Beer!

A brief look into the African roots of beer

There are a few food and beverage activities that are steeped in Americana. Drinking beer is one of them. In 2021, the beer market reached $100 billion. It dominates our college campuses, our bars and restaurants, and our most “patriotic” holidays. Local breweries that offer unique, craft beers are making the weekend hotspot lists. The number of informed consumers and enthusiasts is growing with some committing to go all the way and become a “cicerone” – the equivalent of a sommelier for beer. However, like many common practices and social rituals in American culture, the origins of brewing and consuming beer find their roots in antiquity, long before the USA was named. This Black History Month, I wanted to discuss beer production & the role of Africans and those living throughout the Diaspora. Let’s explore how this drink has roots well beyond the “beer culture” we think of today.

Over 10,000 years ago, the Sumerians of Mesopotamia were likely the very first people to brew beer. Historians argue over how beer was first created, choosing one of two theories: it was accidentally discovered when the grains used for bread-making were fermented, or it actually preceded bread and was intentionally created as an intoxicant. Either way, it quickly traveled to Egypt through trade, where the Egyptians improved upon the process. Ancient African beer was an integral part of day-to-day life in Egypt and other parts of Africa. Paintings, poems, and myths display humans and gods alike enjoying beer. Egyptians believed that one of their gods, Osiris, taught humans how to brew beer; Tenenit (Tjenenet) was their goddess of beer. The laborers at the Giza plateau, the site of the great pyramids, were given beer rations three times a day, as beer was often used as compensation for labor in ancient Egypt. Originally, women were the chief brewers of beer, and men were the consumers. Over time, though, men did take over the practice of brewing beer.

In recent years, evidence has come to light that suggests that ancient African beer may have even been used as medicine in some ethnic groups. Human remains were found near the Sudanese-Egyptian border where a species of tetracycline-producing bacteria inhabit the soil; tetracycline is a commonly-used, modern-day antibiotic. Researchers examined the human remains and found evidence that led them to believe the Nubian people, who lived near this border, used the bacteria in their brewing process, to create a thick, sour beer with antibiotic properties. While the evidence is not fully conclusive, researchers do believe the Nubians knew the benefits of the bacteria, as everyone from age two and up would consume this brew!

Now keep in mind, the beer that we are alluding to here is not the crisp beverage we enjoy nowadays. What most of us call beer, is brewed most often from malted barley; however, traditional African beer is made from different cereal grains: sorghum and maize to be exact. It is often flavored with cassava root, hibiscus, and banana. Actually, ancient African beer had a thick, porridge-like consistency and had to be consumed through a straw to filter out the pieces of bread or herbs. While this type of beer is still brewed across Africa, the Dutch and British colonizers did introduce their own brewing techniques, and some of those later practices were adopted across the continent.

More recently beer drinking is still highly ritualized in parts of Africa. The Zulu people, who are the largest ethnic group in South Africa, always offer beer to ancestors and guests who visit their homes. They serve beer in four types of vessels – imbiza, uphiso, ukhamba, and umancishana. Each of these has different uses in beer-making, storage, and the presentation process. The vessels are handmade, beautifully decorated, and can vary drastically across different regions. The Zulu people are just an example of how, currently, most of the legitimate “craft” brewing practices that take place in Africa– using local ingredients and indigenous practices– occur in rural areas exclusive for home and ritualistic consumption. In a Tikar village in Cameroon, beer is used for a variety of social functions, including honoring their youth, celebrating a marriage, or putting their deceased in the ground; no matter the occasion, beer is an integral part.

Today 90% of the beer being consumed in Africa comes from SABMiller, Heineken, Castel, and Diageo. In fact, in 2007, Africa actually surpassed Ireland as the second-largest market for Guinness worldwide African Guinness has a higher ABV at 7.5%, and it is still brewed with maize or sorghum, like traditional African beer. Guinness has even created the “Guinness Africa Special” made with local herbs and spices, such as cola nut, chili, and lemongrass. Similar to this, the major brands dominating the beer market are creating beers made specifically for the African market–beers like Primus, Bralima, or Kilimanjaro.

And yet, we can’t talk about the beer industry, especially within the US, without acknowledging that it wouldn’t exist without the contributions of enslaved Africans and Indigenous peoples dating back to the 16th century. They shaped the modern practices and processes around brewing and drinking beer, bringing in influence from ancient Egypt and other parts of Africa.

When African and Afro-Caribbean people were brought to America against their will, there were master brewers among them and these brewing skills were coveted. America’s modern-day “craft” brewing practices stem directly from those of enslaved African people; they built and sustained the growing beer market through forced, unpaid labor. Colonizers and slave owners placed recruitment ads targeting enslaved people skilled at brewing.” Help Wanted” posters listed brewing skills as an identifier.

Lauren Michele Jackson offers context to the making of “craft culture, a special blend of bohemian and capitalism, is not merely overwhelming white – a function of who generally has the wealth to start those microbreweries…and to patronize them – it consistently engages in the erasure or exploitation of people of color whose intellectual and manual labor are often the foundation of the practices that transform so many of these small pleasures into something awful.” This erasure and exclusion continued well after the end of American slavery. During the German immigration to the US, Black, Indigenous, Latinx and Asian identifying people were excluded entirely from the brewing process because of discriminatory practices and segregation. Beer began to be consumed more frequently outside of the home, but segregation meant that historically marginalized groups, specifically people from racial and ethnic minority groups were not allowed to enter the saloons and take part in “beer culture.” After Prohibition, the big brewers in the country took a more inclusive approach to marketing–likely to broaden their reach and increase profit. They made the final move to solidify American “beer culture” as “white.”

Today, “white beer culture” is being disrupted through the work of Black brewers as well as other brewers of color who are actively working to claim space and redefine the narrative around the American beer industry. Take Harlem Hops for example – a craft beer bar in Harlem, NY founded by three HBCU graduates. Kevin Bradford, Kim Harris, and Stacey Lee opened Harlem Hops in 2018, making it the first beer bar in Harlem to be owned by 100% BIPOC. They feature brews from Black and African-American brewers, as well as spirits from small, family-owned distilleries, especially those who are struggling to fund or push their products. The decor in the bar contains tidbits of history regarding beer and the African Diaspora, and the owners are not only uplifting Black brewers but also educating their community on how to make smarter, healthier choices regarding drinking. They just won the most recent prestigious award from the Jame Beard Foundation.

Customers trying out beers from Black brewers at Harlem Hops | @harlemhops on IG

Crown and Hops brewing company and lounge based in Inglewood, California, and started by Co-Founders Beny Ashburn & Teo Hunter–also HBCU grads–is a leader in the craft beer movement. Their brand model “Own Your Crown” is a direct wink at cultural ownership, authentic self-representation, and economic inclusion. Their multi-level model fosters inclusion and creates access and career paths that center people of color, in general. They offer taglines like “Preserve Culture”, “Build Community”, and “Expand Palettes” which broaden the conversation that starts with great craft beer.

As we conclude, we are including this nutrition profile on the most common beers as well as a link to a step-by-step recipe for making your own traditional African Beer. Cheers!

Nutrition Profiles of Common Beers

How to Make Traditional African Beer

Thank you to Morgan Elmore, Dietetic Intern who rotated through Maya Feller Nutrition, for her research and contributions to this article. 

Feature image: Enjoying local brews at Harlem Hops | @harlemhops on IG