Speaking of a fail, I tried a couple cases of the sauerkraut done right in the jars a few weeks back. I checked on them yesterday and the cabbage looks just like it did when I put it in the jars. I haven’t opened a jar to smell or anything yet, but I think it forgot to ferment or something.... I guess I should be greatfull it’s not brown slime anyways. I did notice some of the jars sealed and some didn’t. I’ll let you know how it turned out when I’m brave enough to open one.
I've never used the jar method. I always ferment it as one large batch. One thing that often isn't mentioned is how sensitive the fermenting bacteria can be to chlorine so if you used tap water this could explain why your sauerkraut didn't work properly.
Which remind me, it's almost warm enough to get fermenting over here.