Corn Beer

[Maya]

I suddenly remembered an episode on a TV show I watched three years ago, about a certain tribe in Mexico where men can run hundreds of miles or even more. The tribe is called "Tarahumara," a native tribe of northwestern Mexico, renowned for their long distance running ability. There is a special type of beverage that this tribe holds sacred to them, and the beverage is called “Corn Beer. The Tarahumara believes that God gave them the knowledge to make corn beer and has been used as an elixir for healing, a barter and a divine beverage.

Corn beer is referred to as Chicha in the regions of South and Central America which could either be fermented or non-fermented. The beer is prepared by germinating the maize (corn), extracting the malt sugars, boiling the wort and fermenting it in large vessels traditionally huge earthenware vats for several days. The process of making corn beer is pretty much similar on how a regular beer is made. For some cultures, instead of using the process of germination, the maize is ground, moistened in the chichi maker’s mouth and made into small balls which are flattened and laid out to dry.

Two main types of Chicha:

Chicha de jora – used by the Inca for ritual purposes

Chicha morada – unfermented chica made from purple maize and boiled with pineapple and spices. This type of corn beer is a very popular soft drink in Peru and has health benefits including:

Anthocyanins which has been keeping researchers extremely busy in performing a number of tests to assess its potential benefits as an anti-oxidant.
Promotes tissue regeneration
Prevents cardiovascular disease
Delays degenerative processes
Has an anti-aging effect on our skin
Increases blood flow in the body
Has a diuretic effect

I would like to know if any of you bluelighters have tried corn beer and if you enjoyed it or have prepared it yourselves. Please share your experiences and knowledge on this topic.

 

[Dtergent]

I've tried corn beer (no saliva involved in the brewing). A local brewer from one of the islands makes it. It doesn't fit into the flavors I would normally associate with beer, but objectively, it's alright. There are a lot of alternative beers (and even non-hop beers). I've tried some and they usually are quite challenging. I've tried a local sugarcane ferment with bitter leaves and bark that tastes quite like a stout.

 

[psy997]

I just got back from Peru 5 days ago, and yes I tried Chica Morada. It's extremely popular down there. It tastes pretty good for what you'd expect, nothing like beer though.

 

[Foreigner]

Reminds me of tongba that I had in Nepal.