Abstract

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The search for local alternatives to barley for brewing has been a major concern to stakeholders in the beer industry in Nigeria and Africa. One of such alternative and which can be sustained is the use of Sorghum and cassava as raw materials. This research work was aimed at investigating the possibility of producing lager beer using a blend of sorghum and hybrid yellow cassava (IBA 070593 and IBA 070539). The two yellow cassava varieties were blended with the sorghum malt at ratio 0:100 (control), 20:80, 30:70, 40:60 and 50:50. Fermentation was carried out for duration of 10 days and samples analyzed every 2 days interval. Parameters analyzed were yeast count, pH, total soluble sugars, alcohol content and sensory evaluation using standard procedures. The results showed that the formulation ratio of 20:80 had the highest yeast count and alcohol content of 286.7 ± 2.60 × 1012 cfu/ml and 6.78 ± 0.41 % respectively, while the least values of 247.3±1.76×1012 cfu/ml and 3.63 ± 0.49 % were from 50:50 ration.Sensory evaluation showed that overall acceptability of 8.00 ± 0.05 was from 20:80 ration while the least of 7.30 ± 0.13 was from 40:60. The study revealed that the hybrid of yellow cassava blended with sorghum can be a favourable raw material for beer production.

Keywords: Beer, Cassava, Sorghum, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Alcohol content