Suits to a “tea”

Lake Louie`s initial hard kombucha flavors.

Tom Porter, who created the Lake Louie Brewing Company in his Arena, Wisconsin, garage in 2000, is known for his Scotch ales, porters and IPAs. But now he’s making kombucha — hard kombucha.

Kombucha is tea fermented with bacteria and yeast. It’s slightly fizzy and naturally has a low alcohol content, usually less than 0.5 percent ABV. The drink has been growing in popularity in the U.S. and it is often touted as a probiotic beneficial to gastrointestinal health.

Porter wasn’t immediately keen on the idea when his distributor approached him and asked what he thought about hard kombucha.

“I said what? Are you nuts? But then I looked into it and saw how much people love it,” says Porter....