I found out about water kefir on this forum because I was looking for good probiotics (after taking a lot of antibiotics some time back I have a tendancy to yeast infections).
I made a few batches of the water kefir with sugar, jaggery and some lemon, also tried putting in juice for second fermentation. It tastes really great but its alcoholic - I can clearly feel that after drinking it and my husband too although its short lived - and makes some kind of buzz too....so not my ideal health drink although maybe good once in a while..at the same time I feel its possibiliy benefiting my digestion and also my mouth ulcers seem to have cleared up.

So I tried putting a small amount of grains in some coconut water....my husband says it smells like toddy...however I could drink it after 24 hrs without feeling like I'd drunk alcohol but taste was not very good...

I've read online about using milk kefir grains in coconut milk - that it works well - has anyone ever tried that before I go about getting a different type of kefir grains? or any ideas how to make the water one have less alcohol?
I've recently decided to eliminate milk products from my diet because i don't think cows are treated well where I live...

merry,

What was the ratio of sugar to kefir grains? Maybe decrease one or the other and leave the liquid to ferment more slowly over a longer time? I will be ordering raw water kefir grains in the future, but don't have them now, so cannot advise from experience--sorry I do know that the only dairy based probiotics that ever "worked" for me was kefir made by my grandma from raw milk from a local cow. That was when I was a toddler, and was eating a very basic whole foods diet and had a brand new alimentary system. Those days are over! I haven't ever felt a benefit from dairy-based probiotics after early childhood, and I am glad that there are plant-based ferments that do work for me!

Hi - I am using 1 tbspoon sugar to every cup of water which is what the instructions said...the taste is great - not too sweet or anything but just this alchohol problem!! Because my climate is hot that may not help so I'll play around with it some more...
I dont react badly to dairy but I notice cows are always tied up all day here so I dont feel comfortable drinking milk anymore- cow is supposed to be sacred here but its not treated like that..

Just buy a good probiotics supplement and use the time it takes to prepare the kefir on other things including reading good material, resting, sleeping, exercising, spending quality time with friends or family.

That's what would i do tbh, that's what i am doing. Good Luck.

kefir doesnt really take much time to make at all....and from what I read its got many more probiotic types than capsules...+ locally I can only buy probiotics in gelatin capsules with food colourings in them...

merry,

Playing around with the mixture to account for the hot weather may help--good luck!

merry, Water kefir by nature has alcohol due to the fermentation. I had to stop making it even though I liked the taste of the ginger. Tasted like ginger ale.

I may try again in the future but right now, I don't want the alcohol in my system.

Therese

Thank you for the replies - its a shame because it really does taste good as you say - if you make with sarsparilla its especially good...its surprising that its advertised as something to give to your kids in place of soda...do you make anything else in stead of the water kefir?

life101 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> merry, Water kefir by nature has alcohol due to
> the fermentation. I had to stop making it even
> though I liked the taste of the ginger. Tasted
> like ginger ale.
>
> I may try again in the future but right now, I
> don't want the alcohol in my system.
>
> Therese

But doesn't it need sugar to produce alcohol? I don't know about water kefir: is it simply water and kefir grains? I just don't get how that would lead to the production of alcohol.

If a chemistry-type person knows if alcohol would be produced after 12 hours versus 24, I would love to know. I am talking about a coconut water with kefir grains, by the way. A short ferment seems to be 24 hrs. but I wonder if there are no probiotic benefits for a shorter time and if alcohol would be present. I have Googled this to no avail.

water kefir is made with sugar or fruit juice (lots of recipes online) - it is just called water kefir as opposed to milk kefir. Most of the sugar is supposed to break down in fermentation
I dont suppose much alcohol would be produced after 12 hrs - after 24 hrs even I think the content would be fairly low but I dont know for sure. Are you using milk or water kefir grains because I suppose there might be some difference there to...

If fermented properly the alcohol content is pretty low, you probably get more alcohol eating 10 ripe bananas.

[www.vegankingdom.co.uk]

what do you call correct fermentation ? I just followed the instructions my grains came with buy there may be some other way?

banana who,

The kefir grains cannot grow in just water. The solution is called water kefir because water is used as a base rather than dairy or coconut, etc. The kefir grains use the sugar and or fruit to grow and ferment. Just as wine is fermented fruit, the water kefir is kefir grains in a fruited fermentation. The fermented fruit/sugar water kefir contains up to 3% alcohol according some to websites.

