BGR236: Kombucha and Fermentation Fun with Cultured South

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 recommends starting with a basic sauerkraut.  We also talk probiotics (Golda Kombucha is 100% raw with live cultures) and how some brewers pasteurize and then add cultures back, rather than allowing the natural probiotics to remain.  As we chat we sample some of their fermented offerings like their Kraut-Chi, Collard Green Kimchi, and Luna Cashew Cheese.

If you're in the Atlanta area and looking for something fun and a bit different, head to the Cultured South taproom and order up a kombucha flight and vegan cheese plate.

Cultured South Taproom
1038 White Street SW
Atlanta, GA  30310
www.culturedsouth.com | Golda Kombucha  | Atlanta Fermentation Fest
404-549-8314

THE BEER LIST

Golda Kombucha CBD Hopped Georgia Citrus Lavender Lemonade Peach Ginger Strawberry Mint Atlanta Brewing Co. / Red Brick Conjuring Cultures Volume 1 Boulevard / Sierra Nevada | Terra Incognita | Blend of ales and barrel-aged ales Sudwerk Brewing Microfauna | Barrel-aged Golden Sour Beer

 

THE FERMENTED FOOD LIST

Cultured South Kraut-chi | Sauerkraut / Kimchi hybrid Collard Green Kimchi Pure Abundance Luna Cashew Cheese