Carbonated drink fermentation question.

[ScottishMike]

Hi there.

I'm coming to the end of my first fermentation and have a quick question.

Both of my batches seem to be coming along well, lots of bubbles rising to the surface. However, the rate of rising bubbles is slower in one than the other - in fact it seems to be slowing down. My question is - if bubbles stop rising, is that an indication that fermentation has ended i.e. the yeast has died or the sugar has all been consumed?

Cheers
Mike

[ezcaps_phpbb3_import2]

Question #24: I can't tell if it's fermenting. How do I tell? When do I stop?

Answer: When a beverage begins to ferment small bubbles will rise to the top. As the fermentation gets more vigorous foam may form at the top of the beverage. You may occasionally hear a hissing sound as the EZ cap vents CO2 gas. Eventually, fermentation becomes less apparent. The foam may disappear but if you look closely you can still see bubble rising to the top. Another way to tell: If it is quiet, and your hearing is good, you can actually hear it fermenting if you put your ear to the beverage. It will sound like quiet static. When you can no longer see small bubbles rising, fermentation has ended. It is important to note that you may not want fermentation to end on it's own. Depending on how much sugar you added to the recipe, a completely fermented beverage may taste very sour. For the purposes of alcoholic beverage making, fermentation is either completed when the beverage tastes the way that you want it, or all the yeast has died or gone dormant because either all the sugars were used up or the alcohol level got so high it killed the yeast.