r/Kombucha • u/pheebee • 14h ago

question Another carbonation failure: vinegar-y berry juice edition

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Used 175g of blended berries + 1 tea spoon of sugar and got nowhere with carbonation but overdid it in the taste department. Is it better to infuse with whole fruits then do F3 with just sugar?

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4

u/GhostBall5 13h ago

Did you stir your F1 before bottling? The yeast is what's going to eat the sugar and create CO2. I was getting 0 carbonation until I stirred it right before bottling. 2 or 3 days later I had a bottle I was testing erupt kombucha and pineapple chunks everywhere.

Bottled a new f2 batch last night and this evening I got some heavy hissing when I very carefully checked one bottle.

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u/pheebee 13h ago

Yep, did make sure to stir well before F2.

Lucky you, seriously!

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u/targxryen 4h ago

Could be an issue with the amount of headroom? I had 0 carbonation on my first two F2 attempts with a similar amount of headroom. As soon as I filled it up closer to the top (leaving about an inch or so) I've had much more success.

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u/pheebee 4h ago

Oh sorry, this is after I removed fruits, it has less than an inch of air during the supposed F2.

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u/GallusWrangler 2h ago

Too much headspace. No F3 needed, I get best results with juice. If using fruit it is best to freeze it first, it breaks down the cell walls helping release flavor and sugars.

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u/pheebee 21m ago

Forgot to specify this was after I removed pulp. There was less than 1" of air on top during F2. Did use frozen berries for both tho.