It’s alive ! Just a little story about my winter kimchi and how it get fixed

I made it 1 month ago and for the first time, I was not satisfied … It tastes weird… the smell is ok but when you eat it, it’s a bit like breathing through a gas line !
I first blamed myself, maybe I did something wrong with the recipe, maybe it’s because of the chrysanthemum greens I added, or the kelp broth used to make the rice porridge, too much garlic or something else but no, nothing of this can ruine the recipe.
Then I blamed the vegetables, maybe I didn’t wash something properly or maybe an abuse or a wrong fertilizer had corrupted one of the vegetables…
But as usual I had tasted the kimchi paste, the salted and rinced cabbage, the fresh kimchi when it’s done and it was ok, then as usual I let it ferment a room temperature till I see bubbles while pushing the kimchi under the brine (36 hours this time) and stored it in the fridge after that.
I really didn’t know what went wrong since I didn’t change the process (except the addition of ssukgat and kelp in the recipe) but it was indeniable, I made a gas-like tasting kimchi ! And as it is winter kimchi, I made a lot of gas-like tasting kimchi … :-(

So, long story short :
After 36 hours fermenting at room temperature + 1 month in the fridge, I tried a second fermentation at room temperature, 48 hours and it worked well !! My 12 pounds of kimchi are saved. The taste is now balanced, round and mature, just the way I like it.
Kimchi is a living food and every batch reacts differently !