Therese

life101 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> banana who,
>
> The kefir grains cannot grow in just water. The
> solution is called water kefir because water is
> used as a base rather than dairy or coconut, etc.
> The kefir grains use the sugar and or fruit to
> grow and ferment. Just as wine is fermented fruit,
> the water kefir is kefir grains in a fruited
> fermentation. The fermented fruit/sugar water
> kefir contains up to 3% alcohol according some to
> websites.
>
> Therese


Thank you! Yes, it's coming back to me the distinction of the kefir grains. The other ones are dairy kefir grains, correct? What I cannot understand is why there is a difference. If sugar is what is being fed upon, the same would apply to dairy so...

The environment you're fermenting in totally makes a difference in the final product.

I make kimchi religiously, and in my old apartment, three days for the jars on top of my fridge was PERFECT to get a nice, sour, fizzy, kimchi.

Now I'm living with some dear inlaws, who aren't fans of having the house warm, ever, so it takes 5-6 days for kimchi to get to the same consistency.

Definitely experiment!

I work at whole foods and a woman came through my line buying just coconut sugar to make water kefir. she said all it needs is the sugar and water plus the starter.

RAWLION Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I work at whole foods and a woman came through my
> line buying just coconut sugar to make water
> kefir. she said all it needs is the sugar and
> water plus the starter.

Why not just use the young coconut water instead? I realize that it's a pain to have to open them but rather than sugar water, I think it's worth it.

thats a good idea! You can let the coconut water go probiotic on its own, but thats a dang good idea to inoculate with the right starter!

I think the skin of unwashed fruit may have a spectrum of the needed microflora. Grapes may work very well. Crush the grapes. Let them ferment for just 1 or 2 days. This will be full of beneficial organisms for your digestion with very little alcohol. You could use your favorite grapes, Pinot Noir, Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, etc.

Too much sugar will turn to alcohol on fermentation. Coconut water is excellent because it has other electrolytes to compliment the glucose in the perfect balance for our blood. A lot of beverages we drink simply do not get fully absorbed because of this lack of electrolytes. Kefir probiotics contain approximately 30 different beneficial bacteria and yeasts.

Even if you were to buy a really good probiotic with high levels of bacteria it is slowly degrading (the bacteria are dying) before you even buy it off the shelf. That's not to say they're useless. It's just when you ferment your own food like kimchi, sauerkraut, kefir etc. You are getting a guaranteed plethora of the good stuff. That's why you have to refrigerate your sauerkraut and health food shops don't. Most of theirs is pasteurized to reduce the enzymatic activity otherwise their lids would be popping off, but that also means they are less viable.

Fermenting is the way to go... :-)

well I have now stopped taking water kefir and think I may have had an adverse reaction to it. I noticed in the beginning when taking it that I felt a bit weak in the limbs and sleepy. However I thought that was due to the alchol and I could keep taking it in small amounts. My husband also at times was very sleepy after it...
however over time the sleepiness seemed to pass and I would find myself waking up early morning really energetic and thought this was positive... but to cut a long story short one day I found myself completely buzzing and unable to calm my mind, with racing thoughts and irrationally angry. I was also getting at the same time gastro effects (alot of acid burping) and a burning throat and skin on my feet and face so thought maybe it was giving me hyperacidity + a very slight fever feeling. So I stopped the kefir to see and my mind went back to normal more or less although still a bit anxious.
However I now have widespread muscle pain and fatigue (this started a little while drinking the kefir) and other unusual stuff going on..
googling I have found out that kefir is high in tryptophan. I had a bad reaction a few years ago to 5 htp and tryptophan anxiety medicine which was similar in nature. I have no idea if water kefir has enough tryptophan to cause such a think or if it is some other chemical in it (or a combo)...it does seem that bacteria are used to manufacture tryptophan although I have no idea how.
Its wierd though considering it is supposed to be a health drink you can give to your kids.
found the following links which make me think what I am saying is not impossible:

[forums.phoenixrising.me]
[onibasu.com]

also some references on net that it can make people feel euphoric...I have used only normal recommended herbs while brewing it such as ginger or vanilla and grape juice.

sorry for long post but I think caution is needed with this drink.

Thanks for this info, merry. Tryptophan itself isn't harmful; the body requires it. Large amounts aren't beneficial, so it's something we should be made aware of. Hope you are recovered, and can find another source for probiotics!

Thank you for the reply. I would love to analyse the water kefir to see what was actually in it but no idea how to get that done....for probiotics I am wondering about using normal yoghurt starter in coconut milk to see how that works out...