Beet Reduction Kombucha

[feruscultures]

Long time lurker, finally posting. About a week ago I made two beet reductions (I used red beets and golden beets), using about two quarts of shredded beets and four quarts of water, reducing until I was only left with two quarts of liquid. The pH and OG of the resulting liquid was about 5.5-6 and 1.025, respectively. I pitched a SCOBY and about 1/8 cup of mature KT on a quart of both reductions. After about 5 days new SCOBYs are already starting to form.

Has any body every attempted a beet reduction kombucha before? I'm pretty excited about the red beet KT as it looks deep red-purple. Any suggestions flavor additions during secondary fermentation? Thanks!

 

[snarf]

Interesting experiment!!

I've done lacto-fermentation on red beet juice, but never thought of using it in kombucha. Please keep us posted on the outcome!

I think I would first try it plain. Maybe you then get inspiration on good flavor additions...

 

[kyt]

This sounds absolutely horrible. Do let us know how it turns out for you though.

Beets... friggin hippies, what's the world coming to

 

[feruscultures]

snarf: Was your lacto fermentation a beet kvass? I've tried beet kvass a few times and wasn't very happy/successful with the finished product.

kyt: I'll admit I'm not the biggest fan of beets myself, but I tried the reduction and it actually wasn't too bad. Sweet, but not overly, and a little earthy. Definitely didn't have a strong beet flavor. I'm definitely not a hippie, but was inspired by Micheal Crane's experiments with beets in beer and decided to give it a shot. I've been trying to come up with a clever name for the red beet KT if it turns out half way decent and it will probably end up being a play on Reign in Blood/Raining Blood.

If this does turn out to be delicious I'm not sure if I'll be up for making a more than a gallon at a time... trimming, cleaning, and grating all of those beets was time consuming!

 

[snarf]

snarf: Was your lacto fermentation a beet kvass? I've tried beet kvass a few times and wasn't very happy/successful with the finished product.

I just made beet juice from grated raw beet and let it ferment by itself. The result was a bit weird, but somewhat okay...

 

[kyt]

I'm definitely not a hippie, but was inspired by Micheal Crane's experiments with beets in beer and decided to give it a shot. I've been trying to come up with a clever name for the red beet KT if it turns out half way decent and it will probably end up being a play on Reign in Blood/Raining Blood.

Just jerking your hippie yeast chains

I don't know about those names, I think you're on the right track though. Something of that nature would be pretty cool.
What about something like Viking Blood or Russian Blood, since it's kind of kvass-y?
IDK keep thinking about it, I bet you'll come up with something creative. I'm severely creative-deficient.