Grolsch Flip Top Beer Bottles

[buchababe90]

I purchased a four pack of grolsch beer specifically for making fizzy kombucha. The first batch that I poured into the bottles was extremely fizzy after sitting at room temperature for about 3 days. The next time I used the bottles, however, the kombucha was completely flat. Do Grolsch bottles lose their airtight seal that quickly?

 

[ThePonchoKid]

Doubt it. It's a pretty tight lid. With varying temperatures, the varying strength of any given culture, Kombucha carbonation isn't all that consistent.

You could try freezing the bottles prior to bottling, to hold the natural carbonation already in the kombu pour, but as for priming at room temp you'd have to experiment more.

 

[porcupine73]

I use flip top bottles exclusively for bottling my second ferments. I have noticed this same behavior. For some reason once in a while there will be one or a series of bottles that just taste completely flat. Normally what I notice is after cleaning my continuous brewer, the first bottles I draw are fairly fizzy but not especially tasty. The bottles drawn after a few days are the best tasting and most fizzy. Then toward the end of the two week period they are still fizzy but the taste starts to get a little off from the dead yeast accumulation at the bottom of the brewer, so then I clean it out.

Some people like to 'prime the bottle for carbonation'. That could be a little bit of sugar placed in the bottle for example. Or it could be some fruit added for the second ferment. I usually put a slice of ginger, a gogi berry, and some elderberries. Supposedly the 2F bottles can explode. I have not had that happen yet, but I have had a few that when I popped the top half the bottle's contents literally went a good 18 inches into the air.