Olympic Fermentation Project

First 5gal batch of the summer in F1. Strawberry lemon balm kombucha coming soon.

We've been busy with our bakery project but found some time to squeeze in our first kombucha of the year. "Spruced up strawberry" - spruce tips and strawberry.

It's been a busy winter planning our bakery project but spring being around the corner has us thinking about kombucha again. First batch of the season coming soon.

We're legal & open (kind of)!

We've been busy this winter planning & working with the state to get our first business started this year. We're starting small with a cottage bakery that we're calling The Village Baker in Port Angeles. You'll be able to find us at the farmer's market starting late March through the summer.

Our goal with this business is to start getting our brand out there and connecting with the community. As we learn more and position the business to expand, we hope to open a retail location that we can permit to create more fermented foods such as kombucha, kimchi and tempeh.

We appreciate your support as we work toward building a food business dedicated to reducing waste, highlighting and preserving local produce, and adding variety to the northern Olympic Peninsula.

Head over to villagebakerpa.com to learn more.

This is Ginger Beer - well soon to be. What's available in stores is typically syrup with flavorings that has been force carbonated.

Historically, ginger beer (among other sodas) were another way to preserve or use extra produce, and are in fact healthy. We do itnthe old fashioned way and ferment ginger syrup using what's known as a "ginger bug".

A ginger bug is a culture created using wild yeasts found in ginger skins. It's fed daily, similar to a sourdough bread starter, and then pitched into the vessel when its healthy and active.

The yeast eats much of the sugar in the ginger syrup, producing co2 and yes, some alcohol. Typically ginger beer ranges 1-3% abv though it can be higher or lower.

Cheers to the health benefits of ginger soda. Drink guilt free.

We've got a variety of ferments in the works for the tilth conference later thus month. Most of this sourced from local farms.

We're tapping kegs lately and getting our booch out into the community. We've had great reception on our mulled cider and mushroom cocoa cola and are brewing those 2 to tap next. Our next mission is to license the brewery with WDA and bring it to the Port Angeles farmer's market.

Kombucha success. And the booch train has officially left the station. This round were test flavors before scaling up. Concord grape from our farmer friend in Port Townsend, mushroom cola, mulled cider and oregon grape / rosehip. We just kegged our first 5gal batch and mulled cider will be on tap in 2 days. We plan to brew another cider and concord grape for our next 5gal batches.

Well this is the beautifully imperfect class of Sept 2023. The beverage is great, the packaging is failing to do it justice. Our Rainier Cherry melomel is ready to take a short journey into the world to be enjoyed by friends and family. More refinement to come at our next show.

We love fermentation because it allows for the enjoyment of seasons past. These melomels (fruit infused meads aka honey wine) were brewed for the holidays.. yes its only Sept 1st. Mead, like wine, gets better with age and should be mature enough to enjoy by Christmas. In the forefront is Rainier Cherry melomel, and in back is Peach melomel, wrapped in a heater to help control fermentation. Tastes of summer coming ripe in December.

We've been packing up last month's experimental batches and came across a winner. We began fermenting Serrano chilis in blackberry flower honey over a month ago. The result is a sweet, savory, slightly spicy living honey that adds a punch of vibrancy to any dish. Packed with probiotics - tasty can also be healthy.

We've been looking forward to getting this one started. Rotkohl is a classic German side dish of braised red cabbage, usually with apples and onions - but braised with vinegar and sugar. This is a take on that dish, but with the components fermented in salt harvested from the Salish Sea. The end product should taste like a tangy sauerkraut version of Rotkohl. 3 weeks and counting!