The first time I made beet kvass three years ago, I was scared to drink it. This tended to be a theme with my first lacto fermentation experiments. So I had this half gallon of beautiful ruby liquid sitting on the counter, and then in the fridge, untouched.
Finally in the second week I got up some courage, and I took a sip. It was sour like sauerkraut, a bit salty, and there was a tinge of sweet raw beetiness. It was definitely tolerable! I drank about 4 ounces every morning and then made a second batch with the same beets as Sally directs in the recipe, and drank that too!
Since that time, I have made beet kvass multiple times and I like it for when I need extra nutrients and vitamins, or for a ‘pick me up’ in the afternoon. My body just hums on fermented food now, and I find that beet kvass provides a variation to the other fermented foods that I’m eating. It even tastes ‘good’ to me now, not just tolerable!
Here’s what Sally Fallon says in Nourishing Traditions about beet kvass:
“This drink is valuable for its medicinal qualities and as a digestive aid. Beets are just loaded with nutrients. One 4-ounce glass, morning and night, is an excellent blood tonic, cleanses the liver and is a good treatment for kidney stones and other ailments.”
Tips for making Beet Kvass
- Do not grate the beets. When grated, beets exude too much liquid resulting in too rapid of fermentation that favors the production of alcohol rather than lactic acid.
- Add beet kvass to salad dressings, soups, or wherever you would use vinegar or where a slightly sour taste is preferable.
- Be sure to make the second batch of beet kvass as the recipe directs, but leave some of the first batch of liquid in the jar to help start the 2nd batch.
Rating: 1 fork (key)
Difficulty:
Easy
Page in NT: 610
Ingredients:
3 medium or 2 large organic beets, peeled and chopped up coarsely
1/4 cup whey
2 teaspoons sea salt [TNC: I reduced the salt to 2 tsp from 1 T]
filtered water
Preparation:
Place beets, whey and salt in a half gallon (2 quart) glass container. Add filtered water to fill the container. Stir well and cover securely. Keep at room temperature for 2 days before transferring to refrigerator.
When most of the liquid has been drunk, you may fill up the container with water and keep at room temperature another two days. The resulting brew will be slightly less strong than the first. After the second brew, discard the beets and start again. You may, however, reserve some of the liquid and use this as your inoculant instead of the whey.
Photo courtesy of redfox on Flickr
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{ 25 comments… read them below or add one }
Serendipity! I am so excited that you posted about beet kvass today! I just got back from the grocery store (my 2nd one, because the first didn’t have organic beets), and lo and behold – here you are to save the day with beet kvass tips! I am a newbie to fermented veggies, and I had to laugh at your comment about being too scared to eat what you made. The only other fermented veggie I have made thus far is the ginger carrots from NT, and, well, I was never quite sure if I did them correctly or not. So they sat in my fridge for a while, then I got brave enough to eat some, and then no one else in my family would eat them.
However, I am going forth with more confidence (thanks to blogs like yours), and today I am going to make beet kvass. 
I’ll let you know how it goes…..
I am yet to try this, but I like the liver cleansing properties of beets, so It is definately on my list of things to try.
We have tried the Ginger Beer, Ginger Ale, Grape Drink and Root Beer. The root beer was gross, very medicinal, I ended up drinking it like a shot with my nose plugged. The Ginger Ale is my favorite so far, tastes super delicious at room temp. My husband liked the Ginger Beer, because is was very carbonated, and he is a former soda pop addict.
Oh yes, this is one of our regulars – it’s so easy to make and I really like the taste. Even my husband can drink it and he doesn’t like beetroot.
I am gonna do this! I feel sufficiently bolstered by your experience. Plus the beets growing in my garden came back to life completely on their own so I may as well use them
I am so glad you made posted this one! I always come to back this recipe when Im thumbing through NT but have been scared to try it. Thanks and I’ll try it next time I get beets in my CSA.
I found your blog about a month ago, thank you, I love it. After waiting for many long weeks I finally was next in line to get this book from the library, after keeping it to the last day they’d let me, I sadly returned the book and quickly rushed out to buy the book. The beet kvass was the first recipe I tried, I liked it but thought it was a bit salty but never thought to reduce the salt and haven’t tried it again. I’m looking forward to making it again with less salt.
I tried beet kvass last year and couldn’t stand it (sorry). Every day I had a little and every day it was more difficult to get it down. But it didn’t taste sour, just like raw beets, salt, and dirt. Maybe I’ll get brave and try again.
before i was pregnant, i could drink this stuff all day… now that i’m in my first trimester, a few sips make me want to throw up (and nothing else causes this reaction… i dont throw up during first trimester nor do i get really naseated… just irritated w/ food in general.) would anyone know why my body cant tolerate it now when it did before?
