AndrewVu
Active Member
I was in Tanzania for a few weeks earlier this year and while I was out there a man on the street began to follow my friend and I, asking questions about us- where we were from etc.- gradually his questioning us turned into him giving us a tour of the town we were in. He took us into a little market where he told us they sold the ingredients to a local banana beer. The ingredients included millet spray, some sort of sprouting and of course bananas. We asked the man to take us to where we could try the beer.
The 'pub' (if you can call it that) we went to was a couple of miles out of town. It was set out like a Roman atrium with benches surrounding an open-top courtyard. We entered it and the many old local men with very few teeth were grinning and laughing at us, two 20 year old wazungu (white men) entering their territory. We sat down at one of the benches and a lady approached the three of us with a large plastic beaker each. The beaker had the owner's initials burnt in with a sharp tip and within the initials lots of dirt had built up- a sign it had been washed well, clearly.
The beer looked like porridge. Exactly like porridge. I took my first swig and felt slightly repulsed, I tried not to show my disgust but it must have shone through as the locals were laughing even harder in our direction and shouting to our 'guide'. It tasted of sour bananas and had a really nasty texture of mushed up bananas with a chewy crust. The man we were with told us to blow on the head and swig from beneath it. I did this and it tasted much the same but without the nasty texture so a lot more bearable. Neither of us wanted to offend so we sipped on, bit by bit until it was finished.
On the way out we caught a sight of the brewing conditions, the photo below speaks for itself. We both had rough nights; I dreamt a lot (unusual) and kept waking up sweating but no ill effects.
These photos aren't mine, we didn't have a camera on us but they are the same stuff we sampled.
Beer & Ingredients:
http://imgur.com/7wlwe
Our beer had a darker, thicker head to it. You could get the bar lady to come with a sieve and take the head off if you wanted (which I did)
Brewing:
http://imgur.com/geSkA
Somewhere under the brown skin is the beer. Makes me laugh to think how much time and effort I put into avoiding infections.
Total cost for three larger-than-pint sized beakers- 900tzs or 36p.
The 'pub' (if you can call it that) we went to was a couple of miles out of town. It was set out like a Roman atrium with benches surrounding an open-top courtyard. We entered it and the many old local men with very few teeth were grinning and laughing at us, two 20 year old wazungu (white men) entering their territory. We sat down at one of the benches and a lady approached the three of us with a large plastic beaker each. The beaker had the owner's initials burnt in with a sharp tip and within the initials lots of dirt had built up- a sign it had been washed well, clearly.
The beer looked like porridge. Exactly like porridge. I took my first swig and felt slightly repulsed, I tried not to show my disgust but it must have shone through as the locals were laughing even harder in our direction and shouting to our 'guide'. It tasted of sour bananas and had a really nasty texture of mushed up bananas with a chewy crust. The man we were with told us to blow on the head and swig from beneath it. I did this and it tasted much the same but without the nasty texture so a lot more bearable. Neither of us wanted to offend so we sipped on, bit by bit until it was finished.
On the way out we caught a sight of the brewing conditions, the photo below speaks for itself. We both had rough nights; I dreamt a lot (unusual) and kept waking up sweating but no ill effects.
These photos aren't mine, we didn't have a camera on us but they are the same stuff we sampled.
Beer & Ingredients:
http://imgur.com/7wlwe
Our beer had a darker, thicker head to it. You could get the bar lady to come with a sieve and take the head off if you wanted (which I did)
Brewing:
http://imgur.com/geSkA
Somewhere under the brown skin is the beer. Makes me laugh to think how much time and effort I put into avoiding infections.
Total cost for three larger-than-pint sized beakers- 900tzs or 36p.
you farr braver man than me :drink:
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