So, Whats the upkeep with ginger bugs after use?

[u/lazypunx]

Hey gang! new to fermenting, made tepache with success and now im onto making sodas with my ginger bug I started on March 31st.

It was ready for use so I put 1/2c of strained ginger bug with some juice and filtered water and now we wait and hope the bottles dont explode lol

I've been doing the daily feedings for the past 5 days and now i dunno what to do with my ginger bug to keep it alive.

I know I should keep it in the fridge so that it remains dormant, but do i put more water into it? And as far as I understand it only needs to be fed weekly if its in the fridge. Also; does the ginger bug need to have a tight lid on the jar or should it remain open while in the fridge?

Sorry if these questions seem stupid or repetitive. I appreciate any help!

[u/THEpottedplant]

Wait, you put your ginger bug directly into bottles with juice? Id get those things in a cooler or other small, enclosed space, to contain them in the event of an explosion. Seems pretty likely tbh. Be careful opening.

Normally ginger bug is added to a gallon sized vessel for primary fermentation, along with water, ginger, cup of sugar, cup or so of whatever juice you used to flavor. 2-3 days in primary, bottle in to secondary ferm, then 2-3 more days before perf carbonation and then refrigeration.

To answer your question, i would restabilize it first. So add water back to normal level and feed it ginger and sugar. Should be normal by tomorrow, then i would feed it and fridge it. I have a tight lid on my ginger bug pretty much all the time, regardless of whether or not its in the fridge or fermenting. Ime, reduces the likelihood of turning to acid.

Outside of that tho, once i have my ginger beer running in a primary vessel, i just use that as a starter culture for the next run. I try to save a bit of liquid, but im pretty sure most of the colony lives inside the ginger chunks at this point. So, after bottling for secondary, ill just fill the primary vessel right back up with fresh ginger, sugar, water, bit of juice, let it ferm for 2-3 days, then bottle again. I

[u/lazypunx → u/THEpottedplant]

you put your ginger bug directly into bottles with juice? Id get those things in a cooler or other small, enclosed space, to contain them in the event of an explosion. Seems pretty likely tbh. Be careful opening.

yes, as a precautionary measure ive put my swing top bottles in a box with a plastic bag over it cause you never know lol but never thought to put it in a cooler, ill def dig mine out and use that.

Good advice tho ill be sure to follow it!

[u/THEpottedplant → u/lazypunx]

Yeah, a bag is seriously underestimating the potential force of a bottle bomb, but im glad you were already thinking that way

[u/lazypunx → u/THEpottedplant]

totally right. I'm def gonna put in a cooler. Thanks for the tip!

[u/Responsible-Bat-7561 → u/THEpottedplant]

I always put strained bug into flavoured juice of some sort in bottles. Like most recipes suggest. Never had an explosion, burp daily until refrigerated. I don’t think what you say is ‘normal’. Nothing wrong with it but an unnecessary and unusual extra step.