Heinrich’s Chibuku Begins Brewing Opaque Sorghum Beer in Rhodesia

In 1962, Heinrich’s Chibuku Breweries began producing opaque sorghum beer in Southern Rhodesia, entering a market shaped by municipal monopolies and restrictions on African beer. The company adapted a beverage category rooted in household cereal fermentation to commercial production while keeping the beer microbiologically active and locally distributed because of its short shelf life. Chibuku’s history complicates any simple opposition between “traditional” and industrial beer. Commercial process control and packaging widened distribution, yet the business also operated through colonial racial regulation and competed with municipal brewing and informal sellers.