Walker Brothers Kombucha: Sam & Luke Walker

Luke and Sam Walker of The Walker Brothers kombucha may not look like brothers, but their shared nerdiness over craft beer and kombucha clearly shines through in person.

The brothers began experimenting with home kombucha brews after being gifted their first SCOBY (the live culture key to making kombucha) by an aunt who always brewed kombucha for family gatherings. That same SCOBY is still used in their kombucha today, inspiring their tagline—“A Family Culture.”

They soon became enamored with the seemingly endless flavor profiles the fermentation process allowed them to explore. “While there is a science to it, there is also a poetry and mystery to it, as fermented flavors can have a life of their own,” Luke explains. They officially took the small business leap in 2018 by launching a line of ginger and cucumber melon flavored kombuchas.

The brothers have since added a citrus and a blueberry jasmine flavor to their arsenal, but something kept nagging at them. Kombucha is more of a grab-and-go health product consumed alone and they wanted to break that barrier and create something social that would build community. They thought, “what if we could combine the probiotic benefits of traditional kombucha with the communal, sharing culture around craft beer?” And the seed for making a high gravity, alcoholic kombucha beer was planted.

It seems fitting that to make their high gravity kombuchas they must use a “mixed culture” ferment, a combination of gluten-free yeast to produce alcohol and kombucha yeast from bacteria. The product perfectly echoes their mission: to be a bridge to connect people.

They use mostly organic ingredients, adding local flare whenever possible. For instance, their citrus kombucha uses cold steeped whole apple mint grown by Head Brewer Vanessa Antonino on her Joelton farm. They’re also exploring local “yeast wrangling,” or foraging for wild yeast, for future high gravity kombuchas. You can find their kombucha at Turnip Truck and other local markets round town, or order on their website for home delivery.

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