°P. The wort is cooled to 20°C and pitched with brewer’s yeast. After fermentation for 3 days at this temperature, the beer is cooled, filtered and packaged.

The original extract of the sorghum malt was14.0±0.5 ° P and the apparent extract 4.0±0.5°P. The pH of the beer ranged from 3.6-3.9, and it had a color of 15-25 EBC units. The beer bitterness index ranged between 20-24 bitterness units. The alcohol content by volume was 5.0±0.4%. Except for the pH that was slightly lower than normal, all the parameters of the beer were within standard specifications for conventional lager beers. Consumer evaluation of the product found it to be acceptable.