Brewing 7
days Beer
as taught
by Sue Guzha Mubariki
Brewing
beer is not difficult and in fact the main problem is securing containers and
firewood.
You will need:
Drum, very large clay pots, plenty of water, big
long-burning logs, rapoko, sorghum or millet and mealie meal.
The beer is brewed over seven days. Allow yourself one and
half weeks preparatory time to soak the rapoko until it grows some shootings,
dry and grind it into meal called chimera. If the function is on a Saturday
evening, the brewing diary and then names each stage are as follows:
Sunday - Kuvamba
Cook some thin porridge with mealie meal with a bit of
chimera in the drum, do not let it boil
but remove from the fire as soon as it starts to foam. After cooling, pour the
mixture into the clay pots, sprinkle a bit chimera, close well and store in a
warm place.
Monday – Kuvira
Leave the mixture to
ferment.
Tuesday - Kuvira
Still fermenting
Wednesday - Kupisa
The mixture has started to ferment. Pour it into the drum
and boil thoroughly, while steering here and there, until you lose a quarter of
the mixture. The colour should turn to brownish. Put a bit on your palm and use
a finger test the mixture. It should feel silky or slimy and has a sweet taste.
After cooling, pour into the clay pots, sprinkle a bit of chimera, close well
and store in a warm place. The mixture at this stage is called musungwa.
Thursday -
Leave it to ferment
Friday
Leave it to ferment
Saturday Morning – Kudira and Kusvina
Cook some thin mealie meal porridge and let it cool well
then mix with musungwa and leave it to ferment. This is called kudira.
If the musungwa was cooked properly it should take about 2
hours for the mixture to ferment. Sieve the mixture or kusvina and the beer is
ready to drink.
Warning: find experts to brew the beer as guests, at your
function will be expected to sing and dance while the mbira players and
drummers do the stuff they know best.
There will
be variations to this recipe but you get the idea.