This drink is valuable for its medicinal qualities and as a digestive aid. Beets are loaded with nutrients. One 4-ounce glass, morning and night, is an excellent blood tonic, promotes regularity, aids digestion, alkalizes the blood, cleanses the liver, and is a good treatment for kidney stones and other ailments. Beet kvass may also be used in place of vinegar in salad dressings and as an addition to soups.
Beet Kvass
Author:
Serves: 2 quarts
Ingredients
- 3 medium or 2 large organic beets, peeled and chopped up coarsely
- 2 tablespoons sea salt
- About 2 quarts filtered water (8 cups)
Instructions
- Place beets and salt in a sterilized 2-quart glass container and fill with filtered water. Stir well and screw lid on tightly.
- The lid should have a little give (but not screwed on tight) to allow carbon dioxide
- to release, but covered to keep out microbes. Keep at room temperature for 2–3 days before transferring to the refrigerator. You will know it is ready when it is sour and slightly effervescent. Keep at room temperature for 2 days before transferring to the refrigerator.
- When most of the liquid has been drunk, you may fill up the container with water and keep at room temperature another 2-3 days. The resulting brew will be slightly less strong than the first. After the second brew, compost the beets and start again with a new batch.
Notes
Do not use grated beets in the preparation of beet tonic. When grated, beets exude too much juice resulting in too rapid of fermentation that favors the production of alcohol rather than lactic acid.
Hi! Question I hope you can answer. What if you cannot use Whey in your beet kvass recipe? Can something else be used? Also, not able to use any soy products (fyi). Thanks for your help! 😉
Hi Shari,
You can actually make beet kvass without any whey at all. You can just use beets, water and salt and the fermentation will still happen. It just takes a little longer. Just make a pretty salty brine with the water, pour over beets and let ferment until sour and slightly fizzy. It usually takes from 3-7 days. Keep in a dark place. Let me know how it goes!
I made this and was getting ready to put it in the fridge after my 2 days. It has a white bubbly fuzz on the top of the jar. Is it supposed to do that? is it safe to consume? If it is not supposed to be there what did I do wrong? I covered it with a coffee filter and rubberband. Should it have been a tighter lid?
Hi Heidi, Great question! No, you did not do anything wrong. This can happen with Beet Kvass and it is normal and not harmful. It is a natural mold that happens that you can scrape right off. Even if you drink a little bit, it is not harmful. Make sure you test your kvass before you put it in the fridge. It should be slightly fizzy before your put it in the fridge. Enjoy and let me know if you have anymore questions~ Amanda Love
One comment mentioned not having “whey” but the recipe doesn’t call for whey? In the recipe it says to let sit at room temperature for 2-3 days but when answering the comment about the whey, you stated it would take longer that closer to 7 days. I’m all new to this lacto-fermented process. 🙂 Help
Hi Penelope, Sorry for the delay. You don’t have to use whey to make Beet Kvass. It will make faster that way, but it is not necessary. If you wish to use whey, feel free to find another recipe that uses whey. I revised the recipe on the site so that it sets on the counter for 5-7 days. Depending on the temperature, it could ferment faster that this.
Good luck!