Click on the questions below to reveal answers explaining testing methods to measure the alcohol content in kombucha. (Go back to main Kombucha page.)
Brewers qualified by TTB under the IRC are required to maintain records of the alcohol content of their products. (See 27 CFR 25.293.) Producers of non-alcoholic kombucha products who are not required to qualify with TTB under the IRC are not subject to this requirement.
However, to avoid liability under the IRC and ABLA, kombucha producers should take appropriate steps, including testing of alcohol content, to ensure that the alcohol content of their product does not reach or exceed 0.5 percent alcohol by volume at any time during production, during bottling, or after bottling.
Last reviewed/updated: 09/17/2015
When TTB tests samples of kombucha products from the marketplace, it generally uses the distillation-specific gravity method (AOAC reference 935.21), using a densitometer instead of a pycnometer.
Last reviewed/updated: 09/17/2015
Yes. To ensure the reliability of results, producers may use any method that has been formally validated (e.g., that underwent a multi-laboratory performance evaluation) or that is otherwise scientifically valid for purposes of determining the alcohol content of beverages, including beverages that contain less than 0.5 percent alcohol by volume.
A scientifically valid method is, among other things, accurate, precise, and specific for its intended purpose, and it has results that are consistently reliable, accurate, and reproducible.
Last reviewed/updated: 09/17/2015
You may contact the Beverage Alcohol Lab of TTB’s Scientific Services Division.
Last reviewed/updated: 09/17/2015
