Hello from the hot Zambezi Valley

[Zambezi Special]

Hello all,
Just a quick introduction.
I recently decided that I need to go brew my own beer, as there is not enough available here in Zambia.
I've been researching lots and I realise I am going to run into several problems. One of which is the availability of ingredients and hardware, the other the high temperatures in summer.
Somehow I think I will be able to manage with the help of a fridge and a controller.
I got a stack of material waiting for me in Europe. Luckily the luggage allowance on the plane is 46 kg! Got to be patient for a while longer.
Plan is to start with a couple of beer kits and then move to extract or whole grain.
The biab method combined with SMaSH, sounds like it is designed for me.
I am looking at doing batches of 10-15 litres and have a preference for Belgian Blondes and Tripels.
Till I get all my stuff in, I'll mainly be reading (and playing around wiht some cider and so on from packs of fruit juice).
Glad to be here and I think I found a treasure cove of information!

 

[AkTom]

Welcome. You should look into high temp yeast.

 

[Zambezi Special]

Thanks,
Yes I have been doing that.
The lucky thing is that my preference for Belgian beer coincides with the fact that a lot of the Belgian type yeasts are actually high temperature yeast, with the Lallemand Belgian Saison being the highest I could find, rated as 15-35 oC

 

[magee_b]

Welcome! I'm next door in Lilongwe, Malawi! Nice to have neighbour on the forum.
Where are you based? based on your Zambezi valley reference, I was thinking maybe you were in Livingstone or down in Chiawa/Chirundu area. I used to live in Lusaka, and I've met a couple of other home brewers there.

Lots of second hand fridges around for temperature control, so you should be set there. I've even managed to build a kegerator here.

Best of luck and keep us posted!

Brian

 

[Zambezi Special]

Thanks Neighbour
I'm about 8 km from Chirundu.
I'm actually in the process of buying a plot just down from the gorge, Kariba/Siavonga side.
You're welcome to pop in if you get this far South

I haven't met any other home brewers yet, but I did manage to get in comms with one.
I got a fridge lined up already (well, it's in use, but if I sort things a bit better, I can free it up without a problem)

 

[magee_b]

I was last down that way around a year and a half ago. Glad you got a fridge lined up. Definitely will be needed. Oppressive heat in that valley - especially Oct/Nov.

 

[madscientist451]

If you have electricity and a refrigerator, your biggest obstacle is going to be ingredients. Shipping supplies in from the EU seems like it might not be cost effective.
Hops and dry yeast don't weigh all that much but a couple of sacks of grain is going to come with a large shipping bill.
Can you get grain like barley, wheat and rye locally? If so, malting your own grain may be the way to go.
I know they have homebrew shops in South Africa, but it might not be any cheaper getting items shipped in from there.

 

[MaxStout]

Welcome to the forum! I hope you can get a good supply chain going for what you need to brew. Doing SMaSH beers BIAB sounds like a good idea. With the high temperatures, you could do some Saisons. But a refrigerator with temp control will enable you to be more versatile.

I Googled some pictures of the Zambezi River valley. What a beautiful area!

 

[Jayjay1976]

Belgian Tripel will be a cost effective recipe for you, since a large proportion of the fermentables are typically just sugar. If you can a variety of sugars cheap locally, you can experiment to come up with a good recipe. Also look into Kveik yeast, it ferments cleanly at up to 104f without creating off flavors and can be saved for for future batches by drying the slurry from the bottom of the fermenter on paper or pieces of wood.

Oh, and welcome to HBT!!

 

[Zambezi Special]

Thanks for the kind words all!
Yes supplies is going to be tricky.
Luckily there is a fair bit of traffic between South Africa and Zambia. I just need to convince the guys to throw some bags of grain behind the seat.
It's going to be a bit more forward planning and I won't always be able to make what I want, but that's OK. Didn't the best recipes originate that way?
Currently I managed to convince some people I know to take some grains back with them. I don't have all my kit yet, but grains stay good for a while, so I am not passing up on this chance!
I prefer not to have to malt my own grains. Far too complicated and too much work. Maybe in the future.

Europe is definitely not an option for grains, but since I have to go anyway, it's a good source for yeasts, hop pellets etc (and the actual equipment and books is a lot cheaper than in S-Africa)

Never heard of kveik yeast. I will look into it.

 

[Abhishek Dewan]

hello there, from Maputo. I brew at home in almost similar conditions. I use a BIAB with a simple fermenter bucket and for smaller batches, use 5, 19 litre water bottles. I manage temperature by covering the bucket with a soaked t-shirt and beers turn out nice. I skip late additions of hops and do dry hopping instead, due to high temperatures, late addition flavours just don't work. Better to make own malts but for hops, either South Africa or ebay are the only options. I've made meads, IPAs, Stouts, Gruits, bitter beers and they taste so good that I don't buy any beers at all.

 

[Zambezi Special]

Awesome!
I was hoping for some more people from hot climates.
Although we actually do have a winter period as well. June/July temperatures are between 24 and 7-10 oC (between first light and sunrise), so In that period it should be possible to use just a coolbox.
Summer can be a killer though!
Luckily my preference is for Belgian beers and a lot of those yeasts can handle high temperatures.
They don't need a lot of hop. Would you still say dry hopping is better than late additions?

 

[Qhrumphf]

I was going to suggest Kveik as well. You can't make too many overarching statements about Kveik since there are LOADS of them (probably many that still haven't left their original Norwegian farms), but for the most part they like hot temps, ferment fast, and many of em ferment cleanly as well.

Of course, if you like Belgian, I'd go with Belgian, particularly Saison yeasts. My limited Kveik experience, very different from Belgian character.

 

[soccerdad]

Sawubona !

 

[Zambezi Special]

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