>Anyone here have experience with old-country low-alcohol everyday beverages like sima, kotikalja, kvass, etc? Europe used to have a grand tradition of these lo

>Anyone here have experience with old-country low-alcohol everyday beverages like sima, kotikalja, kvass, etc? Europe used to have a grand tradition of these low-alcohol "near-beers" or "malt beverages" that people would drink on the farm. They were hydrating and had a lot of the health benefits of above, but since the ethanol was low I'm not sure what effect they had on cardiovascular health. When I was in high school my dad came back from a trip with a taste for traditional kefir, and brought with him some of the yeast 'grains' that are used to make it. He stuck with it for a few months, enjoying a couple of glasses a day, a jug continuously fermenting in the pantry. After a while he began to realize that he was more tired than usual in the afternoons and felt like taking a nap almost every day. As it turns out, the fermented kefir contains a small amount of alcohol–seemingly just enough to make him a bit drowsy. Maybe not even enough to be noticeable if you're doing something physical, but only if you're focused and working at a desk.