ANDEAN CORN BEER.

The Andean corn beer (Chicha de Jora) was the traditional beverage of the ancient Andean people, and
the tradition still lives on today. It is a fermented alcoholic beverage derived from the Andean Jora corn. The way in which the corn beer is made and defined change depending on the region.
Generally speaking the Andean beverage is made with Andean Jora corn, a type of malted corn from the highlands. The specific type or combination of corn used in the making of "chicha de Jora" shows where it was made. Some add quinoa to give it consistency; then it is boiled. During the boiling, the liquid extracted from the mashing process is stirred and aereated so as to prevent over boiling, and then the beverage is placed in huge earthen vessels for several days with a hard form of sugar (Chancaca) that acts as an agent helping in the fermentation process. The liquid is then left seal and unattended for a week or so. Then the beverage is sieved. This is to separate the corn from the desire chicha.
The Andean corn beer has been prepared and consumed in communities throughout the Andes for millennia. There is archaeological evidence that elite women were responsible for brewing it. The ancient Andean people placed a great significance on their beer and the brewing process became a ritual carried out by  such small group of women. The Incas continued with the tradition and used the corn beer (chicha) for their ritual purposes and consumed it in vast quantities during religious festivals. Mills in which it was probably made were found in Machu Picchu. Women also were the ones who were taught the techniques of brewing the Jora corn in feminine schools (Aclla Wasi).
The traditional way in preparing the beverage is becoming increasingly rare. Only in a small number of towns and villages in Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Colombia, it is still prepared. The brewing is still very popular throughout southern Peru.
There is a town called Chincheros that lies between Cuzco and Urubamba in the Sacred Valley. The town square features a giant statue of a man in traditional dress that looks like he is tipping back a jug of the homebrew beverage.
In Cuzco area, especially in the countryside, many "chicherias" are recognizable by the red flag or bag hanging on a pole outside. Often the recipient of the Andean beer will first drip a portion of the foamy top on the ground with the phrase "Pachamama, Blessed Earth." Pachamama is Quechua for "Earth Mother." This tradition of spilling the first portion of the beverage is a toast common in the highlands explained as giving the first fruits to the Mother Earth.