In the words of The Brady Bunch “When it’s time to change, you’ve got to rearrange….”
When KBI first started with 40 members, we knew we wanted to create an organization that is inclusive and welcoming to everyone who shares the same passion for brewing Kombucha commercially. Six years later we can now boast a membership of nearly 300 members around the world; an increase of 750%! To keep up with our rapid expansion, we have added new staff to help manage the email inquiries and numerous issues and tasks of promoting and protecting Kombucha worldwide. To reflect how much we’ve grown, we are making changes to our member tier structure.
The first major big change is that the Brewery in Process (BIP) membership will be decreasing from $995 to $395. From the onset of that tier level, it has been KBI’s desire to lower the cost for BIPs and now that we have additional administrative support from our Administrative & Development Manager, we are happy to announce that as of October 1st, BIP pricing has been reduced by $600! We hope that will help fledgling and potential new brewers find the support and resources they need to launch their brands.
We also recognize that there is quite a difference in a brewery that produces 25K gallons of Kombucha a year versus one that produces 100K gallons a year, so a new tier has been added. We also know that as our industry grows, “a rising tide lifts all boats.” This means those who are at our top tier, Tier 4, will be paying higher dues.
As we’ve offered in the past, if anyone would like to pay their dues in advance, we will accept dues at the old rate through November 15th. If you’d like to take advantage of this offer, please email Kevin at info@kombuchabrewers.org. Paying dues in advance will extend your membership by one year from the date you joined. Subsequent years will be charged at the new tier structure rate.
NEW Brewery Membership Dues Structure:
Tier 1: $395 – 0-25,000 gal annual output
Tier 2: $695 – 25,001 – 100,000 gallons produced annually
Tier 3: $995 – 100,001 – 250,000 gallons produced annually
Tier 4: $1295 – 250,001+ gallons produced annually
Brewery in Process (BIP) $395 – Requirements can be found HERE
Adjunct Member $395 – Requirements can be found HERE
Affiliate Member $395 – Requirements can be found HERE
Headspace gas chromatography – flame ionization detection (HS/GC-FID) measurements and sample preparation were performed using AOAC methods for determination of ethanol in kombucha (AOAC 2016.12). Analysis was completed on a HP 5890 Series II gas chromatograph (four measurements per sample) with a Restek Stabilwax-DA capillary column using nitrogen as the carrier gas, and resolution of methanol, ethanol, isopropanol, 1-propanol, and acetone was possible using this setup. A calibration curve was constructed using Cerilliant ethanol standards purchased from Sigma-Aldrich.
Ethanol measurements were performed using an OptiEnz Sensors ethanol sensing system. The instrument was calibrated over 10 minutes using prepared ethanol standards. Ethanol measurements (six measurements per sample) were made by diluting 0.1 mL of sample into 50 mL of buffer, immersing the sensor probe into the dilute solution and allowing the system to stabilize for three minutes.
Density and Alcolyzer measurements were performed using an Anton-Paar DMA 4500 M-EC with Enhanced Calibration for Ethanol paired with an Alcolyzer Beer ME module and Sample Handling Unit (Xsample 22). The instrument was calibrated with degassed, deionized water and achieved a density measurement of 0.99820 ± 0.00001 g/mL at 20ºC. Sample analysis (six measurements per sample) was performed by pumping 40 mL of sample through the system, bringing the sample temperature to 20.00 ± 0.01°C, and then collecting density and Alcolyzer measurements.
Kombucha samples (100 mL per sample) were distilled according to the TTB-recommended distillation-specific gravity method (AOAC 935.21). Density measurements (one measurement per sample) were made using the Anton-Paar densitometer.
