How do I make my homemade kombucha as fizzy as the store bought brands?
I pondered this question for years. Some of my batches bubbled over but others were relatively flat. Then I learned of a process called secondary fermentation (or bottle fermentation) that’s used when making sparkling wines. It is easily adapted for use with kombucha and yields a reliably carbonated brew.
A breathable cover is essential for brewing kombucha, but it allows the carbonation to escape. The solution is to culture the sweetened tea, but only allow it to partially ferment. The brew is then bottled and fermented for the remaining time. The natural yeasts become more active in the airless environment and the carbonation they produce is trapped. The result is a wonderfully fizzy kombucha tea.
Here’s what to do:
Brew the kombucha and store it to ferment as called for in the 5-Step Kombucha Recipe (go through step 3). Only allow the fermentation to continue until the new s.c.o.b.y. (also called a mushroom) becomes opaque, in 3-5 days, depending on room temperature. The kombucha should taste sweet, but should be entirely cultured. The fully formed new “baby” s.c.o.b.y. is a sign that the brew is ready to be bottled.
Remove the mother and baby s.c.o.b.y. from the brew. Use a wooden spoon to mix in the sediment in the bottom of the jar. The sediment contains yeasts that are important for carbonation.
Use bottles with tightly fitting lids. Fill the bottles full – leaving only ¼-inch of head space. This creates a nearly airless environment. Place a layer of wax paper under the lid. The wax paper acts as a gasket to help trap the carbonation inside the bottle.
After the kombucha has been bottled the secondary fermentation process is already underway! Store the bottles in a warm (about 72 degree F) place. After 2-3 days test one bottle by unscrewing the cap. If there is a noticeable release of carbon as the lid is opened then move the bottles to the refrigerator. This may take up to 4 days depending on the room temperature.
Use caution and patience when opening bottle fermented kombucha. During warm weather (over 75 degrees F) the bottles are more likely to bubble over when quickly opened. This is especially true if the brew is allowed to warm to room temperature before opening, just like our favorite store brands!
Six Steps to Carbonated Kombucha
- Brew kombucha according to the 5-Step Kombucha Recipe (through step 3).
- Only allow the brew to ferment until an opaque “baby” s.c.o.b.y. forms.
- Remove mother and baby s.c.o.b.y. from the brew. Stir the sediment in the bottom until it is evenly distributed.
- Bottle the kombucha in jars with tightly fitting lids. Use a sheet of wax paper under the lid.
- Store in a warm place until noticeable carbon releases when the bottle is opened, in 2-4 days.
- Move into the refrigerator. Strain before serving.
This was shared on Real Food Wednesday and the Probiotic Foods Challenge.
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I need help. I made my first batch of Kombucha but it is not like any of the store bought kombucha I have had before. This was flat, super sweet yet slightly watery and kind of yeasty. I followed the brewing instructions, then I used apple juice to flavor it, which might have been my mistake (I don’t have a lot of juice choices) and finally I did the second fermentation for the carbonation. Some help would be appreciated!
Hi Lisa,
I have a couple of questions for you: Did your instructions include adding some previously brewed kombucha of ACV to the brew? How warm is the place where you stored the brew to ferment? How long did you let it ferment? Did a second SCOBY form before you bottled it?
These things can be just a little tricky at first, but keep trying. Let me know some more about what you did, and we’ll send you in the right direction!
Dori,
Yes, I put in the kombucha that the scoby came in. OH! This is my first time to brew it. I keep it in the pantry, so I would say no more than 72 degrees. The first 2 bottles I left ferment for 5 days before I put in another bottle with juice. Yes, another scoby formed. Actually another one formed after I bottled it too, it was in the bottle when I opened it to see if it had carbonated after about 5 days. Then I put it in the frig.
