by abcd on Mon Mar 19, 2012 6:10 am
I usually brew ~3 litres of kombucha per batch, and bottle it in Grolsch-type bottles when it's ready. I have a rythm, so one bottle goes straight in the fridge for immediate consumption while the other two get to ferment longer and develop carbonation. As much as the bottles I used are washed, I never get obsessed about cleanliness - a good rince with a tad of dish soap, if you wish, is more than enough. What you read on beer-making websites is very often grossly exaggerated.
Re carbonation, I used to get a fairly flat beverage, but found a trick to increase carbonation. Just don't follow the piece of advice given on the beer-making sites that prompts you to leave out the dregs out of the bottle. The dregs, in your kombucha pot, are yeast deposits; and yeast is what makes carbonation happens.
So to make a long story short - to get carbonation, stir the kkombucha thoroughly until all the sediment is flying around in your brew, then bottle and leave a few days/week in a warmish place (I put my bottles on the top of the boiler).
cheers