Half a percent, and why it moves

The second line, and the only threshold in this estate that a product can cross on a shelf after you have been paid for it.

The threshold

Under TTB, a fermented beverage containing 0.5 percent alcohol by volume or more is an alcohol beverage.

At or above that figure it is classified as beer for tax purposes, and the producer must qualify as a brewer under 27 CFR part 25, file a formula before production, and pay federal excise tax.

The words that matter are "after bottling"

TTB's position is explicit and it is the whole of this page: the threshold applies if the alcohol content reaches 0.5 percent at any time during production, when bottled, or at any time after bottling as a result of continued fermentation.

So a kombucha measured at 0.4 percent on the filling line is not safe. If it reaches 0.5 percent three weeks later in a warm shop, it is an alcohol beverage.

Which means the measurement at bottling is necessary and not sufficient, and what actually controls the outcome is residual sugar, live culture and temperature in the bottle.

What it makes the product

Production on premises qualified by TTB under the Internal Revenue Code.

A formula filed with TTB before production.

Compliance with the applicable labeling and tax requirements.

And the health warning statement required by the Alcoholic Beverage Labeling Act of 1988 on the container.

None of that is a small adjustment. It is a different license, a different tax status and a different label.

Why kombucha specifically

Because it is sold as a non-alcoholic drink, made by a live fermentation, containing residual sugar, and distributed at ambient temperature by small producers.

Every one of those points the same way. The culture is still alive, the sugar is still there, and the only thing slowing it is cold.

Which is why the category has a well-known history of products testing above the line, and why the cold chain is a compliance control here rather than a quality preference.

References