I started to make ginger bug sodas a few months ago. I've done ginger beer variations, lemon soda, lemon-lime, and orange soda. This is the second time I've made an orange drink and it has a unique bitter taste after fermentation. I think I may need to strain out all the pulp before I add the orange juice to the jug. In the future I want to try root beer and cola, I just need to get all the herbs. I also want to try a green tea lemonade soda, like a kombucha, except made with a ginger bug.

It's pretty enjoyable and an affordable way to make sodas at home. Does anyone else brew ginger beer, kombucha, cider or beer at home?

>>21405638 (OP)
Can you make one that tastes like Red Bull then tell me how to do it?

>>21405638 (OP)
Looks like piss and cum

>>21405717
Sorry it's not for sale.

Left my Kombucha bottles in two freezer bags before I left for two days (intentionally) and now the pressure gauge on them has slammed into max. Basically 3+ bar/50+ PSI.
The thing is, I've always done it in PET bottles before so I could feel the pressure build so I have no idea how durable these glass ones are. My aim was ~2 bar / 35 psi but shit has been hot so now I'm expecting them to explode if I try to open. I've carefully moved them to the fridge in hope to temper the fermentation. At the very least the bottles are real thick walled containers meant for fermentation, with swing top.

I pray they wont go boom tomorrow.

>>21405638 (OP)
this is so pointless

>>21406420
its called a hobby you dumb fucking loser

>>21405638 (OP)
My friend used to make his own fermented shit, sodas/mead/etc. but one time he forget to air it out or whatever so it blew up
His ptsd vet grandpa heard it and started screaming and then died, can't remember if heart attack or something else

>>21405836
I just burped one of my orange sodas and it sprayed everywhere after only being bottled for 8 hours. My orange soda has burst before so I'm praying they are stable until the morning.

>>21405638 (OP)
I used to make ginger beer with yeast to add carbonation, but then I realized that fermenting for just 48h makes it 2% ABV.
Also is there any way of removing the super fine ginger sediment?

Does the cum bottle anon still post updates about his collection on /b/ yearly? I haven't checked that since the 4chanarchive died or something.

>>21406420
I don't get why it's pointless? At the end of it, he'll have nice things to drink

>>21406516
Getting my batch cold solved it, it had dropped to half the pressure. I geared up with cut-resistant gloves and a leather apron wrapped around my forehead before opening one up in the shower. It barely even said pop.

>>21406727
Coffee filter. My problem is that kombucha continuously creates a new slimy scooby at the top of whatever it's contained in. So no matter how much I filter it'll always have some of that.

Dumb question for people in this thread: should you pasteurize your soda to prevent it from building up more CO2 and bursting or is it not worth it? I'm making the assumption that glass flip-top bottles that can handle some pressure are being used.

>>21405638 (OP)
looks like cum 0/10

>>21407514
you can always do a few practice runs with plastic soda bottles. They can handle high pressure but more importantly you can squeeze the side of the bottle to see how pressurized they have become

>>21407514
I've never pasteurized, refrigeratating them tones down the c02 a lot

>>21406727
>Also is there any way of removing the super fine ginger sediment?
You can use cheese cloth or a coffee filter. I have a funnel with a really fine plastic mesh that works like cheese cloth. However some of the sediment is just spent yeast, which will pass through filters.

>>21407358
I haven't seen Jizzus Christ's posts in probably 10 years. I am reminded of him too because of speculation that his bottles were just old ginger beer brews

>>21405638 (OP)
Jizzus is that you?

>>21405638 (OP)
What about champagne yeast? Has anyone tried using it instead of waiting for wild yeast? Does the species of yeast matter as much to the taste of a soda compared to beer and wine?

>>21407972
Champagne yeast ferments sugar like a rocketship. If you use it, it will convert most of your sugars to booze very quickly:

>>21405638 (OP)
>not sure why but pulp fucks with the carbonation process. I used mango nectar and it turned to straight vinegar. I had good results with fresh pineapple, grape, apple juice. Gonna try cream soda next - just need vanilla extract/paste + sugar, ferment that and then add cream.
Do you use a hydrometer? I got into this because i'm getting sick of zero sugar sodas

>>21405638 (OP)
I just made a batch of apple cider. 3 gallons of cider and 1.5 lbs of brown sugar.

Fermentation has finished and now it's aging but I'm realizing I didnt put enough yeast. I back sweetened to carbonate with active yeast but since all the yeast is dead it doesnt really matter.

I'm sipping on some right now. It's not too bad but not necessarily something I would be proud of. Needs to be a little stronger but I hestitated on that because last time it was too strong and effectively became apple wine. Got me super fucked up though.

Next time I'll do a few gallons with 2 lbs of sugar and plenty of yeast then back sweeten after primary fermentation and bottle in plastic bottles to carbonate.

I made a few batches of cider, mead, hard lemonade, and ginger beer. Eventually decided it wasn't worth the effort. Dumped the remaining bottles when I moved out after a breakup.

