Naughty Beer of the Volcano Gods

“It tastes like wine!” has been the funniest remark from our guests when we’ve introduced them to the famous beer of the Virungas. This very nutritious sorghum drink is called obushera/ubushera and has a rather peculiar, bittersweet taste. It does not resemble wine!

Sorghum is a cereal crop widely grown around our volcanoes. The planting season is January to February, and harvesting takes place in July. Farmers cut the red grain with a knife, then put it into baskets and sacks to carry it home. It must be dried, then beaten with a stick to remove the seeds. Next comes winnowing, done with a tray to separate the sorghum seeds from stones and dust.

Beer is the primary use. To get obushera/ubushera, one turns brown sorghum black by adding ash, then places it in a sack fully immersed in water. It’s kept in darkness, under banana leaves. If you let it ferment longer and add unprocessed honey, you get enturire/intimbure, a drink especially popular among religious professionals. Their churches may prohibit alcohol but make an exception for enturire. With enough of it, you’re assured of divine happiness.

Modern Uganda also knows industrially produced sorghum beer: Eagle Lager. It’s cheaper than barley-based beer and very popular in local bars. Its alcohol content is higher, and just a couple of bottles can make you fly like an eagle. There’s a cultural belief that sorghum beer increases libido, but we can’t guarantee that applies to Eagle Lager …

And there’s more to sorghum.

Fresh sorghum seeds are edible and especially valued by breastfeeding mothers. They contain a milky cream believed to boost milk production. When ground, the seeds make a porridge drink that’s highly nutritious and loved by kids, many of whom prefer it over milk.

In the old days, people made fresh sorghum cakes. They crushed seeds on a grinding stone, boiled water, added the flour, and mingled it into a thick dough. These cakes, still made in harvest season, can be eaten alone but are mostly served with stews or vegetable sauces. They’re known to ease stomach cramps and diarrhoea.

Last but not least: sorghum as candy! Kids love filling their pockets with black seeds before heading to school.

text and photo by Owen Bright

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