[OneWingedShark]

The high-fructose corn syrup is a lot harder to ferment than sugar or honey — from experiments w/ Jun and Kombucha (which use bacteria and yeast to ferment) — in fact, it took weeks to get a high-fructose corn syrup to form a decent S.C.O.B.Y. whereas the sugar or honey made one in three or four days.

In short, it is highly likely that the yeast cannot properly eat the high-fructose corn syrup, which is why it's not fermenting nicely.

[Oshkalaboomboom]

In short, it is highly likely that the yeast cannot properly eat the high-fructose corn syrup, which is why it's not fermenting nicely.

That makes sense. From now on I'll avoid any juices with corn syrup added. Now that I have enough nice bottles I'll be going for 100% juice anyway but if I see another amazing closeout I'll look at the ingredient label before I buy.