>>21407972
My first batch was just with active dried yeast, worked fine. After that I made a ginger bug that I've kept in the fridge for about 6 months now. It's pretty easy and it only takes a few days.

>>21407972
If you use yeast it will be more alcoholic, more prone to over-pressurize quickly, less tasty due to the absence of mild lactic acidity from the ginger bug, and more likely to upset your stomach (drinking yeast gives some people the shits — this seems to be way less common with the mixed ginger bug culture even though that culture contains some yeast).

In short, ginger bug is superior to commercial yeast for homemade sodas. Yeast is for fermenting alcoholic beverages, which is a more involved and lengthy process.

>>21405638 (OP)
Bro's literally drinking bug. Psy-op.

>>21406504
>My friend used to make his own fermented shit
he made jenkem?

I haven't seen a fermentation general so I'm gonna use this post
I'm trying to make sauerkrauts I used a random recepy using only salt and sliced white cabbage
admittedly I haven't sterelized the jar because i forgor and now it looks like this, I've been opening it daily near the gas stove to avoid further contamination, is it ruined? should I just try again? or is the white fur thing normal in this fermentation?

>>21411778
I forgot to add, there are some rocks inside to keep the cabbage below the liquid level, the rocks were also just washed with dish soap before

>>21411778
>>21411782
In lacto-ferments like this, if a small spot of white mold develops you can try to pick it out before it gets worse, but if there's a carpet of mold as in your pic you should toss it. Cabbage is cheap. Just try again with better sanitation. You may also need to work the salt into the cabbage to express more juice from it, so the ferment stays wetter. Even if you do everything right, sometimes shit happens. As I said, cabbage is cheap, so a 90% success rate is good enough.

>>21411937
Also, rocks are not a very good idea. They're often porous, which gives spoilage organisms a lot of crannies to hide from your sanitizing solution. Your mold spores probably came from those rocks.

Furthermore, while it is unlikely, the acidity of the fermentation could leach harmful minerals from the rocks.

You can buy glass fermentation weights or use a bag full of water to weigh it down.

>>21411778
Yeah, that kraut you made is fucked. Sanitize the jar next time and do what >>21411937 said. Also, try using those 4oz mason jars to help keep things submerged. It adds a bit of weight and will catch the liquid as it seeps out of the cabbage, which you can pour back in when the ferment reaches the point where the cabbage is re-absorbing the liquid.

Have you tried making it alcoholic?

>>21411937
>>21411947
>>21411955
thank you chadss, I'll try again

>>21411778
thats mold bro, dont eat that, throw it out
generally these recipes SHOULD be easy, people did that hundreds of years ago without sterile equipment too
why are you opening it? the worst thing you can do is let it dry, the solution its in keeps it from going bad

>>21411988
Well, if it's your first time making sauerkraut, try watching a vid on how to make it. I learned how to make it by watching this one.

https://youtu.be/EO90h3xB3oc

>>21405638 (OP)
>Does anyone else brew ginger beer, kombucha, cider or beer at home?
i used to, but then my dad found out how to do it too and hogs all the bottles now

>>21405836
I forgot that I had some bottles of kvass going in a cupboard I was supposed to move to the fridge after a day or two. One of them exploded. It was kind of scary to remove the remaining bottles but they didn't have as tight caps. Cleanup was a mess. Liquid and tiny glass fragments. Shit ran down on the microwave too

>>21405638 (OP)
OP here, I think I just burnt through all the sugar and that's why it tastes weird. I added a teaspoon of sugar to a bottle and it tastes great now. I guess this heat sped up fermentation a lot.

>>21411987
I have on accident, like 2 or 3% ABV

>>21413126
Glad it worked out for you. Orange juice is often noted for turning weird and nasty when fermented. It's the next-most iffy thing to ferment after melons.

I've been doing lacto-fermented sodas for a while now using whey from straining yogurt. I've had great success with ginger beer. I ferment a large batch in a glass iced tea dispenser, then use that to fill swing-top bottles for secondary fermentation/carbonation. I just experimented with adding herbs to the bottles during secondary which turned out well. Rosemary and thyme were tasty, as well as the combination of the two. I tried adding orange peel as well but feel like I'd need to add more to get more flavor. Possibly trying adding grapefruit peel for the next batches to get a little bitterness.
I find they are sweet enough to drink straight, but often add some strawberry syrup for a little extra sweetness. That, some fresh mint or other herbs to echo the ones used in secondary fermentation is a nice touch.

>>21413668
The problem with yogurt as a source culture for lacto-fermentation is that many species of lactobacillus associated with yogurt produce butyric acid (vomit flavor) unless fermented quite warm. Ginger bug is a good source of L. plantarum specifically, which doesn't do this. If your yogurt culture makes good soda, then you must have avoided that pitfall.

If you want to make citrus soda with the peel, I recommend the old "oleosaccharum" method of mixing the zest with equal sugar and letting it set to draw out the citrus oils, then using that syrup to make the soda.