Maize (corn) is used as the primary source of carbohydrates for some traditional beer-like alcoholic beverages in Latin America and Africa and as an adjunct for mass-market beer production throughout most of the world. While most beer consumers might not recognize these beverages as “beer,” they are fermented beverages made from grain, and are therefore widely referred to as maize beers. Methods for producing traditional maize beer vary widely, and many of them have changed little for thousands of years. These beverages are generally high in solids and may be thicker and more opaque than commercial beers. They are often consumed at various stages during active fermentation, and consequently do not store well. Traditional maize beer provides calories, protein, and B vitamins in the diet. Maize-based diets are often low in niacin, but deficiency symptoms are uncommon in societies that consume a proportion of the crop as maize beer.

Specific types of maize are used, and spices are often added to obtain the color, flavor, and consistency desired to satisfy local preferences. The traditional vats that are used for brewing often serve as a source of naturally occurring yeast and bacteria that carry out the fermentation, but starters from previous batches or other catalysts may also be utilized. For many products, lactic acid fermentation is used to sour the malt or mash prior to alcohol fermentation. Alcohol content varies in traditional maize beers, but it is generally in the 2%–3% ABV range. “Chicha” is a common name for indigenous maize beer produced in the Andes and at lower altitudes in Ecuador, Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, and Argentina, but the term also refers to beer made from other plants and some nonalcoholic beverages. Coarse maize flour was traditionally chewed by women prior to fermentation, with the enzyme ptyalin (a type of amylase) in their saliva converted starch to maltose and dextrins.

Today, maize is most commonly germinated (malted) to produce amylase for starch conversion in chicha production. Maize malt provides ample alpha-amylase but is low in beta-amylase and has limited quantities of other diastatic enzymes present in barley. Chicha plays an important role in family and social life and in religious and cultural ceremonies. Although primarily a cottage industry today, chicha was once made in large, state-owned breweries and was used as a means of currency during the Inca Empire. Afterpulse cheats. Other forms of indigenous maize beer in Latin America include tesguino in Mexico and cauim in Brazil. Maize is used to make traditional fermented beverages in many African countries as well.

These beers are sour and opaque and are generally served warm. Maize meal and maize malt may also be mixed in various proportions with sorghum and millet, depending on their relative cost and availability and local traditions. Sorghum and millet are indigenous crops and are preferred for malting, but maize is increasingly used as a starchy adjunct for both traditional beer and commercial lager beer production throughout Africa. Although most traditional maize beer is home-brewed, factory production is well established in some countries in eastern and southern Africa. BibliographyHaggblade, S., and W. “Industrialization of Africa’s indigenous beer brewing.” In Industrialization of indigenous fermented foods, 2nd ed., ed.

Steinkraus, 271–361. New York: Marcel Dekker, 1989.Steinkraus, K. Indigenous fermented foods in which ethanol is a major product: Type and nutritional significance of primitive wines and beers and related alcoholic foods. In Handbook of indigenous fermented foods, 2nd ed., ed. Steinkraus, 363–508. New York: Marcel Dekker, 1996.Jennifer Kling.

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Event space part of proposal– The owner of the recently opened Maize + Mash in downtown Glen Ellyn now wants to transform the former Giesche Shoes store into a complex that would include a restaurant, cafe and event space.Glen Ellyn plan commissioners will conduct a pre-application meeting at 7 p.m. 9 to review the concept plan to reuse the former shoe store at 400 N. In downtown Glen Ellyn. The meeting will be in the Galligan Board room on the third floor of the Glen Ellyn Civic Center, 535 Duane St. Shaw Media file photoGiesche Shoes closed its doors in 2014 after more than 60 years in business. Maize + Mash opened earlier this year at 430 N. Main St., in the space formerly occupied by Deacon and Mercy restaurant, as well as Cab's Wine Bar Bistro.Nick Roberge – who also co-owns two other restaurants in downtown Geneva, Barrel + Rye and The Burger Local – is proposing the concept for the former Giesche Shoes store.

His business partner in the venture is Joel Frieders of Aurora-based property development company Elemy. Elemy has been working on the building that will house The Burger Social at 108 N. In downtown Wheaton, which is owned by the team that owns Maize + Mash, Barrel + Rye and The Burger Local.At the Nov. 9 meeting, plan commissioners will provide comments on whether they think the concept is a good fit for the property.'

The idea is just to see if there's any interest in the concept itself,' Glen Ellyn Planning and Development Director Staci Hulseberg said. 'What they Roberge and Frieders want to do is see if there is any support for this type of project before they decide whether they're even going to go forward.' Shaw Media file photoAs proposed, a 3,000-square-foot restaurant that would accommodate 160 people would occupy the building's first floor.

Rooftop dining and an outdoor patio also are part of the plans, Hulseberg said.Plans call for an event space on the building's second floor totaling about 10,000 square feet that would accommodate 475 people, she said. A coffee bar area/lounge on the building's first floor also is included in the plans.An event space is not a permitted use in the downtown, Hulseberg said.' The event space requires a special use,' she said. 'And so that's what the Plan Commission is being asked, if it is supportive of an event space here because it is not currently permitted.

They'd have to go through a text amendment and special-use permit.' The Giesches still own the building, Hulseberg said. If plan commissioners voice their approval of the concept plans, the applicants would then have to prepare plans and submit an application to the village to request a text amendment to the zoning code that would allow event space as a special use in the downtown, she said.They would then have to submit an application for a special-use permit, Hulseberg said.' They would go back to the Plan Commission for a public hearing and then go to the Village Board for final approval,' she said.