I am a bit over half-way finished with The Art of Fermentation, but didn't want to wait until the end. Having just cooked an artichoke, I decided to try out my new-found knowledge, and poured all the leftover juice into a plastic gallon water bottle, added a bit less than a cup of molasses, some dried (crushed) organic chia and flax seed, a little clear Karo corn syrup and some organic tubinado sugar. I added distilled water to a little over half-way up the bottle, then left the lid on loosely, shaking things up a bit. Next day, there was some white cotton-candy-like mold, which I ignored by tightening the lid and shaking vigorously. I tasted the mix on the third day. It was slightly sour, but with a pleasant taste and aroma. I have since added more molasses, corn syrup and sugar, as well as filling the bottle with distilled water until one inch from the top. I also drilled a hole in the cap and ran a tube from the cap into another bottle of water for an airlock. It has now been almost a week, I poured half the mix into a scotch bottle and put it in the fridge. I make a drink of 1/3 mix, add about 1 teaspoon of sugar, and the rest club soda. Tastes pleasantly sour. The original mix is still giving off CO2 and in a fairly warm room. I'm just wondering how safe my mix might be, and should I expect alcohol or vinegar (since it tasted sour to begin with), and how long I should wait until bottling. I'm just new to this and I don't want to make something I will regret. Any advice would be appreciated.
PS - Thanks for the book. It opened up a new world for me.