Hi Lisa,
Thanks for your reply. I think it simply may be little cold in your pantry. Too sweet kombucha is a very good sign, and we just need to alter the environment a little to encourage the organisms to eat up that sugar! Since it’s warm enough to reproduce the SCOBY, it’s not too cold, but there are a few ways remedy the situation you described:
Option 1 is to let the brew ferment longer before bottling. We’ve had a cold November here in Oregon and my kombucha is taking about 10 days to brew, before bottling/flavoring. If you decide to do this, start tasting the brew at around day 5-7. It should taste like kombucha, just a little sweeter than GT’s, when you decide to bottle/flavor it.
Option 2 is to find a warmer place. When we lived in Alaska (brrr…), I stored kombucha on the top of the refrigerator (This worked out in the tiny kitchen as there weren’t many warm out of the way places to set the brew).
Option 3 is to add more finished kombucha to the brew when you start. (After hearing your situation, this may be what I would try first.) Add about 1 cup of finished (or store bought raw) kombucha instead of the 1/4 cup called for in most recipes. This extra ‘buch gives the brew a real kick start, but I still recommend tasting it daily before bottling. In the cooler months this can shorten the brew time considerably (in the summer it can speed up the process too much, resulting in sour vinegar kombucha!)
Fermentation sometimes seems like a cross between cooking, gardening, and keeping animals. It does indeed require some whacky and uncommon knowledge. I encourage you to stick with it, pay attention, and even (dare I say it) love your cultures. Soon you’ll become acquainted with their ways!
Please let me know how this turns out!
Best wishes-
hi
thanks for the great article. One question, what do you do with the mushroom after you’ve removed it from the batch? Also can i add ginger tea to my kombucha? And does the kombucha have to be fed fresh sugar tea solution like a sourdough starte has to be fed more flour?
Hi Roberta,
The mother can be used to make additional batches or you can compost it!
I like to add fresh ginger juice after I brew, ginger has its own microbiotic community that could possibly alter the composition of the mother culture. To keep the culture pure I add ginger after the mother is removed. See for more details.
You can keep the mother in the refrigerator, covered with sweetened tea or kombucha for about a month. Otherwise yes, it islike a sourdough starter, it needs a little nourishment every once in a while!
HI Dori,
My kombucha has formed a baby scoby and i want to bottle it so I can create a more carbonated kombucha. Here is my dilemma- I want it to be carbonated and flavored. Should I flavor it and let it sit out for 2-3 days and then when I open the jar and see alot of fizzy, then refrigerate it?
OR Should I flavor it and just refrigerate it? I am wanting the flavoring and the fizzy and dont want to mess it up. Thanks so much for having such a great blog and being a source of inspiration to all of us newbies.
Sharon
Hi Sharon,
If you want fizzy flavored kombucha, just go ahead and add the fruit, cap tightly, and let the bottles sit at room temperature for a few days. Just be sure to send some love to your brew and you’ll be sure “not to mess up”!
Best-
Dori
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Hi Dori,
I love this kombucha process!! I am using some recycled Grolsch bottles that reseal, & it is so carbonated that we have to open them outside! I actually had one burst & break into pieces! Now I’m not compaining, but I am wondering if you have any ideas on why my batches are so carbonated!! have you had any explosions?
Thanks
Hi Jenica,
I’m glad you like the process, but am sorry that your bottle broke! That’s kind of scary…but I have heard of it happening before. I have left partially full bottles of kombucha in a warm car and when opened the lids went flying! (I had a friend who could break a beer bottle with just the carbonation inside of the full beer…but that was long ago!)
Are you storing the bottled brew in a relatively warm location (above 72 degrees F) for 2-3 days? My secondary ferments can be especially bubbly in the summer months when temperatures here regularly get up around 75-80 degrees F. I know that if you’re in a warm part of the country, then it could be that warm at this time in spring.
Basically, you can remedy your over bubbly-ness by refrigerating the kombucha after a shorter amount of time. I’d say 24-36 hours is enough during the ‘hot’ time of our summer where our non-air conditioned house might average 75-80 degrees. I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any more questions ok!
