Abstract
Little or no attention has so far been paid to using sweet sorghum malt for commercial beer brewing. Thus, three sweet sorghum varieties (SSV) and four sorghum varieties (SV) were analyzed for brewing quality. Variations were observed in their thousand grain weights (22.8 to 58.7 g), grain moisture contents (12.5 to 20.5%), germination energies (99.0 to 100%) and germination capacities (99.7 to 100%). After 4-day germination, radicle lengths of seedlings were 2 to 5 fold of plumules. Remarkable variations existed in their water sensitivity (7.1 to 27.6%) and grain protein contents (7.0 to 11.8%). Malts moisture contents (8.6 to 13.8%), malting losses (16.3 to 26.0%) and malts protein contents (12.2 to 19.5%) differed among cultivars. Cold water extracts (CWE) (3.8 to 8.8%) and hot water extracts (HWE) (8.8 to 17.5%) varied with cultivars. HWE were 1.5 to 3-fold of CWE. Diastatic powers (DP) were substantially higher in SSV (123.7 to 136.7º) compared to SV (111.8 to 117º). Amyloglucosidase (AMG) activities were detected in SSV malts but not in SV. α-Amylases activities in both SSV and SV malts were about 2 to 4-fold of β-amylases. Generally, DP in SV malts = α-amylase + β-amylase activities. But DP in SSV malts >α-amylase + β-amylase + AMG activities, thus, suggesting synergism between the enzymes. SSV showed similar wort yields with SV. Reducing sugars in wort of SSV (12.3 to 15.6 mg/ml) were higher than those of SV (6.2 to 10.5 mg/ml). Malts and worts analyses suggest that SSV have greater beer brewing potentials than SV. Key words: Diastatic power, amylase, amyloglucosidase, sweet sorghum, malt, wort.  
Highlights
The potential of sorghum as a viable alternative substrate for beer brewing, in the tropics where barley does not thrive well, has been recognized (Palmer et al, 1989; Owuama, 1999)
Malts from sorghum varieties (Sorghum vulgare) are used for commercial beer brewing in Nigeria and little or no attention has been paid to using malts from sweet sorghum varieties (Sorghum bicolor [L] Moench)
There are some reports on malting S. bicolor grains (Hassani et al, 2014; Bekele et al, 2012), much more extensive literature exists on large scale commercial cultivation of sweet sorghum varieties, because of their sugary stalks which are exploited for bioenergy and ethanol production (Regassa and Wortmann, 2014)
Summary
The potential of sorghum as a viable alternative substrate for beer brewing, in the tropics where barley does not thrive well, has been recognized (Palmer et al, 1989; Owuama, 1999). In Nigeria, improved sorghum varieties have been cultivated in large scale over several years to address brewery industry demands for sorghum. This approach has helped Nigerian government conserve. Malts from sorghum varieties (Sorghum vulgare) are used for commercial beer brewing in Nigeria and little or no attention has been paid to using malts from sweet sorghum varieties (Sorghum bicolor [L] Moench). There are some reports on malting S. bicolor grains (Hassani et al, 2014; Bekele et al, 2012), much more extensive literature exists on large scale commercial cultivation of sweet sorghum varieties, because of their sugary stalks which are exploited for bioenergy and ethanol production (Regassa and Wortmann, 2014). Due to the use of malts from sorghum varieties for commercial beer brewing with little or no attention paid to sweet sorghum varieties, this work reports on the assessment of brewing potentials of some sweet sorghum varieties based on their grain characteristics, malt qualities and wort properties vis-à-vis those of sorghum varieties
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