Home-brewed maize beer fermented for about a week, which is where it gets its name. It is made in Zambian villages for funerals, weddings and communal work parties.
Home brewing of alcohol is licensed or restricted in most of the atlas’s readership, and the ferment relies on the culture living in vessels used continuously.
What goes into it
- maize meal
- sorghum or millet malt
- water
How it is made
Maize meal is cooked into a porridge and left to sour, then malt is stirred in and the mash left to ferment. The brewing is deliberately paced across seven days — soaking, souring, cooking, fermenting — so that a batch is ready on the day of the gathering it was started for.
How long it takes: seven days, which is the point of the name
How it is eaten
From a shared container at funerals, weddings and work parties.
History
Named for its brewing time, it is made in Zambian villages for funerals, weddings and communal work parties.
Frequently asked questions
What is Seven Days?
Seven Days is a wine & spirit from Zambia: home-brewed maize beer fermented about a week, cloudy and sour. Named for its brewing time, it is made in Zambian villages for funerals, weddings and communal work parties.
How is Seven Days made?
Maize meal is cooked into a porridge and left to sour, then malt is stirred in and the mash left to ferment. The brewing is deliberately paced across seven days — soaking, souring, cooking, fermenting — so that a batch is ready on the day of the gathering it was started for. It takes seven days, which is the point of the name.
Can I make Seven Days at home?
No, and the atlas gives no method for it. Home brewing of alcohol is licensed or restricted in most of the atlas’s readership, and the ferment relies on the culture living in vessels used continuously.
What goes into Seven Days?
Maize meal, sorghum or millet malt, water.
How is Seven Days eaten?
From a shared container at funerals, weddings and work parties.
