Here's the update!
To review, I have three ferments going, two are identical: jalapeños, carrots, and garlic; and the third is a blackberry, blueberry, and habanero thing.
The jalapeno one was the first one I did, and I wasn't as careful as I should have been. I probably could have gotten it all in jar, but I didn't realize one could crush the peppers down. I opened both jars and I was not assaulted with any off-putting smells. It smelled nice and briny, almost picked (which I suppose is exactly what I am doing!). One jar seems to be doing very well and I sampled a jalapeno piece. It tasted like....well, picked jalapeños!
The second jar of the jalapeno ferment has some problems. No off-putting smells, but there was a noticeable layer of kahm yeast on top of the brine. (Apparently, this is a frequent consequence of using too much brine and I did indeed have a lot that was above the fermentation weight.) Kahm yeast is harmless, but it can start to alter the flavor profile.
I did my best to spoon it out, but that is tricky. The yeast breaks up easily and it is really hard to get a spoon in there. I got most of it, but it undoubtably will come back and I will need to scoop every day. I toyed with dumping the brine, rising the peppers, and putting it in a new jar with a new brine, but I think I'm going to call this one done in four days (for two weeks of fermentation).
Now the third jar, the one I did decently carefully two days later taking into account lessons learned on the first.....oh wow. I see why people do this.
The liquid is this lovely reddish purple, almost like a cabernet. Indeed, when I tasted it, it had wine-like qualities....and the flavor.....you get the fruit and then this lovely level of heat. I'm kinda excited about this one.
You can see in the above photo the difference between two jars on the left. The center was has much more brine above the fermentation weight. And look at that color of the rightmost one.
And the airlocks seem to be doing their job. No explosions or shattered glass thus far.
To review, I have three ferments going, two are identical: jalapeños, carrots, and garlic; and the third is a blackberry, blueberry, and habanero thing.
The jalapeno one was the first one I did, and I wasn't as careful as I should have been. I probably could have gotten it all in jar, but I didn't realize one could crush the peppers down. I opened both jars and I was not assaulted with any off-putting smells. It smelled nice and briny, almost picked (which I suppose is exactly what I am doing!). One jar seems to be doing very well and I sampled a jalapeno piece. It tasted like....well, picked jalapeños!
The second jar of the jalapeno ferment has some problems. No off-putting smells, but there was a noticeable layer of kahm yeast on top of the brine. (Apparently, this is a frequent consequence of using too much brine and I did indeed have a lot that was above the fermentation weight.) Kahm yeast is harmless, but it can start to alter the flavor profile.
I did my best to spoon it out, but that is tricky. The yeast breaks up easily and it is really hard to get a spoon in there. I got most of it, but it undoubtably will come back and I will need to scoop every day. I toyed with dumping the brine, rising the peppers, and putting it in a new jar with a new brine, but I think I'm going to call this one done in four days (for two weeks of fermentation).
Now the third jar, the one I did decently carefully two days later taking into account lessons learned on the first.....oh wow. I see why people do this.
The liquid is this lovely reddish purple, almost like a cabernet. Indeed, when I tasted it, it had wine-like qualities....and the flavor.....you get the fruit and then this lovely level of heat. I'm kinda excited about this one.You can see in the above photo the difference between two jars on the left. The center was has much more brine above the fermentation weight. And look at that color of the rightmost one.
And the airlocks seem to be doing their job. No explosions or shattered glass thus far.
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