It’s essentially bottle conditioning (similar to how in beer and champagne-making, you add a little bit of priming sugar, then seal it up to let yeasts eat up the sugar and convert it into carbon dioxide). That’s what makes it fizzy. In the case of kombucha, that added sugar typically comes from fruit. 

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Bottling

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1. Add 1/4 - 1/3 cup of pureed/juiced fruit into each 16 oz. bottle*. Most of my gallon batches yield approx. 7 bottles.

• Read about what types of flavorings work best for kombucha and get some flavor/recipe ideas here

• Read what types of bottles work best for F2

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2. Remove your SCOBY and 2 cups of kombucha from your brewing vessel and set it aside.

Reserve this for your next batch of kombucha. This starter tea + SCOBY combo will be

what you use to make a future batch of kombucha!

• You can keep it in a SCOBY hotel for future use. Or just put it temporarily in a

spare bowl if you plan to use it immediately to make your next batch of

kombucha.

 

3. This is super important: Stir the remaining kombucha in the brewing vessel.

The stirring will distribute the yeast and bacteria throughout the liquid. This’ll

help make your carbonation more consistent across all your bottles.

 

4. Pour the kombucha (you can use a pitcher + funnel) into your bottles, leaving ½ - 1 inch of head-space at the top of each bottle.

 

5. Dry the tops of the bottles and make sure the lids are dry

as well.

 

6. Seal tightly! If your bottles have screw-on lids, I like

to use rubber grippers to make sure they’re sealed as

tight as possible.

 

7. Let them ferment for another 2-3 days at room

temperature. I like to put them in a dark cupboard for this.

There’s a slight risk for over-carbonation and explosions if

the glass bottles are poor quality and/or your fruit purees

are really aggressive. Just to be safe, I like to keep them in a

closed cabinet to contain any mess. 

• Read my recommendations on choosing good-quality bottles

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• Note: Beer bottles are usually made of thin glass so if you opt to use them, I don't recommend leaving them at room temp. for longer than 1 day before moving to the fridge. This will minimize the risk for glass breakage. Or don't use beer bottles at all!

 

8. After a couple days at room temperature, move them to the fridge. Once they're chilled, open one to test it out. The cold will help keep the carbon dioxide in the liquid, so it’s less likely to fizz over and make a mess when you open it. The longer you F2 in the bottle at room temp, the more carbonation builds up, so be sure to move them to the fridge after a couple days to pause the fermentation process and prevent over-carbonation.

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Should I burp my bottles?

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I know a lot of home brewers recommend it, but I don't. I find it unnecessary and counter-productive to the fermentation process. You can read more details here. Instead, I recommend leaving them alone for 2-3 days, then moving them to the fridge. When they're totally chilled, that's when you should test one for carbonation levels.

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What if it's not fizzy enough?

 

If you want more carbonation, you can bring the whole batch of bottles back out to room temperature and let them continue fermenting for another day or so. Then chill and test another bottle to see if the carbonation levels are better.

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I’ve had some flavors get perfectly fizzy in 3 days, and I’ve had other flavors that needed a full week before they got to the carbonation level I wanted. It just depends! The temperature, flavorings, bottle, etc. all affect the timing here. 

 

Read my guide to carbonation for more info on that. You can also troubleshoot other problems by checking out my top mistakes kombucha brewers make. 

 

It takes some trial and error since your kombucha will be unique to you and your circumstances. But you can figure out what flavors you love and how fizzy you like it. And as you get the hang of it, you'll find a timeline that works best for you!