BEER PRODUCTION IN NIGERIA

Brewing is the production of beer through steeping a starch source (commonly cereal grains) in water and then fermenting with yeast. Brewing has taken place since around the 6th millennium BC, and archaeological evidence suggests that this technique was used in ancient Egypt. ( Wikipedia, 2011) Corporate Nigeria 2010/2011 revealed that Nigeria has the second largest beer market in Africa, after South Africa. Ibid, 2010/2011 said that beer is the most popular alcoholic drink in Nigeria, making up about 96% of all alcohol sales. Ibid, 2010/2011 confirmed that Nigerian breweries are the market leader, with an estimate market share of about 65% of sales in the country for 2009. Some breweries of good importance in Nigeria are: Nigerian Brewery Plc, Ibadan; Guiness Brewery, Bennin City; Sona brewery, Otta; Intrenational Brewery Ilesa etc. PROCESSES INVOLVED IN BEER PRODUCTION There are several steps in the brewing process, which include malting, milling, mashing, lautering, boiling, fermenting, conditioning, filtering, and packaging. There are three main fermentation methods, warm, cool and wild or spontaneous. Fermentation may take place in open or closed vessels. There may be a secondary fermentation that can take place in the brewery, in the cask, or in the bottle. ( Wikipedia, 2011)

Brewing process

Diagram illustrating the process of brewing beer

RAW MATERIALS FOR BEER PRODUCTION The basic ingredients of beer are water; a starch source, such as malted barley, which is able to be fermented (converted into alcohol); a brewer's yeast to produce the fermentation; and a flavouring, such as hops. A secondary starch source (an adjunct) may be used, such as maize (corn), rice or sugar. Less widely used starch sources include millet, sorghum and cassava root in Africa, potato in Brazil, and agave in Mexico, among others. The amount of each starch source in a beer recipe is collectively called the grain bill. ( Wikipedia, 2011) The quality of water determines beer quality. Beer is composed mostly of water. Regions have water with different mineral components; as a result, different regions were originally better suited to making certain types of beer, thus giving them a regional character. For example, Dublin has hard water well suited to making stout, such as Guinness; while Pilsen has soft water well suited to making pale lager, such as Pilsner Urquell.The waters of Burton in England contain gypsum, which benefits making pale ale to such a degree that brewers of pale ales will add gypsum to the local water in a process known as Burtonisation. ( Wikipedia, 2011) TYPES BEER The type of beer depend on the type of starch source used and the quality of the water. ( Wikipedia, 2011)

THE FUTURE OF BREWERY IN NIGERIA

Mr Afolabi Ige who is the plant manager of Guinness Brewery said that, Guinness Nigeria Plc, which is one of the leading breweries in the country, has commenced the utilisation of cassava syrup, in a bid to be able to sustain the quality the company is known for and in line with the federal government cassava initiative. He observed that the brewery has grown from 1.9 million to 3 million hectoliters capacity in the past three years, noting that it was currently being expanded to meet the growing needs of customers. While noting that the Benin plant is the biggest in the Guinness Diageo group, he added that new facilities are being installed. He listed some of the facilities to include, new canning lines which would commence operation in late August, additional brewery tanks otherwise known as dual purpose vessels, bright beer tanks, generator plant as well as plans to install more tanks to increase the production capacity in order to ensure that the companys products are available to customer. He also added that the company generates its own power source through its gas generator as a result of poor public power supply, pointing out that the company generates a total of 5.6 megawatts. (BusinessDayOnline, March 6, 2012) So in view of this brewery is expected to have more customers year in year out as the usage of beers increases. Beers are been made use of most functions.

REFERENCES
Corporate Nigeria 2010/2011, www.corporate-nigeria.com/index/industry/beer-indusry.html.

Wikipedia 2011, the free encyclopedia online edition, www.wikipedia.com. BusinessDayOnline, 2012, www.businessdayonline.com/e-mail

BEER PRODUCTION IN NIGERIA;

A REPORT PREPARED BY:

OLAJIDE, Michael Olatunji