Re: Second fermentation.............protocol please

[Guest guest]

Hi, RJ. I'm the one who wrote the note you referenced. Tried to include

everything in it that I believe to be true! :-)

One reason you might not have got many replies is b/c a lot of folks who remain

active in this forum do not bother with secondary fermentation, and prefer

kombucha in its original form. Other folks have concerns about bottles

" exploding. "

In my experience, I have not had bottles themselves explode, b/c I use heavy

glass swingtop bottles (secured with wire). However, I *have* had the

experience of the liquid " exploding " out of a bottle at extremely high pressure

when I opened it. (I accidentally left kombucha sweetened with pureed fruit for

two weeks, instead of decanting after 3 days.)

FYI, when I opened one of those bottles, it " baptized " 3 rooms in my house w/

kombucha (including ceilings, floors, and *inside* cabinets). I took the other

bottle outside, and tried to save the liquid by bending over a bucket to catch

the liquid. The CO2 force was so extreme that the bottle ejected the kt,

bounced off my body, then bounced back off the ground so hard that it sheared

the top off the glass bottle! So definitely the force of carbonation is not to

be dismissed lightly.

There are as many ways to do a secondary ferment as there are people, maybe more

so... You can do the 2nd ferment in a GTs bottle, but it probably will ferment

a day or two faster than if you do 2nd ferment in a liter bottle. Also, I do

not experience as much carbonation in repurposed GTs bottle as I might in a

swingtop bottle. YMMV

You can pull kombucha slightly sweet before you put it in the closed bottle, to

ensure it has additional sugar to ferment. Or you can add sugar, or fruit (as

sweetener/flavor), etc. (Any/all of the above.)

Carbonation is often increased when you add sugar/fruit/ginger, but not always.

Depends on a LOT of variables, including (but not limited to):

-- tea type/freshness/brew intensity

-- amount of sugar in sweetened tea

-- amount of sugar left (not fermented) in kombucha

-- amount of sugar/fruit added to 2nd ferment

-- temperature during 1st ferment

-- length of 1st ferment... (ditto these last two variables with 2nd ferment,

too)

The best way to learn is to experiment, and document what you do, along with

your results. Also, remember that it is an organic process, thus can/will

change. And just when you think you've learned everything there is to know

about kombucha, it will surprise you, LOL! Best to just " go with the flow " ...

hth,

Vicki in Orlando

>

> Can someone explain how to properly do a second fermentation.

> Should it be taken out a little sweet and then bottled in order to ripen

perfectly in the bottle..??

> I realize there are a lot of variables but " in general "

> I have even heard of people adding sugar to the 2nd fermemtation to get the

fizz.

>

> RJ

[Guest guest]

Just want to mention that I had several swing-top (Grolsch) bottles explode in

secondary fermentation. Fortunately, they were bottles that were deep in the

shelf and did not cause any injuries (though probably caused more bottles to

break open). But yes, it can happen and it is very dangerous.

You'll need to be able to refrigerate all your bottles once the secondary has

gotten to a certain point. Do not think you can leave any out at room temp,

you'll have a major mess, maybe not the first time or the 4th time, but then

there's that 5th time when you go, oh, I guess they were right, this is not

something I want to chance.

Also to mention, eventually the lids give out when you repurpose the GT

bottles-- that is why more carbonation occurs in the swing-tops, is because the

GT lids are not 100% airtight and get worse over time. It is possible to find

replacement lids online. I also had some reasonable success with a piece of wax

paper under the lid.

--

> >

> > Can someone explain how to properly do a second fermentation.

> > Should it be taken out a little sweet and then bottled in order to ripen

perfectly in the bottle..??

> > I realize there are a lot of variables but " in general "

> > I have even heard of people adding sugar to the 2nd fermemtation to get the

fizz.

> >

> > RJ

>