Last week I had the opportunity to visit the Beyond Kombucha office and brewery. They are located right here in Astoria and are producing a lot of kombucha in their relatively small space. The visit was both educational and fun, plus I got to try some different flavors, all of which were delicious.
As I walked to their office from the train, I totally missed the entrance to the space! It’s actually located in the back of a parking lot in amongst a bunch of other small industrial spaces and warehouses; more specifically, the space is located below the Rent-a-Center in Astoria.
Once I figured out where they were exactly, with help from Liz (Beyond Kombucha’s Project Co-ordinator) on the phone and a couple of nice guys in the parking lot, I descended the stairs to the office. As I did, the aroma of kombucha hit me – that lovely sour smell I like so much. I met Liz and Spiro, the founder of the company, and Liz took me on a tour.
First, we visited the room containing the second fermentation vessel and the final vat for the kombucha ale, but we then realized it would be better to start where the kombucha itself was brewing. That room currently contains wooden barrels brewing vanilla rooibos tea as well as a “SCOBY farm” – lots of large jars containing SCOBYs. I have to admit, the idea of a SCOBY farm is pretty cool.
I love the look of the wooden vessels brewing the vanilla rooibos for the Mava Roka, Beyond Kombucha’s own kombucha ale. Yes, you heard that right! Beer!
I believe these are oak barrels in which they are brewing the vanilla rooibos.
