Need more Fizz!

[Anamalier]

I've made a few good batches of Kombucha and I love it. It has great flavor! I've made batches with black tea with spices and Yerba Mata. My main problem is that I cannot get the fizzy bubbles that seem to happen in the store bought type.

Now, really the taste is so good I do not really "need" the fizz, but I wonder if there is something I am missing?

Thanks for any replies!

 

[rossi46]

Are you doing a second fermentation in a sealed bottle ?

 

[Anamalier]

yes

 

[ericbw]

I think you have to be sure to add enough sugar (fruit, sugar, whatever) and then let it sit long enough.

 

[Anamalier]

I'll try again.

 

[Morden2004]

Your problems are most likely due to an absence of sufficient sugar in the bottle to allow the yeast to continue to work.

Here is what I do and I get very (and I mean very) fizzy Booch.

I stop my brew when the taste is still slightly sweet - not tart.

I remove the Scobys (I use 4 usually) from the fermenter (25 liters) and save about 3/4 of a liter of unflavored Kombucha to store the Scobys in.

I then add my flavoring and 2 to 3 Tbl of sugar and stir. Bottle immediately leaving about 1" of head space. Place the bottles in a warm place (room temp is fine) and check a bottle on day 3. It should be full of Co2 and have fizz. If not quite to the level you want, wait one more day.

Refrigerate the Kombucha (or else be prepared to clean up a big mess).

Paul

 

[ericbw]

Paul, what do you ferment in?

 

[Morden2004]

Paul, what do you ferment in?

Because I am a busy wine and beer maker I use my standard 5 US gallon (approx. 25 liters) fermenter. It takes more of everything (like 4 or 5 Scobys) but if you're going to get messy you might as well do a big batch >

That way I only need to run a batch every 14 days or so.

 

[ericbw]

I hear people say not to use plastic for kombucha. I think it's probably fine.

 

[Owly055]

The easy to get fizzy booch is to keg and force carbonate it.......... But I've had excellent luck using a secondary fermentation of about a week. I put it in 1L EZ-Cap bottles which are a wonderfully strong Grolsch type bottle capable of over 100 psi burst pressure. I put about half an inch of my "bottling syrup" which is whatever flavoring I'm using . Sometimes a syrup made from fresh ginger and spices and some sugar, other times just blackberries cooked down with some water, and other times, whatever I can dream up.

The key here is to retain pressure without creating a bottle bomb. I don't think the EZ-Caps will "grenade". My opinion is that they will leak before exploding......... regular green Grolsch bottle swill explode........ I've not seen it happen but know people who have had it happen. They are far cheaper lower quality than the EZ-Cap brand. In spite of this, I want to maintain control of pressure, and the EZ-Cap offers a simple and excellent way to do this. A wide rubber band (size 64 at Office Depot) is put through the bail and fed through itself in a half hitch, the end extending down under the bottom of the bottle holding the bail down without latching. This system will vent at a safe pressure, but still high enough to carbonate. I do secondary for about a week in a warm place. The result is very fizzy and satisfying product.

H.W.

 

[Morden2004]

I hear people say not to use plastic for kombucha. I think it's probably fine.

Food grade plastics are considered safe and okay as far as I can tell. I've had no adverse results. That 1 litre plastic bottle on top of the fermenter is the container I use for bottling.

Paul

 

[Morden2004]

The easy to get fizzy booch is to keg and force carbonate it.......... But I've had excellent luck using a secondary fermentation of about a week. I put it in 1L EZ-Cap bottles which are a wonderfully strong Grolsch type bottle capable of over 100 psi burst pressure. I put about half an inch of my "bottling syrup" which is whatever flavoring I'm using . Sometimes a syrup made from fresh ginger and spices and some sugar, other times just blackberries cooked down with some water, and other times, whatever I can dream up.

The key here is to retain pressure without creating a bottle bomb. I don't think the EZ-Caps will "grenade". My opinion is that they will leak before exploding......... regular green Grolsch bottle swill explode........ I've not seen it happen but know people who have had it happen. They are far cheaper lower quality than the EZ-Cap brand. In spite of this, I want to maintain control of pressure, and the EZ-Cap offers a simple and excellent way to do this. A wide rubber band (size 64 at Office Depot) is put through the bail and fed through itself in a half hitch, the end extending down under the bottom of the bottle holding the bail down without latching. This system will vent at a safe pressure, but still high enough to carbonate. I do secondary for about a week in a warm place. The result is very fizzy and satisfying product.

H.W.

I use 1 litre plastic beer bottles (see the preceeding post and my earlier post with the picture) and I've never had a bomb. My carbonation takes about 3 days max.

Paul

 

[Aelwyffe]

I think everyone has the right idea - a bit of sugar needs to be left behind before bottling, and treat it like it's still fermenting. Mine was on the sweet side after 3 weeks and a new SCOBY. I used swing-top bottles, no additional sugar, and put the bottled stuff back in the same dark closet where it originally fermented. I tried some every few days and found that after 2 weeks I had carbonation nearly same as store-bought. My SCOBY has matured some... I'm not sure how that will affect the timeline.