The Brewkery: Reaching Booch-phoria

I hate kombucha. At least, I thought I did. It all started with a little sip of my sister’s Target brand kombucha. To my surprise, I actually liked it, a stark contrast to the kombucha my dad made me try–acidic, kind of like drinking straight vinegar. Since trying my sister’s kombucha, I started looking into getting into the “Booch craze”, and stumbled upon The Brewkery; a kombucha tap-room nestled in my own neighborhood. However, before we get to the fun stuff, allow me to give you a brief overview of what kombucha even is.

Sure, some of you may know what kombucha is because you have been drinking it since it was first marketed at healthfood stores on a mass scale, others may have been drinking it longer than that because you’ve made it at home for yourself. For those that don’t know, Kombucha is an effervescent, fermented tea, whose earliest origins are in China several thousand years ago. The fermented tea is thought to have significant medicinal properties, many claiming its daily consumption promotes energy, gut health and is the ultimate handover cure.  Kombucha also, in it’s homemade form, can have an alcohol content equal to that of your average beer, however, FDA regulations have forced mass distributors to reformulate their Kombucha to lower alcohol levels down to .5% ABV.

While it is a well known fact that I love a good cocktail, I sought out kombucha for its potential health benefits. About a year ago, I was diagnosed with alopecia (more of that coming soon) which has been effecting my hair growth for about as long as I can remember. One of kombucha’s health benefits, is it’s relief of inflammation, which is a symptom of my particular brand of alopecia, before a massive bout of hair loss. Because of this, I was searching for something that I could easily add to my diet and since I recently learned that I kind of like kombucha, I decided to give it a shot. During my search for the best kombucha money could buy, I stumbled across several posts about Lucky Elixir kombucha, which started as a booch loving couple selling their brews at the Overland Park Farmer’s Market before opening the Brewery Taproom in February 2018.

Since frequenting the Brewkery, I have come to appreciate the acidic after taste that comes with kombucha and, without going into significant gory detail, I can tell when I’ve gone without it for a few days. It’s a refreshing pre-game to a night of drinking with friends and despite the low alcohol content, I find myself leaving the Brewkery feeling a pleasant lightheaded feeling, what I like to call Booch-phoria. Perhaps it’s an all-in-my-head phenomena but I feel a distinct sense of homeostasis after downing a glass of komkucha; I feel more alert, I have more energy and I feel a little less guilty whenever I decide to splurge on McDonald’s french fries. I have also had the chance to try some of their cocktails and floats; a naughty little twist on the healthy drink.

Most recently, The Brewkery announced the release of their first ever kombucha beer as part of a collaboration with Casual Animal Brewing Company. The new brew will be available tomorrow (7/13) at both The Brewkery and the Casual Animal taproom. So if you are a kombucha lover, I’d say this is a must try. If you aren’t, this beer just might be the gateway you need to reach Booch-phoria.