Fermented Beet Juice

After a week of brewing, my first batch of fermented beet juice was ready for the big taste test today. I was a little worried because I had heard others refer to the taste as "medicinal"--and that usually doesn't bode well. Fermented beet juice is medicinal, i.e. it's known to have anticancer properties as well as other health benefits, but the taste is actually very pleasing. Salty, tangy, a little bit fizzy and very beet-like (go-figure). I suppose if you don't like beets to begin with, you might think of this as medicine, but as for me I'm sure I could enjoy a small glass of this every day if it was available.

I've had a great summer beet harvest this year, and my fall beets are still coming up, so I'll definitely be brewing more of this. This was a good introduction for me into fermented foods--very easy to do and I had all the ingredients on hand. Until now all I'd experimented with was ginger ale and sourdough bread. I really want to make sauerkraut, but the grasshoppers have been having too good a time with my cabbage, so I'm not sure if that's going to happen this year. And I'm waiting to get enough cucumbers at any one time so I can make pickles. But at least I've still got tons of beets.

Here's a link to the beet juice recipe I used:
http://www.squidoo.com/fermented-beet-juice

And here's a link to an article on the benefits of fermented foods:
http://www.westonaprice.org/foodfeatures/lacto.html