Homemade Beet Kvass Recipe – Steph Gaudreau (2024)

78 Responses

1. I have white mold on to is that ok .?it thrown our?

   1. I’d need to see a photo. If it looks like MOLD and not BUBBLES, it’s a good idea to throw it out to be safe.

      1. Thank you for your response. Would I then be able to increase the volume of water at the start of the ferment. In other words, use more liquid than what is called for in the recipe?

         1. If there’s not a lot of moisture after that time, add more by making some brine (salt water) with 1 teaspoon salt in 1 cup of water.

   2. Hi, I made a batch of this recipe, added some cinnamon sticks and bay leaf. Had to leave it an extra day because it was still to salty. It came out wonderful, deep, slightly thick rich red colour. I have a question though, will adding extra water after the ferment affect it?

      1. you cannot just add plain water because that will disrupt the salinity and increase the risk of bacteria or mold growing.

2. I am also making best kvass but store it at room temperature. It’s more pleasant cold but my fridge is usually at full capacity. Is there a specific reason why you store yours in the fridge?

   1. Storing it in the fridge significantly slows down the fermentation process. If you leave it out at room temp it could end up fermenting past the point you intended.

3. Filtered water? I am assuming that is so you don’t have any weird city water flavor? I have great tasting well water. Would there be any issues using that?

   1. We have chlorinated water so I filter. If you have well water then it’s probably fine to use as is.

4. Hey Steph!
   My first stab at this didn’t turn out quite right, but I intend to master this! After 2 days, it didn’t have the fermentation tang I was seeking, more like salty pink water. I let it ferment another two days but it developed a thin white coating. Thinking this could be mold I tossed it and am going to start over. Troubleshooting–I’m thinking my apartment may be too cold? Also, should the lid be on tight or should oxygen be able to get in? Thanks for your help, fermentation is somehow intimidating to me!

   1. Hey Laura…it’s possible it’s too cold and you need a little more time. Tight lid works perfect. Every once in a while I get a dud batch. Don’t give up <3

5. I’ve been trying to make also and wonder if I leave on counter 1 day too long. I seem to get a brownish foam on the top. Is that mold?

   1. Foam on top with a bit of brownish tinge is normal. It’s not mold.

6. Himalayan salt ok?
   Also I love your slow Sunday beef stew recipe! It’s hard for me not to make it every single Sunday!

   1. Yes, just be sure it’s coarse ground. If it’s fine, the end result could be a lot saltier than it’s supposed to be. Ahhh yay! So glad you love that recipe.

7. Made a batch of this today, can’t wait to see how it turns out.

   1. Sweet!! Super glad that you’re giving it a shot!

      1. I peel the beets will it work the same?

         1. yes but you don’t have to peel them…that’s just an extra step that takes more time.

8. Can I triple this recipe?

   1. Yes, but I would portion it into 3 separate jars. I’ve experimented with doubling the jar size and it hasn’t come out right because it was taking too long to ferment.

9. Will Himalayan pink salt work as well?

   1. Yes. You’ll want to make sure it’s coarse though. If it’s fine salt, you’d end up with a batch that’s too salty.

10. Does beet color matter? I have orange beets in the fridge.

    1. Nope! Orange beets will work great!

    2. Can I add ginger? If so when would you add it?

       1. Yes you definitely can. You can add it while it’s fermenting if you’d like. Or you can add ginger juice after it’s done.

11. HI Stef
    Saw this ans wanted to try but see it’s only 1 beetroot and 1 teaspoon of salt? Do you have them grams conversion and can you make it in bulk?

    Also do you eat the beetroot after or just the juice?

    Thanks 🙂

    See Also

    Franzbrötchen - German Croissant Recipe - My Cooking Journey

    1. Lauren you need at least about a 10-12 oz beet. If you wanted to multiply the recipe, it’s best to make it in quart jars and just make multiple jars. You can eat the beets afterwards, yes.

       To convert from ounces to grams, I use this site.

12. have you added beets to kombucha, would it have similar benefits

    1. It’s a different kind of fermentation. Kombucha is made using a colony of bacteria and yeast. Beet kvass is fermented using the wild bacterial cultures in the air. You can certainly add beet juice to the second fermentation of kombucha brewing.

13. I let it sit on the counter two days and in the refrigerator a week. I thought the taste was great, but not really tangy. Maybe salty? I’m starting another batch, maybe I’ll leave this one out three days before transferring to the refrigerator.

    1. Hi Rita…when it’s cooler out, it may take a day or two longer 🙂 let your taste be your guide

14. Hello, I made beet kvass at home. I tasted it after three days but was salty. Why? Thanks.

    1. Did you use *coarse* sea salt or something else?

15. Hi Steph! I’ve made this beet kvass a couple times and absolutely love it! I know you said that the beets can be used in a salad after making the kvass, but have you ever cooked the beets afterward? I don’t do well eating a lot of raw veggies, but I wasn’t sure if cooking them after they were fermented would be a no go

    1. Hi Hayley…you can certainly cook them afterward. You’ll lose their probiotic punch but they’re still full of other goo stuff 🙂

       1. Hi Steph!
          I made two batches at the same time, the same way- and one jar has a thin line of bubbles at the top of the water line and the other does not. Should I discard the bubbled batch?
          Thank you for all your help and knowledge!

          1. Bubbles are normal!

16. I used to have some of this at home, made by my Polish mother. Rediscovered it in Poland on current journey, and will try your recipe once we get home. Thanks for all the good tips.