I have beets in the fridge and was going to make this tomorrow! What great timing! Thanks.
I made this a while back and tried SO hard to drink it, but my palate wasn’t “tuned” to fermented foods yet and I’m not a beet fan to begin with, so, Fail. But, I could manage a shot if I spiked it with a little tart cherry juice (not the sweetened kind). These days I can drink it much more easily straight.
I love the stuff. My tip would be to leave it in the fridge for a week before drinking it. It can be quite salty when drunk after the 3 days on the bench but once left in fridge for a week or so the flavour is much reduced, the saltiness has gone done and there is more fermented fizz taste to it. I have scapped making the 2nd batch as I find it too watery the fermented fizz is missing but I hadn’t thought to leave continue it with juice as the starter – will give it a go.
I wonder if anyone knows anything more about its healty effects? I tried googling but didn’t find much at all. Would love to know more.
Ta, Jo
Hi,
I have been a Nourishing Traditions fanatic for about 2 years now, and had to figure it all out on my own. It was absolutely daunting at first to switch my whole eating regimen over to Sally’s ways, but it made so much sense I just had to do it. I just saw the movie “Julie and Julia”, and thought, SOMEONE needs to do that with Nourishing Traditions. I did a quick little google search, and voila! Here you are. And we both live in Portland, Oregon. Crazy! Well best of luck to you. I will be checking your blog regularly, because I need to branch out and try more of her recipes.
No one responded to your comment, so I thought I’d offer some possible hope. I don’t know if this is your first pregnancy, but I have been through 2 and can tell you that your body does strange and wonderful things during this time that largely do not make any sense at all. Nobody reacts the same as anyone else completely. Most likely, you’ll return to your normal tolerances a few months after the birth, so hang in there!!
thanks for this post. I made this several years ago & thought I was having a bit of reaction to it & never tried again. Maybe I will.
I remember before that I hadn’t cooked w/beets too much & really didn’t know how big a big one was vs a small one or medium one & that I think I had the wrong amount of beets in the recipe.
Kim, it is such impeccable timing that you post this. I was just thinking about trying it again. Beet Kvass was also the first thing I tried fermenting from the NT book. And I too was afraid to try drinking it, so I made my husband try it first
Then I got up enough courage to try it for myself. I thought it wasn’t bad at all…something I could get used to. The only thing I didn’t like about it, was that it was a little too salty.
I am going to the store today to pick up some organic beets and will try making it again, this time with the reduced salt as you mentioned.
Just curious, how big would you say the chopped up beet pieces are? A half inch? More?
Hi Shannon… I cut mine in about half inch pieces. I do use a bit less salt than the recipe in the book. I think the original recipe calls for 1 T but I use only 2 teaspoons. I totally know what you mean about being afraid to try things! thanks for the comment
I tried this recipe yesterday. I did half the amount but only had small jars so used 2 jars (about 1/2 quart each). I hope this won’t affect the outcome!
Also I was wandering how much water do you have above the beet? I used 2 medium beets but both jars were only just over half full of beets.
Olivia… I think it will be fine as long as you put whey and salt in both jars. I just fill the jars completely with water after putting in the beets. I would say a third to half full of beets is good…
I tried my 2 day old beet kvass just now. It was fizzing but had a much blander taste to what I expected. Like salty water with a slight beet flavour, nothing like vinegar. I think it might need a bit more time on the worktop before I put it in the fridge as my house is cool this time of year, about 65 degrees F.
I can’t seem to get the hang of this lacto fermentation but I’ll peresevere till I get it right!
Olivia… yeah it’s definitely not ready yet. Try wrapping it with a towel… that’s what I do here in Oregon. Even though we have an early spring, it’s not too warm yet. You will get it! It may take longer but it will work.
I left it out for 4 or 5 days and found that shaking the jar before trying it made a difference as the stronger flavour was at the bottom
It’s actually quite nice. I’ve been drinking it every day.
is this supposed to fizzle? I think I goofed and made alcohol rather than lactic acid. Of course, I couldn’t find raw/fresh beets, so I bought ones that were already cooked/peeled. I’d understand if that wouldn’t work for the tonic, but the pickled beets recipe calls for such… either way. mine is fizzling.
I wrote my question too soon! I read through the other comments and have concluded that fizzling = good.
My wife just made some beet Kvass and it’s a bit like syrup? Any ideas one seems to be a bit more than the other…
I made this and left it out for about a week, until I could see some bubbles forming. I tasted it then, but found it quite salty, but after reading some other comments I decided to put it in the fridge and see what happens. Well, it’s been about a month, and I finally decided to try it again today. It’s actually very good! Hardly any saltiness, and even refreshing! I love the effervescence, and I’m just thrilled it turned out so well!