Milk kefir taste and smell

[Jennport01]

I have been making milk kefir for about 3 weeks. I use whole organic milk that is homogenized and pasteurized. My grains seems very happy and healthy. They have doubled in size in the 3 weeks and are fat and plump. I switch my milk out every 24 hours. It's smooth and creamy and tastes good but it doesn't smell yeasty and there is no fizz. I have tried putting a lid on it to get fizz but that didn't change anything. I heard to add a citrus peel and that didn't work either. Made it taste great but no fizz. It smells just like sour cream. Now I love kefir. I got addicted to the store bought ones and I loved that fizz they had. Should my kefir smell yeasty? How do I get that fizz. Is it smelly like sour cream ok? I would have thought the yeast thing was what I was supposed to get. But I don't get that. Should I let it sit out longer? Any advice would be great

[AlexP]

Typically most people have issues with milk kefir being too yeasty and fizzy and they want that creamy bacteria rich kefir. If it is too flat and sour though, you certainly can miss out on some of those multi-dimensional flavors you get with yeast. Temperature plays a big role with yeast in milk kefir. Many times in the winter, my kefir is quite flat and just sour. In the summer time, it ferments quicker and yeastier with more fizz and those bread like flavors you get with yeast. If its fermenting cold, try a warmer place for it. It will slowly pick up more yeast. Also use some kind of cloth lid and it will naturally pick up more healthy air-borne yeasts overtime. If you are feeling more adventurous, try adding a little bit of dark sugar or molasses. That will almost certainly give the yeast a boost.

Alex