So glad you liked it! I've never tried to reuse the brine. Technically, according to the USDA and food safety experts, you shouldn't reuse brine after it's had vegetables in it just in case the original batch had bacteria. It's unlikely bacteria would grow because of the vinegar, but I would just worry about food borne illness.

Hi Lisa! It's not essential to remove it, but garlic cloves tend to turn blue or greenish when they sit in vinegar, which might look weird. I mainly remove it so someone doesn't accidentally bite into a garlic clove. They may be harder to notice than the chile peppers (which would also not be fun to bite into).

Hi Paula, I would try about 1 teaspoon of dried turmeric and ginger. You can start with a little less (3/4 teaspoon), let it pickle, and give it a taste. If you want more flavor/heat add more of the dried spices until you get the amount that tastes best to you. If you try it, please let me know and I'll publish your comment in case other readers want to try it!

Hi Dennis, I personally haven't tried it but I know someone who swears by Swerve or erythritol sweetener instead of sugar for pickling. The sugar does help to maintain the crunch in the vegetables but I think if you did half and half or something close to that, it would probably work. Let me know if you try it and I'll post the results!

Hi Kathy - I haven't tried it but I can't see why it wouldn't work and still have a very similar flavor. Let me know if you try it!