What's going on with the second brew of my Kombucha?

[JMJ]

I'm still relatively new to Kombucha.  I was having mold problems, and I just threw it all away and started over growing my own mother from a bottle of GT's.  I also switched to the continuous brew method.  My kombucha is happy... very happy.  My mother is over a half inch thick and is fermenting quite nicely.  My jar is covered in a cloth, but it is quite effervescent, even though it is not in a sealed container.  The bubbles always push the mother to the top of the jar, and when I remove some kombucha, it is bubbly and delicious.

Then I try to ferment it a second time.  I put it in an old GT's bottle with some fruit juice and leave it for a day, and all my bubbles are gone.  It tastes more vinegary.  How is is that I get bubbles when I have no lid and no bubbles when I have an almost completely airtight lid.  What am I doing wrong?

[goldenwillow]

Glad to hear about a continuous brew. 

My husband is the brewer in our home.  He never covers with an air tight lid when brewing, maybe for the reason like you are posting that the fizz goes away.  It gets covered when we bottle though and it continues to get fizzier.    I will ask him when he is home and respond if you haven't received an answer.

Edited by goldenwillow - 6/22/11 at 11:59am

[JMJ]

Thanks for the response... it is really confusing me.  I thought that bottling it was supposed to make it more fizzy.  I know that reused bottles don't hold in the fizz as well, but I don't understand how it would be fizzy when I put it in and not fizzy after the 2nd brew.

[goldenwillow]

Well...  we are not sure either.  We have a friend that does continuous brew, shot an email to him a bit ago.  Will let ya know what we learn.  I am interested. 

[Casha'sMommy]

[goldenwillow]

Our friend hasn't replied as of yet.  Thinking more about it I think that their continuous brew is not covered with a sealed lid.  They have it open with a cloth.  Theirs does not have fruit juice in it, straight brew.  I know that when we flavor ours, we do it when the original brew is to our liking then we flavor and put it in the fridge.  Maybe the flavoring, in your case, is slowing the process again?  My thought is that it may be trying to ferment the sugars from the fruit/juice?  Have you tried flavoring with ginger? 

[goldenwillow]

I wanted to add... I didn't see you wrote awhile back about concern over my love of sugar.  You are dead on right.  I stopped drinking wine (had a few glasses a week) and that has seemed to curb most of the cravings.  I should say too that when I wanted sugar, it was in the form of honey, molasses and fruits.  It is really a self-defeating behavior I have fought for years.  I was a VERY heavy person most my life (lost 147lbs).  Been at a good weight now for 7 years, found out I am celiacs. 

[JMJ]

Xantho, I almost wonder if I'm having the opposite problem, that I'm waiting too long, and it's eating up all the sugar.  I've had a little more luck doing sweeter fruit/juice and only letting the second ferment go for 12ish hours instead of 24.  It is ending up a little sweeter and a little fizzier.  I think that perhaps the continuous brew is such an active culture that it's eating up the sugar really fast.

Re: sugar, yeah, tell me about it.  I have been eating way too many dates recently, and my body is complaining and asking for more.  Sounds like it's time for a sugar fast for me.  I just excuse myself because it's all natural: honey, mangoes, dates, bananas, berries....

[goldenwillow]

Interesting.  I re-read what I wrote and I meant to say we flavor out of the fridge for a few days or until it is to our liking, then to the fridge.  I think you are right about yours.  Since I have talked to DH about your continuous brew... he started his last night.  Excited to see how it goes. 

I totally hear you on the "it's ok, it's just fruit". 

I am interested in how yours goes.  I will be in touch with ours as well.  Thank you.

[goldenwillow]

I am not a complete WAPF fan, but do appreciate the thoroughness of their research.

This is a good article.  This is where we learned how to brew. 

http://westonaprice.org/food-features/1742-continuous-brewing-kombucha

and

http://wildfermentation.com/search.php