How unhygienic are our local brews? - part two

There is no standardisation anywhere across the country. Every brewer does what they feel like.

There are no brewer's associations to reign in bad actors. There are no rules set by government to protect the final consumers probably because this is not an area that our donor friends are interested. Everything goes. 

Our banana juice from which tonto aka mwenge bigere comes from is squeezed by foot, the grain to make malwa is dried in unsanitary environments and the mixtures are brewed in dirty containers and served in unsanitary environments in dingy joints. 

It goes without saying that finding a hygienic local brew in this country is an exception rather than a rule and yet, these drinks are consumed by millions, in all parts of the country. That cool accountant at your company guzzles litres of the stuff when he visits his family in the village over Christmas. These brews are an integral part of most of our cultures across the country. 

I recently traveled across the country on a side gig. Everywhere I went, I sought after the local brew to have a taste of the local bitter stuff. 

Last week I recounted my experience drinking malwa in Adjumani and you all know how it went. I just couldn't myself to repeat it. Not good. 

We left West Nile region for Karamoja, passing through Lira. We made a stop in Soroti where we sat down in a grass thatched hut in the outskirts of the town and enjoyed adere on my way to Kotido. Adere is a sweet (younger) version of ajono, a millet brew. It is served in a large bowl as opposed to ajono which is served in a pot, exactly the same way malwa is served. Is there is a difference between malwa and ajono? 

Connoisseurs may disagree but to an uninitiated drinker like yours truly, the two taste the same.

I'd like to report that the ajono felt clean. The containers, the joint, the bucket with the hot water, all felt clean and there were no incidents. 

Karamoja's ebutie

Two days after left Soroti, we arrived in Kotido. It didn't take long before we found a joint that served the local brew. It's name, ebutie. 

If I misspell this, please forgive me. I come from the west, about 700km from Kotido. Ebutie is an opaque beer, made from sorghum. 

The taste is mild. 

It almost tastes non-alcoholic. 

It is has no zesty taste that some local brews come with. It has no strong scent that usually develops during fermentation. 

It is served in jars or mugs. 

Ebutie is almost a lackluster drink. But then again, the people we found sitting in those joints enjoying it beg to differ. They were perfectly blazed and alright. 

We walked off with a few litres of the stuff and travelled eastward to Moroto sipping at it. While it has a very lukewarm taste, ebutie turns out to be an okay alcoholic drink. 

Gives you a nice buzz and affords you a peaceful nap in a moving vehicle. In Moroto we bought more ebutie. This time from two ladies that were transporting it on their heads, in jericans, probably from the brewery to the pub if one can use those terms here. 

Without going into the details, as soon as I had taken a sip of that stuff, I knew I had made a bad mistake. Intuition is a strong human sense. I just knew I was dead. 

And as sure as the sunrise, two hours later, I had the wildest cough I have heard since I had whooping cough as a three year old.

Our local brews are mostly unsanitary because no one cares to standardize the industry. 

Truthfully, they are not about to go anywhere and no amount of ignoring them will change that. Modern factory made drinks are not about to kill the industry because people still gravitate to these communally enjoyed drinks. 

This is why things need to change on the hygiene side. Having said that, if your stomach or immune system is not great, just leave the local brew for those that can handle.