Add any organic fruit juices that you’d like. You’ll know it’s working when you see bubbles forming and rising to the surface!Īfter 7-14 days of second fermentation, it’s time to add flavors! Give it a taste first and notice how dry and boozy it is before deciding your juice additions to balance it out. Allow an additional 7-14 fermentation days and store somewhere with relatively consistent temperature and low light while the ABV climbs. The idea is to only allow positive pressure of CO2 to build and escape rather than the air entering the vessel. This time instead of a cloth cover you’ll want to loosely close the lid over the top. Adding dry yeast directly into the fermenter without allowing it to rehydrate first will cause it to not achieve its foothold against the other active bacteria and yeast that already staked their claim in the environment. Once you’re happy with your active yeast, add the mixture to your gallon of kombucha and sufficiently stir it in. If the yeast does not foam, dump the sugar water into your compost and try again with another packet of yeast. Within a few minutes, the yeast and sugar mixture will begin to foam, this means the yeast has re-awakened from its slumber and ready to eat up all the sugars to produce more alcohol. We like yeast that produces fruity aromatics and flavor rather than spicy or neutral, but go for whatever sounds funky and interesting! Once it cools, add ¾ teaspoon of dehydrated champagne yeast with characteristics that appeal to you. But to make your booch boozy, you’ll need a second round of fermentation.įor this second round, dissolve 1 cup of organic sugar in 1 cup of warm spring (or RO) water. Ordinarily, you would add any flavorings of choice and then distribute them into smaller jars or swing-top bottles. If it’s too acidic (like vinegar) the second fermentation may not start or complete, so make sure to taste along the way (days 7-10) and catch before it becomes overly sour. The pH has dropped considerably as more beneficial acids are produced. You essentially have “normal” kombucha with only a trace amount of alcohol. The fermentation organisms require oxygen flow through the cloth to reproduce and grow more SCOBY and beneficial enzymes/acids.Īfter step 4, remove the SCOBY. Allow fermenting for 10 days with a clean t-shirt or breathable cloth secured over the top to prevent fruit flies from accessing the inside. Add your SCOBY and the starter culture liquid that come along with it. Step 4: Allow the tea to cool before adding in your gallon fermenter. You can buy one online, beg a friend who brews kombucha at home to gift you one, or just buy your favorite unpasteurized organic kombucha to use as the starter culture.įor 1 gallon of boozy booch, you will need to brew 14 cups of organic black tea with 8 tea bags in spring (or reverse osmosis) water and 1 cup of organic sugar. We like large mason jars or multi-gallon jugs like this. Step 1: Purchase a container for your booch. Oh and don’t forget to check out what sets our kombucha apart from the rest. It takes a careful eye, precise measuring, and plenty of patience during the fermentation processes. Upgrading your typical kombucha to a fizzy hard kombucha beverage is no simple task. If you’ve been itching to brew your own high alcohol kombucha at home, here is a step-by-step recipe guide that will yield 1 gallon of hard kombucha at approximately 4-7% ABV.