They keep fermenting if you leave it on the shelf. I actually started with the style that has the water seal that can be left out for years, but after a couple weeks stuff got too sour for my just starting to eat fermented foods palette. With jars, putting them in the fridge when it’s fermented to your liking slows the fermentation down. Not sure on shelf life in the fridge, but I’ve done big batches of carrots that last 6 months and they’ve still been perfectly good. That’s also using multiple jars, so a couple stay unopened until needed.
They keep fermenting if you leave it on the shelf. I actually started with the style that has the water seal that can be left out for years, but after a couple weeks stuff got too sour for my just starting to eat fermented foods palette. With jars, putting them in the fridge when it’s fermented to your liking slows the fermentation down. Not sure on shelf life in the fridge, but I’ve done big batches of carrots that last 6 months and they’ve still been perfectly good. That’s also using multiple jars, so a couple stay unopened until needed.
This is the water seal jar