african theme beer

[Linkdead01]

I was thinking of I making a beer using African ingredients. I know I want it to be a wheat based beer, but there are a number of other ingredients i'd like to experiment with. Does anyone have any suggestions? These are the ingredients I have to choose from:
Squash
pumpkin
bell peppers
plantains
bananas
chili peppers
turnips
eggplant
grapes/ raisins
Tangerines
dates/figs
clementine
prickly pear
pineapple
watermelon

Spices include:
ginger
saffron
turmeric
cardamom
cumin
allspice
nutmeg
black pepper
cloves
lemongrass
Palm sugar

This beer can be made with any combination of these ingredients. There were a lot of things i had to omit from the list because I simply can't get them in the states. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

 

[itchygomey]

A wheat with clementines seems simple enough. Some experimenting would need to be done to add some lemongrass tea to it. I'd brew up a wheat with clementine zest. After fermentation add lemongrass tea to taste and then wait to make sure the yeast isnt going to work on the tea at all.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[patthebrewer]

Having had a few beers that are commercially brewed in Africa (Windhoek, Tusker, Casa, Zambezi,Laurentina Clara), it would seem to me that most commercial brewing is at least german inspired lagers, made popular from colonial days. Local indigenous beers run the gamut. However there are a lot of Sorghum malt, and maize malts used. Honey and ginger are popular as well.

For a authentic "Local" beer I might go for a sorghum base malt beer with dates or honey, and perhaps spiced with turmeric, or saffron.

Sounds like a cool project if you ask me. Being a world traveler, I always like to try the local stuff. Being home brewers gives us the opportunity to try to duplicate flavors that just aren't available anywhere in the us. Good luck