Best wishes,
Dori
Hi!
Hoping you can help me. So I’ve been brewing a gallon at a time. My recipe was
6 green tea, 1cup sugar, 2 cup mother juice (kt from last batch).
It’s at around 75-80F.
A couple of things I noticed tho…I strained it and bottled on day 3, but the baby was very thin see through ish, yet the kt was going slightly vinegary already. So I bottled and left them in a cooler darker cabinet for 2 days. The result: the carbonation wasn’t great, they had formed another tiny mother, pretty stringy, and they were quite vinegary… Whats up here?
This time I did 6 green tea, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 cup mother juice so we’ll see.
Is it too hot, did I use too much mother juice?
Any advice or help would be awesome!
Thank YOU!!
Hi there,
I would say that the main thing I see with your recipe is that it calls for too much of the juice from the previous batch for the temperature range that you are brewing in. I like to add more finished kombucha if the temp is low (like below 70 degrees F). I think that your brew was already ‘past’ that sweet but still fully fermented flavor that I look for when deciding to bottle. Since I don’t know what else your recipe is calling for (and there are sooo many out there), I would suggest using my recipe for 5-Step Kombucha, then using the instructions of this post to increase carbonation.
Let me know if you have any other questions about the process! And remember that you’re dealing with a growing, adapting organism that responds to your love, care, and concern!
Best of luck and happy fermenting!
Best wishes,
Dori
Thanks for this post. I am fermenting my very first batch of kombucha, and I would love to have great results… like a nice, carbonated drink. I read the steps about bottling as soon as another scoby forms (you said 3-5 days) and then leaving on the counter for another few days. However, I am wondering if all the sugar has been used up by then. I am struggling with a yeast infection and so I want to make sure that I am not feeding the yeast in any way. Do you think that by leaving it on the counter those extra days the sugar will be all used up? I would love to know your thoughts on this! Thanks so much!!
Hi Bess,
Thanks for your question! Yes, the sugar will be used up during the secondary fermentation process. However, because it is brewing anaerobically (without air) it will favor the production of yeast over the production of aerobic (air loving) bacteria. So, by setting up the environment to favor yeast production (by filling the bottle to the top and capping tightly) the sugar will be used up to add fizz-propducing yeast.
Just to be clear, the yeast in our foods is not the same yeast that causes yeast infections. In some schools of thought candida (the cause of yeast infections) is said to feed on the byproducts of the yeasts in our food. So here’s my advice, just to be on the safe side while you’re vulnerable I would recommend fermenting your kombucha in the open (covered with just a breathable cloth) until it no longer tastes sweet. It should be pleasantly tart. Then, bottle it and leave it on the countertop for 2-3 more days. You will get a little added carbonation from the secondary ferment, but the majority of the fermentation will favor the natural balance of bacteria and yeast that are present in kombucha. It is open fermented kombucha that was used in the Soviet experiments that proved its health benefits. The other processes of secondary fermentation, flavor, and herbal additions might prove equally as valuable, but they just haven’t been tested.
On an additoinal note, I recommend the Candida Cleanse herbal tea blend from The Herb Shoppe. Give my friends at The Shoppe a call for more information! (503-234-7801)
Best wishes,
Dori
Thanks so much for such a quick and thorough response! You are pretty amazing! I will take your advice, and wait to bottle until there is no sweetness in the brew. I also contacted the Herb Shoppe… thanks so much for the tip!
I have a question and am wondering if you can answer it. The SCOBY and the baby are sticking together. I try to pull them apart without tearing them, but it is almost impossible. Is this normal or do you think I need another SCOBY? Thanks so much!
Hi Bess,
Thank you for the question! That is completely normal so don’t be afraid to tear the mama and baby apart – they’ll still work fabulously for you!
Have a great day!
Best wishes,
Dori