[capozzoli]

I think I remember seeing years ago in a documentary that these tribal type peoples were inoculating cows milk with a little piece of dried dung.  I think they were Masai.

[bluesman]

OK..gents I did some basic research and found this......................

Kefir is a refreshing cultured-milk beverage which originated in the northern slopes of the Caucasus Mountains, believed to date back at least 1,000 years. The tribes-folk of this particular region who possibly developed kefir by shear accident consumed the nutritious beverage in large quantities. These people were renowned for longevity, living long, healthy lives with little to no known disease. An active life span of over one hundred years was common for folks living in the region where kefir was cultured and liberally consumed as part of a staple diet.

Kefir has a uniform, slightly creamy consistency, a sour refreshing flavour, with a slight subtle aroma of fresh yeast [or a very subtle beer-like aroma]. Kefir also has a slightest hint of a natural effervescent zesty tang. There is an assortment of some 40 aromatic compounds contributing to the unique flavour and distinctive pleasant aroma of kefir. Rounding this off, kefir contains between 0.08% to 2% alcohol. However, about .08 to .1% alcohol is a realistic figure for 1-day cultured kefir. Whereas kefir stored for a number of days after separating the natural mother-culture, kefir grains [see following], contained up to 2% alcohol, and possibly 3% alcohol, depending on the type of milk and ripening conditions. [Yep-- wow!].

Traditional, authentic kefir can only be prepared by culturing fresh milk with Kefir grains. Note that Kefir grains should not be mistaken for cereal grains. The natural mother-culture is referred to as grains due to its granular structure and appearance. This is to say that the grain part of the name can be considered as a misnomer. Kefir grains, or kefir granules if you wish, are in fact a natural-starter. The biological structure or each grain [which I feel can be referred to as a bio-matrix] is created through a dynamic association symbiosis between a vast mixture of friendly Lactic acid bacteria [LAB], vinegar-producing bacteria and yeasts strains.

Sounds like this guy DOM is the kefir guru....here's his website.

Fermented milk...

http://users.sa.chariot.net.au/~dna/kefirpage.html#what-is-kefir

[bluesman]

Had to say it. 

[capozzoli]

I am Jacks raging curiosity.

So the Caucus mountains,these people are Georgians I think?  Are they the forebears of Caucasian peoples?

[beerocd]

Water kefir grains are for making kombucha like drinks. Fermented juices, sugar water, etc...
You can convert the milk grains to water grains once they have multiplied, you just wean them off milk and onto juice.
Was that Amazon or ebay you ordered off of?
It will smell NASTY when it gets to you, make a batch and dump it, start drinking on the second batch.

[capozzoli]

Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Organic-Kefir-KEFIR-GRAINS-ORGANIC/dp/B000ZTG4UG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1286858188&sr=8-1

http://users.sa.chariot.net.au/~dna/kefir_cheese.html

Ill get the milk here. http://hiddentrenton.com/?p=54 Not organic but really fresh.

[euge]

*Shudder*

Naw it makes perfect sense. The situation: you got lots of milk coming, too warm to make and store good cheese. So you ferment it and drink it. Basically yogurt but evidently "beneficial".

Have to think about this one. Not much of a milk drinker though I'm not LI. Not all that eager to go rushing off to incorporate it into my lifestyle. I need more info on flavor and consistency.

Meanwhile think about chicha or pulque if you want strange fermented beverages.

[tschmidlin]

I love kefir.  We buy it at the store, I don't know if it's the real thing or not but it's delicious.  I've considered making it, but I don't even play around with the ginger beer plant that I have.   

[beerocd]

I love kefir.  We buy it at the store, I don't know if it's the real thing or not but it's delicious.  I've considered making it, but I don't even play around with the ginger beer plant that I have.   

How different is that from a kombucha mushroom, or scoby or whatever you want to call it? I grew one from a bottle of Dave'sGT.  Funny, I think we use these different names for the colonies of "bugs" to make it less gross mentally. 

[tschmidlin]

I love kefir.  We buy it at the store, I don't know if it's the real thing or not but it's delicious.  I've considered making it, but I don't even play around with the ginger beer plant that I have.   

How different is that from a kombucha mushroom, or scoby or whatever you want to call it? I grew one from a bottle of Dave'sGT.  Funny, I think we use these different names for the colonies of "bugs" to make it less gross mentally. 

GBP is more similar to tibicos from what I've been told, but it is a distinct scoby.  It makes a really nice drink, but it's another one of those things that you can't make yourself, you have to get some from someone else.

[capozzoli]

I heard that if you drink Kombucha that your penis could get smaller, you boobs could grow bigger and your voice will start getting higher.

I just cant afford it.

[beerocd]

I heard that if you drink Kombucha that your penis could get smaller, you boobs could grow bigger and your voice will start getting higher.

I just cant afford it.

Only thing that would bug me is the high voice. So you really got no margin in the other two areas -
even to try it.  

[capozzoli]

Ordered some vinegar mother too.

[bluesman]

Ordered some vinegar mother too.

I think we created a monster.   

[capozzoli]

I want to get some of this going this winter, I might as well ferment other stuff, maybe charcuterie too.

I dont get to brew enough cause truth is, I dont drink that much. How do some of you guys consume all of the beer you brew?