My son has lactose intolerance and he drinks the Kefir after one day of processing! This is not unusual for my Kefir though as I have alot of grains in mine usually so it processes faster.
I have both types of Kefir Grains. I find that the Water Kefir after you follow the basic steps to make it, can be made into a Champagne like beverage more so than a soda. It does contain an alcohol content of up to 2%. The Kefir in the stores is nothing like what you make at home!
If anyone needs Kefir of either kind, just pm me, I charge very little. I can not believe there are folks out there charging $20 an order and I read the comments about Dom, where folks say they sent him $60 for Kefir Grains? I also read he is sick. That is way too much money though. Times are hard, we need to help each other out, not take advantage like that!