How to Make Hard Kombucha – Have you ever wondered how to produce strong kombuca, or kombuca that contains more alcohol? We’re dissecting the fundamentals of alcoholic kombuca. You’d be surprised at how simple it is!
ESSENTIALS FOR HARD KOMBUCHA
About 0.5% of kombuca naturally includes alcohol. This is because of the kombucha’s naturally existing yeast reacting to produce very small levels of ethanol, or alcohol. What can you do to make your kombuca more alcoholic if your typical kombuca yeast strains don’t make much alcohol by themselves? Utilize a different variety of yeast!
You may create a strong kombuca beverage with an ABV (alcohol by volume) of approximately 5% by mixing in a different strain of yeast, such champagne yeast! I’ve finally found an easy and dependable way to brew hard kombuca after much trial and error, guided by years of making non-alcoholic kombuca. Now let’s brew. The primary ingredients and supplies required for alcohol-based popcorn.
Also Read : How to Make Peppermint Oil at Home
KOMBUCHA DUE TO AN EARLY FERMENTATION
You’ll need some kombucha first! To make hard buch, take your batch of kombucha right out of the first fermentation. (This is how you start the initial fermentation of kombucha.) You can use either black or green tea-based kombucha in this recipe.
YEAST
Increasing the amount of yeast (not the kombucha yeast) in your kombucha will help it become more alcoholic. The flavor that results depends depend on the kind of yeast you use. Among the choices are. Your hard kombucha ale yeast (like this SafAle US-05), with a more neutral flavor, will taste like champagne if you use champagne yeast (like this EC-1118 dry wine yeast).
AIRLOCK
Airlocks are the last additional item of equipment required to brew hard kombucha. These successfully allow carbonation to escape while keeping oxygen out.
“But isn’t oxygen necessary for kombucha?” Excellent query! The first fermentation of kombucha requires oxygen for the microorganisms to flourish. To ensure that the bacteria don’t consume the alcohol you’re producing, you should stop oxygen from reaching the bacteria once the kombucha is done and you’re ready to party! (Read more about the kombucha’s bacterial-alcohol interaction here.)
Here, a lid won’t work since air must be allowed to escape the bottle!
How to Make Hard Kombucha
preparing hard kombucha involves an additional step in the middle, which sets it apart from preparing standard kombuca. It proceeds as follows:
- First Fermentation: Spend six to ten days brewing the kombucha. This is the process of making kombucha out of sweet tea!
- Second Fermentation: Add sugar and yeast to make it alcoholic, then let the alcohol grow (7 to 14 days)
- Add flavors and seal to carbonate during the third fermentation (optional; takes three to ten days).
Seems simple enough? Now let’s examine the specifics!
FERMENT FIRST: FORM THE KOMBUCHA
As usual, the first stage involves producing kombucha. To make your own, simply combine sweetened tea, starter kombucha, and a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast (SCOBY) in a big jar. Ferment for 6 to 10 days, or until the desired flavor—a sour and sweet blend—is achieved.
FERMENT IT AGAIN: MAKE IT LOUD
The addition of a slurry made of yeast, sugar, and water in the second phase will raise the alcohol level of your brew. What you’ll need is
- One cup of heated water
- One cup of powdered sugar
- 1 tsp yeast (alcohol or champagne; see to the notes above)
- One gallon of first-fermented kombuca
- Airlocks
Yeast Slurry: Mix the sugar and boiling water until the sugar is completely dissolved. Mix in the yeast after letting it cool to lukewarm. Give the yeast five minutes to come to a frothy state and start forming bubbles.
Bottle: In the interim, pour the kombucha into growlers, bottles, or any other container with a hole big enough to accommodate your airlocks. Divide the yeast slurry evenly among the kombuca bottles.
Airlock: Add water to airlocks (up to the specified line; you may need to refer to the instructions specific to your airlocks). Attach the airlocks to every bottle.
Fermentation: Place bottles in a dark, room-temperature area and leave them there for seven to fourteen days. When the flavor is slightly boozy and dry, it’s ready! Stop the fermentation process by sealing the bottles and putting them in the refrigerator if you’re not going to add flavor.
Enhance Taste: Third Fermentation
To give your hard kombucha a unique flavor, you can add flavoring in this last (optional) stage. This is the corresponding process to the “second fermentation” used in conventional kombuca production. You simply add any flavors—like fruit juice, ginger, spices, or pureed fruit—to your bottle and seal it. Allow to sit until carbonated and bubbly, 3 to 10 days. Place the bottles in the refrigerator to halt the fermentation process. See here for all of our taste recipes!