Lizzard77

Oh Geeze! Sorry to hear that, definitely let it sit for a bit. None of my rooibos flavored brews like to get fizzy for at least 2 weeks, practice in patience for me because they are some of my favorite. Opened a cucumber booch tonight and it was crazy fizzy but not a ton of flavor. Gonna keep burping them and hope a bit of time will infuse more flavor, either that or I just don't like it I have higher hopes for the cucumber basil.

Kb -I have read that adding a bit of sugar to your 2F will help with the fizz. I have found that when I use candied ginger or tamarind my fizz is crazy, probably due to that added sugar. You might could try that, I also find that if I leave it sit longer it will get fizzier too

Bottled 2 gallons of booch yesterday. I don't know if anyone else has this brand, but Martinelli's makes a pure apple juice and it comes in really awesome glass bottles. I keep them for what reason? I didn't know until now! I can bottle large batches of my favorite flavors in them. So I did a large batch of ginger and one of lavender. With the rest I made a few cherry lime and I had a cuke that I let go on the vine a little too long, the flavor was good but texture not so much. I chopped a bunch of that up and mixed it with basil in some, lime in some, and plain cuke in others. Really excited to try this, it sounds super refreshing for a hot summer day. Speaking of, I consumed 3 16 oz bottles of the stuff yesterday, lavender peach, it was so cold and delicious while i was turning my kitchen into a sauna canning beets and beans.....I hope you can't drink too much!!! Has anyone tried making the 1F with hibiscus? I know we chatted about it but wanted to know if there was ever any success? I am getting a bit bored of my assam base and don't love green tea or white tea. Maybe I will try mixing green with assam for a fruitly flavor but light on the tannins.....just want to change it up somehow

Looks like everyone is rolling along nicely. I have missed my booch buddies! I am in booch heaven now that I am back from vacation. Just before I left I bottled 16 16oz grolsch bottles then stored a few SCOBYs in a hotel and made a fesh 2 gallons. Now I am home and I have those 16 bottles in the fridge AND I have to bottle the 2 gallons I made before leaving. Out of bottles though, oops! Looks like I will have to use mason jars (hope I have enough for that and canning veggies). I am happy though, I can drink booch till my hearts content (never)! I think I may just go simple with this bottling though and make mostly ginger and some cherry lime. I have too much else to do to catch up from vacation

Agreed! It's all good, don't you remember Sophie's taco? The fresh tea and sugar will be beneficial. Deep breaths

I second the earl grey question mark! The oils in it are said to damage the SCOBY, I would not be surprised if that is in fact part of the issue

Meg, the SCOBY is stronger than you would think. I typically place mine on a plate with some tea from the jar poured over it while I bottle. Then I can slide it back in after I have added the fresh tea to the jar. I highly doubt it will rip or break as long as you are slightly careful. And yea, fresh tea and sugar will do lovely things for it! BTW Nadia, yes I have done the SCOBY mask thingy but no I have not been doing it for ages. I love the effects but hate using a baby for it! I use it as a special treat every once in awhile

Yes, pictures please

When i first started drinking booch I definitely felt a little buzz, but it was less of a boozy buzz than a general well being feeling. I occasionally still get it but it's rare. It's hard to really tell the amount of alcohol in homemade brew but typically less than .5% (next to nothing).

Yay Annabel! Welcome to booch brewing, it's fab I mean really, it makes people really happy and booch is so good for you! Nuff with the cheese now but feel free to ask any question you may have, you've got a good group of teachers here!

'I need to bottle my third batch today but I'm out of bottles! Will it work for me to use wider mouthed jars, or will that kill all the fizz? Any experience with this?" I have bottled with wide mouth quart mason jars in the past and did not have any issue with the fizz. I did fill them way up to the top with only a little head room, perhaps 1/2 in. I was a bit nervous about exploding mason jars though so burped them every other day. Dunno why they would be any different than my swingtops, it just freaked me out some. But again, fizz was not a problem Yay Meg!!!!!!!!!

Agreed, especially when drinking out of a pretty glass, no goopies needed!

Meg, I don't know if this is helpful but, I keep mine in the second bathroom cabinet along with ferments. The cabinet stays closed. SCOBYs surprisingly are tough little boogers. It"s all gonna be fine, it will grow, they grow in a teacup of dirty water if you'd let them. It may take yours a bit more time for some reason or another, they are all individuals just like people. You have a good solid cover going now it just needs to thicken a bit. No worries and don't stress it sooo much, really it will get there. Big virtual hug

"Fellow, brewers, what's your best advice for grapefruit? I've done ginger, sage and lavender. Not bad. What else can I do with it?" Basil? Rosemary?

Meg, it's always good to be prepared! I have a lavender plant in my garden. You can order lavender flowers online, not sure about the leaves, which I prefer for booch. If you have a farmer's market you can go to ask around for farmers who grow lavender