17. I have been drinking Green Goddess Beet Kvass and love it but it is getting expensive. My husband and I just made your recipe so we will see how it turns out. We did add cinnamon and cloves because I like the taste in the GG brand.

    1. Nice let me know how it turns out!

18. I have been making beet kvass for about 6 months now and selling it at local farmers market the problem I have with it is it’s never fizzy am I doing something wrong it has the shour pickle taste looks great but no Fizz am I doing something wrong

    1. Try putting it in an air tight container that you burp every day.

19. You say not to scrub the beets which seems reasonable given that might be scrubbing away good bacteria, however my beets look dirty even after washing. Is this ok?

    1. Should be fine. Just rinse to remove any loose dirt.

       1. I may have scrubbed my beets too thoroughly… but I did get the “brown bubbling” at the top of the jar – so maybe it worked after all. It’s been sitting on the counter for two weeks though and seems pretty salty still. I realize after reading other comments that I should have used course salt. I’d like to salvage it. Can I just water it down? Maybe add orange or ginger? When should those be added? During ferment or resting phase!

          1. Ah yes, coarse salt is important because it’ll give you the right volume. You could water it down, sure but be sure to store it in the refrigerator and discard if you notice any mold.

20. Can you use one of the little ferment lids and not have to burp every day? Also, can you add dehydrated orange slices for flavor.

    1. Yes and yes!

21. Just tried making my first batch of Kvass and after several days it began to bubble and got a white film on the top. I tried skimming the film off, but could not get all of it. After that, the bubbling seemed to subside. I left the batch sit a few more days and the film developed again so I threw it out. I’m planning to try again and am wondering if you have any suggestion as to what was going on with my first batch. Should I have refrigerated it immedialye when the bubbles appearing?

    1. Probably left it on the counter for too long. Kvass generally doesn’t take several days. Bubbling, however, is totally normal.

22. Could I use the beet ginger gut shot as a starter for this or does it have to be the sauerkraut flavor ?

    1. you can use that!

23. Can you use pickling/canning salt.
    I’m excited to try this.

    1. I haven’t tried it with that. My guess is that it’ll be way too salty as the recipe is written.

24. how do u re due the second batch from the fridge beetroot liquid. and many times can u keep it going, before you have to re start. you can use the beetroot second time but can eat it then too, like you can the first time around.

    1. I’ve only ever re-used the liquid twice. I find the subsequent batches don’t taste strongly enough for me. Yes you can eat the beets.

25. How do one tbs of salt turn into 75 mg? The bacteria feeds on the sugar, but the salt concentration should remain the same. And if that is so, the drink should put one over the limit of what is recommended in a day.

    1. A teaspoon of celtic sea salt is about 6 grams in weight for the entire jar. I would hope that someone isn’t going to drink the entire jar at once, nor would I recommend it. You have to add enough salt so that harmful bacteria don’t grow. This is the foundation of lacto-fermentation.

26. I have a bunch of beets from the garden, and I want to make a few batches of this right away, but there’s no way we’d use it all right away… Is there a safe, longer-term storage method? I have a cellar, and I can. I know canning can mess with the health benefits, and may change it’s consistency. I’ve also got flip-top bottles that I could store them in.

    1. I try to use mine within a month or two of making it. Flip top bottles would help to keep it fresher but the shelf life still won’t be super long.

27. Hi – I just wanted to let you to know it’s not “lacto” fermented unless you use whey. Without the whey it’s just fermented. You can get whey from raw milk as well as from yogurt. Our family drinks raw milk and I was looking for a lacto-fermented recipe.

    In a world where you can be anything…be kind!

    1. Hi Morgan, wanted to address your comment. This is lacto-fermentation. Lacto- refers to the Lactobacillus bacteria that break down sugars in the food and make lactic acid as a by-product, not to specifically using a whey starter.

       Yes, whey starters are a thing and you can certainly use them 🙂

28. By any chance with the beet kvass do you know if yellow beets would work too. Or would it give off a different taste?
    (Yes I didn’t know there was yellow beets either).

    1. Yes you can do this with yellow beets.

29. I so love beet kvass. Thank you for this beautiful tutorial on how to make it.

30. Phooey! Version 1.0 rendered salty beet water. It didn’t ferment. I let it sit 2 days & then transferred to refrigerator for 7. I salted the beets. Not sure where the hiccup was. I want to try again, but I don’t know what to do differently to get a different result.

    1. how cold is it where you are? it probably needed more time. you have to taste it before just putting it in the fridge arbitrarily. the way to solve it is to let it keep fermenting at room temp.

31. I have a real salt but it’s fine. How much fine salt would you use?

    1. I didn’t test that so I unfortunately can’t say. It would likely be less but I don’t have an exact amount because I didn’t recipe test it.

32. Thank you for such a recipe. I love this beet kvass!

    1. Yay!!!

33. Steph, great recipe. If I use Gut Shot beet ginger juice as a starter, how much should I add to the 3 cups water mix?

    1. 2-3 tablespoons should be enough

34. Hi Steph. I’ve been looking for information on drying this kvass (powder, fruit-strips, etc.) but can’t seem to find anything related to kvass, just beets themselves. Up here in canada where half the year is winter, it would be nice to find a way to preserve these beneficial probiotics and have them available all year

    1. I don’t know anything about it.