Abstract

The type of alcoholic beverage produced in any particular region or country almost entirely reflects the types of crop grown. Thus the cooler region of Europe, Scandinavia, Poland and Russia produces beer and lagers from barley (Palmer, 1992). In tropical Africa, alcoholic beverages especially beer have been brewed from micro-organisms especially fungi are to expect. It is necessary to treat harvested crop with fungicide to prevent spoilage (Gomez, 1992). Sorghum has a wide range of colors and sizes. The best known are the white (farafara), yellow (kaura) brown and the red types (Gomez, 1992). Although the red types are malted for traditional beer production, the white type is preferred for modern beer production (Palmer, 1992). The type and strain of yeast used in fermentation has a great influence on the taste and character of beer produced (Kunze, 1996). Apart from brewing, sorghum has been used extensively in food industries.  Vitamin enriched sorghum based product are enjoying acceptance at institutional levels as mid shift drinks and high energy breakfast food (Aluko, 1989). Sorghum is also used in industrial production of cellulose, paper, starch, sugar and chemicals (Subramaniann et al., 1989). Other uses of sorghum include livestock feed production (Al- Hazzan et al., 1989). Sorghum as adjunct in beer production already has a widespread acceptance. However, the availability of the grain poses a great problem to the brewing industry. Sorghum is already a staple diet, so to make a substantial replacement for barley malt, huge quantities of adjunct will be required (Nweke, 1989).

Key words: Sorghum, beer, adjunct.