- To burp or not to burp.
It's an age old question
for kombucha home brewers,
and in my personal
opinion, I say, don't burp,
and I'm going to tell you why.
So to start off, I'm going
to explain what burping is.
And it's basically opening
your bottle a little bit
to release excess
pressure that's built up.
I've done a lot of trial and
error testing bottles that
I burp and don't burp, and
I've found that for my process,
it's just not necessary to burp.
Now, why do people recommend
burping in the first place?
A lot of people say that they
like to burp their bottles
every day or every other day
to help release any excess
pressure that's built up in the bottle.
They say that doing that will
help prevent the bottle from
breaking and exploding on
you, and it'll prevent the
kombucha from getting over carbonated.
I've made many, many batches
of kombucha and not once have
I had a bottle explode on me.
I know that it happens to
some people, and I have a
suspicion that it's likely
because they're using poor
quality bottles, like bottles
that they've gotten from
Ikea, or decorative bottles
that are not meant to be used
for carbonated beverages.
Another reason why I don't
burp is because I personally
like to have my kombucha
really be really fizzy and
really carbonated, and burping
is just counterintuitive
to that.
There are a lot of home brewers
out there who are terrified
of a bottle exploding in their
kitchen, and I understand
that, but they also complain
that they have a really hard
time getting good carbonation
in their kombucha,
and I think that those two
things are directly related.
If you want to build up good
carbonation in your kombucha
you don't want to burp, and
frankly, you don't need to burp.
Another reason why I'm not
a big fan of burping is
because a lot of home brewers
think it's a good gage
for how carbonated their
beverage actually is.
A lot of the time they'll
take their kombucha bottle
at room temperature and
open it just a little bit
to see how fizzy it'll get.
The thing about that is it's
not an accurate depiction
of how carbonated your beverage
will be when it's chilled,
and I prefer to drink my kombucha chilled.
When the kombucha is cold,
the liquid is able to hold on
to those carbon dioxide molecules better.
So in a nut shell, it's
able to keep the bubbliness
in the beverage as opposed to
fizzying up all over the place
and making a mess.
So if you chill your
kombucha before you open it,
it won't nearly be as active
as if you open it while
it's at room temperature.
I've found that on average,
for most flavors, it takes
about three days for my bottles
to build up good carbonation
during the second
fermentation in the bottle.
Some flavorings might take a bit longer,
so it's just a matter of
trial and error depending on
the flavor and depending on
your kombucha and depending
on the temperature that it ferments at.
So find what works best for you.
If I let it second ferment at
room temperature for too long
the worst that can happen
to be is that I have a mess
on my hands.
I have had gizors of kombucha
fizzy over and end up
all over my kitchen, but
I've also had bottles that I
second ferment for as long
as a week and not had any
problem.
As a general rule, I don't
test a bottle for carbonation
until three full days, or around 72 hours
fermenting in the bottle
at room temperature.
Then, when I'm ready to test
it, I chill it completely
before I open it up to see
how good the carbonation
levels are.
Refrigeration puts the yeast
and bacteria in a dormant state
so they're still alive
and they're still active,
but they're fermenting at a
much, much, much slower rate.
So there's no real reason
to burp your bottles
once you refrigerate them.
As with most rules, there
is an exception to this.
The one time that I would
say that it's okay to burp
is if you're trying to
ferment as much sugar out of
your bottles as possible.
So for example, if you would
like fizz kombucha that's
flavored but you want the yeast
to eat as much of the sugar
out of the bottle as possible,
then you're gonna want
to let it ferment at room
temperature for longer.
But, if you don't burp, of
course you're going to have
too much carbonation build
up and you'll have a mess
on your hands.
So if you do want to second
ferment for a longer time
at room temperature to end
up with a dryer kombucha
then I do recommend that
you burp your bottles
every two to three days or
so, just to prevent you from
getting a gyzor kombucha
whenever you do open your bottle.
So remember, this is a living
thing, so there is going
to be some variation across
all bottles, even if you're
using the same recipe, the
same kombucha, and the same
flavorings.
And that's okay.
I've certainly had my share
of messes along the way.
So be sure to check out my
video on minimizing messes.
And as always, if you're
looking for more information,
check out youbrewkombucha.com
Happy brewing.
(upbeat music)
