How to Bottle this Stuff?

I am doing my first batch right now, and it has been fermenting for 6 days. I am thinking of doing a taste test soon and hopefully bottle it. How do you guys bottle? Can you bottle and cap it with a beer bottle? I imagine you have to get it pretty cold quickly to avoid a bottle bomb.... What do you guys do? Thanks!

Ah crap. Sorry, I didnt realize this was on the Komucha forum. lol

radwizard said:

I am doing my first batch right now, and it has been fermenting for 6 days. I am thinking of doing a taste test soon and hopefully bottle it. How do you guys bottle? Can you bottle and cap it with a beer bottle? I imagine you have to get it pretty cold quickly to avoid a bottle bomb.... What do you guys do? Thanks!

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I let mine go 6 or 7 days and then bottle. At that point, it's pretty much finished fermenting (in my experience), so bottle bombs aren't much of a concern.

Yes, you can use beer bottles/caps. I just reuse old 16oz commercial kombucha bottles.

I've routinely let bottles continue to sit for a week or so without any bottle bombs or gushers. I've never let any sit longer because by that point I've already drank them all.

If you add simple syrup or juice to increase the carbonation level, then bottle bombs may or may not be a concern, depending on how much you added. Just chill and open a test bottle every few days to see how the carbonation is progressing until you get a feel for it.

bknifefight said:

[advice for bottling beer]

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This is the kombucha forum....

Yes, you can use beer bottles with crown caps. However, in order to avoid bottle bombs, you have to make sure that
(a) the stuff is fermented out properly
or
(b) you refrigerate after a few days.

Personally, I let my 'booch sit pretty long, before bottling in champagne bottles (with crown caps). I then store the bottles for months (or even years) at room temperature, without getting bottle bombs...

I typically let it go a couple weeks, 3/4 to an ounce of juice and in a standard beer bottle and have had no issues other than people at work asking if I'm drinking on the job
I've let bottles sit at room temp for over a month, pineapple seems to give a higher carb but I have never even had a gusher.

Cool. Tomorrow is day 7, So I will prepare to bottle. I was hoping on adding apple and cinnamon some form of secondary, but I have learned the secondary is pretty much the final bottle. Sounds hard to get fruit into that bottle. Perhaps mason jars would be better.

Can I just add fruit and spice into another jar with the tea, let it sit for a few days (unsealed) and then bottle? (like dry-hopping??)

radwizard said:

Cool. Tomorrow is day 7, So I will prepare to bottle. I was hoping on adding apple and cinnamon some form of secondary, but I have learned the secondary is pretty much the final bottle. Sounds hard to get fruit into that bottle. Perhaps mason jars would be better.

Can I just add fruit and spice into another jar with the tea, let it sit for a few days (unsealed) and then bottle? (like dry-hopping??)

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Never done it but I don't think it would be an issue.

radwizard said:

Cool. Tomorrow is day 7, So I will prepare to bottle. I was hoping on adding apple and cinnamon some form of secondary, but I have learned the secondary is pretty much the final bottle. Sounds hard to get fruit into that bottle. Perhaps mason jars would be better.

Can I just add fruit and spice into another jar with the tea, let it sit for a few days (unsealed) and then bottle? (like dry-hopping??)

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If all the sugar in the fruit gets fermented before you bottle, then it will not end up carbonated. If you want the carbonation, you should bottle immediately.

I would do apple juice rather than fruit so that you don't end up with mush but that is just personal preference.

I would not do mason jars because they are not intended to hold pressure.

ChefRex said:

I typically let it go a couple weeks, 3/4 to an ounce of juice and in a standard beer bottle and have had no issues other than people at work asking if I'm drinking on the job
I've let bottles sit at room temp for over a month, pineapple seems to give a higher carb but I have never even had a gusher.

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The answer to that is always yes.

Do you mean that you let it ferment in the jar (or whatever the fermentation vessel is) for 2 weeks, then pour 3/4 oz of fruit juice into a beer bottle, fill it with the kombucha. Cap it and let it carb at room temp?

Did I get that right? After 2 weeks, it should ferment out completely?

And you're going for pretty lightly carbed for this, right? So it's a little fizzy?

ericbw said:

The answer to that is always yes.

Do you mean that you let it ferment in the jar (or whatever the fermentation vessel is) for 2 weeks, then pour 3/4 oz of fruit juice into a beer bottle, fill it with the kombucha. Cap it and let it carb at room temp?

Did I get that right? After 2 weeks, it should ferment out completely?

And you're going for pretty lightly carbed for this, right? So it's a little fizzy?

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You pretty much got it, except it's more then a little fizzy, it's pretty well carbed, seems to depend on the juice I use, YMMV