Beer Guys Radio | Craft Beer Podcast

We take a trip away from beer to talk kombucha and fermentation with Cultured South Cultured South may not brew beer but they are craft brewers making some tasty artisan beverages like kombucha and kefir.  Although they are fermented, like beer, the process is a bit different.  Kombucha starts as sweet tea and fermentation is done via a SCOBY, a Symbiotic Colony of Bacteria and Yeast.  Sarah "Petals" Adams, Cultured South's Fermentation Manager, explains you can't just create a SCOBY even if you know the cultures present in one.  They come together only under very specific conditions, and only when they damn well feel like it.  Cultured South Founder  and CEO Melanie Wade Styles tells us the SCOBY used to make Golda Kombucha comes from her grandmother and is over 40 years old.  They work hard to keep it alive and healthy so it can continue making great kombucha. Since we took up food fermentation as our lockdown hobbies we talk about getting started with simple ferments at home, Adams reco