Chicha de jora was the original beer created by pre-Inca societies. Victoria is a brand new modern take on the beer that stays true to the original recipe with 100% Peruvian grains and corn.
Peruvians are great consumers of beer. According to the market research site Euromonitor, Peruvian’s consume 45.4 liters of beer per capita. The craft beer niche could reach 1% within this, giving rise to the creation of new original ventures with high added value such as Victoria: the first Peruvian Premium craft beer based on chicha de jora, which has just won important local recognitions.
“Victoria is born as a Sour Beer based on chicha de jora, fresh, from small productions; natural, spontaneous and wild. Ideal for great lovers of good local craft beer,” says Carla Cisneros, CEO of the project.
Victoria: the story behind the project
Victoria Sour Beer was born in Cusco in 2018 when the passion of a Cusco homebrewer, Anderson Olarte Carpio, joined with the vision of Carla Cisneros Zúñiga, an entrepreneur specialist in beer bar management.
“Seeing that the market was full of craft beers of classic international styles, nobody paid attention to the ancestral Peruvian drink, ‘chicha de jora’, a drink whose consumption dates back to the Incas and has high nutritional value. considered a “beer”, it has a production process similar to that of many traditional Latin American historical beers,” shares Carla.
The first challenge, indicates the CEO, was to pay particular attention to the fermentation process of chicha de jora since it is fermented with wild yeasts until they managed to obtain a long-fermented version of chicha, which was launched for sale with a very good acceptance from the national public, but especially from the international drinker, since the acid or sour profile and the complex notes of this drink reminded them a lot of the brewing styles of spontaneous fermentation or mixed fermentation that were becoming a trend in Europe and North America.
After the good acceptance of their first innovation, in 2019 they developed others with a similar process and on tap with seasonal fruits and local herbs, generating great interest in the consumer of craft beers due to their particularity and freshness.
“Already at the beginning of 2020, due to the pandemic, we had to redirect production and migrate from the barrel to the bottle. Having time to experiment with new recipes, the idea of merging the craft brewery process with the one already explored from the chicha de jora and thus was born the first Experimental Mixed Fermentation Beer ‘Victoria Sour Beer’ based on jora with the addition of wheat and slow fermentation. This particular recipe turned out to be one never before raised by Peruvian brewers and with a ‘wild’ profile”, indicates Carla Cisneros.
In November of the same year, they sent this sample to their first national contest: “The Home Brewers Cup of ACECAS – Association of Home Brewers of Peru” where they received the two best awards of the cup: “Gold Medal” and “Best Beer of the Competition”.
La Cerveza: The concept of Victoria Sour Beer
Victoria Experimental Sour Beer is a completely new “beer” for using mainly 100% Peruvian grains. The corn is germinated to get the jora; They sow wheat on their land, as well as the preparation of their own recipe for chicha de jora that allows them to harvest microorganisms from the environment in Mollepata, Cusco where they have their small workshop.
“We are the first brewers in Peru doing a job ‘from grain to glass’, that is, from the grain to the glass, something similar to the” bean to bar “movement in artisan chocolate or previously seen in wine, thus ensuring care throughout the entire production process, from start to finish,” Carla tells us.
“Another particular aspect of our beer is the slow fermentation that occurs due to the wild yeasts that we incorporate through our chicha de jora. It is a process that takes a long time: first, fermentation can take 4 to 6 months or even a year, each batch is different. And then, maturation in the bottle of at least 2 months. However, we are learning that a year of maturation in the bottle allows an incredible evolution”, says Cisneros.
The result, a premium Peruvian craft beer with character where the bacteria and wild yeasts that are used in the process, provide a slight acidity, with slight farmhouse notes, and where the jora (protagonist), highlights a unique fruity aroma. All in balance, with good carbonation, they achieve a beer with a light body, refreshing, super easy to drink, and is gluten-free.
Try Victoria for yourself
Victoria Sour Beer @victoriasourbeer
T. 917 775 840
S /. 20 unit | S /. 69 (4 Pack) | S /. 100 (Six Pack)- Delivery to Lima and Provinces
Press release and photos provided by Paola Suarez Rey
