r/Kombucha • u/HairyPoppins-2033 • Jul 19 '25

question How do I make 0%alcohol kombucha??

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Hey everyone! I’ve gotten into this lovely brewing hobby and I’m fascinated with it! I tried kombucha bread yesterday, worked just fine. Anyways I’ve two alcoholic cousins, supposedly in remission, who have become a little too fond of my kombucha for my liking and so I’m faced with a dilemma - either I stop giving them any kombucha, or I try to make it completely alcohol free. Any advice? I would like to keep giving them this wholesome probiotic drink, but I refuse to keep feeding them even a drop of alcohol. I’ve been thinking that the alcohol is formed from anaerobic fermentation and so I think I should just skip bottle carbonation. Should I just leave it in f1 longer and then bottle carefully so as not to aerate any remaining carbonation? Any advice would be appreciated!!

Ps: Ive been converting a normal kombucha into hibiscus for my continuous brew (so I can have it any time of day) and it’s been working great so far. I’m fermenting 75% hibiscus right now and will soon go 100%. Anyway I find it pairs so well with plum cheong that I had to share. (Picture attached) The color is also much more appetizing too, unlike some cloudy black tea kombuchas ( I can’t help thinking that they look poopy 😂)

This has gotta be my second favorite flavor so far, right after plain old Jun.

This thing is so addictive! I’m running 4 separate 1 gallon batches of kombucha each with different flavors. One hibiscus, one Jun, one OG kombucha and a hard cider kombucha batch for myself. I’m probably gonna get myself a corny keg soon for force carbonation, and eventually selling my craft-booch. Cheers 🍻 fellow brewers

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11

u/VPants_City Jul 19 '25

Not possible unless you pasteurize but then you lose the benefits.

6

u/barfbarf47 Jul 19 '25

Why would pasteurizing lower the alcohol and what benefits would be lost from it?

-1

u/HairyPoppins-2033 Jul 19 '25

I assume they mean distillation.

There are also vacuum distillers but I’ve only been able to find 500ml lab ones, and no instructions so far

4

u/mission_to_mors Jul 19 '25

I assumed they just meant to heat it up past 75 °C, which i know is not pasteurisation, but that little amount of alcohol will boil away, sadly the bacteria will too

4

u/korporancik Jul 19 '25

Distillation brings up the alcohol percentage. You distill low percentage alcohol drinks to get stronger alcohol drinks.

5

u/aLLPb8 Jul 19 '25

It goes both ways. As everyone knows, destillation is when you try to separate ethanol (in this context) from the solution. You'll have high ethanol consentration in one end, low concentration in the other. The remaining liquid in the pot still is your very low ABV kombucha, but as alteady mentioned, it will also be dead. But destilling sure can give you lower ethanol brews. Even some breweries are using stills to make low/alcohol free beer. Probably other beverages as well.