Zulu African Beer Making
Zulu Beer Making: Tradition, Ritual, and Community
Zulu tribespeople have a long, proud tradition of beer making. For generations, homemade beer—called Ubhiya in the Zulu language—has played an essential role in social gatherings, spiritual ceremonies, and family rituals.
Zulu Beer Making
Home brewing beer is both a labor of love and a precise science. Zulu beer has been brewed for centuries to bring people together—whether at weddings, funerals, traditional ceremonies, or quiet evenings shared among neighbors.
Women traditionally brew Zulu beer in a special hut that is partially open at the roof to let smoke escape. A beer strainer and skimmer, called an Isikhetho, is a cone-shaped basket made of grass—some tightly woven to hold liquids during the process. These tools are handmade by women, both for household use and for sale in local markets.
To obtain malt for brewing, grain such as maize or millet is soaked, wrapped in a mat, and left to sprout. The sprouted grain is then ground into meal and mixed with hot water in a large clay pot, boiled for about 30 minutes, and left to cool before fermentation begins.
During fermentation, which lasts several days, the scum is removed using an Isikrini sebheya—a handmade beer skimmer. The foam isn’t discarded but reused to start the next batch, preserving the yeast’s character. Once fermentation is complete, the beer is filtered through an Umsizi weBhiya (beer strainer), though modern brewers may use cheesecloth or fine mesh