Black slime outside bottle lips Kombucha

I had my kombucha bottles (capped with a capper) laying on their sides in the refrigerator for couple months - I have been opening them recently; found that some of them have a black gooey greasy type of film on the outside of the mouth. The lids came with plastic lining - I filled them up all the way to the top, leaving minimal space so as to avoid new scoby forming (it works) but avoiding touching the lid. Didn't realize that by laying them sideways, the liquid would make contact with the plastic lining. It's only some bottles that have this.

Black substance probably from the metal?

Submitted November 21, 2017 at 01:48PM by FridaSabina http://ift.tt/2BaKObl Kombucha

Black slime outside bottle lips Kombucha

I had my kombucha bottles (capped with a capper) laying on their sides in the refrigerator for couple months - I have been opening them recently; found that some of them have a black gooey greasy type of film on the outside of the mouth. The lids came with plastic lining - I filled them up all the way to the top, leaving minimal space so as to avoid new scoby forming (it works) but avoiding touching the lid. Didn't realize that by laying them sideways, the liquid would make contact with the plastic lining. It's only some bottles that have this.

Black substance probably from the metal?

Submitted November 21, 2017 at 01:48PM by FridaSabina http://ift.tt/2BaKObl Kombucha

Grolsch bottles 1 month in the refrigerator, ok? Kombucha

I was considering to make my booch in 2 gallon batch. If the final product in Grolsch bottles is left 1 month in the refrigerator will they still taste okay? I would like to do one [2 gallon] brew per month is my plan.

Submitted November 13, 2017 at 04:20AM by Tiananmen-Square http://ift.tt/2jlSJha Kombucha

Grolsch bottles 1 month in the refrigerator, ok? Kombucha

I was considering to make my booch in 2 gallon batch. If the final product in Grolsch bottles is left 1 month in the refrigerator will they still taste okay? I would like to do one [2 gallon] brew per month is my plan.

Submitted November 13, 2017 at 04:20AM by Tiananmen-Square http://ift.tt/2jlSJha Kombucha

2F Lifespan Kombucha

I have had some 2F in the refrigerator for couple month. I can see yeast sediment in some. At what point, during its time in the fridge, do you think 2F has degraded significantly (in taste)?

Submitted September 19, 2017 at 01:54AM by mayaloo http://ift.tt/2jECXOv Kombucha

2nd fermentation after refrigeration? Kombucha

I'm new to brewing kombucha, but from what I've read, one is supposed to bottle ready kombucha in airtight bottles, let them sit at room temperature for 2-3 days, and only then refrigerate. I'm having some issues with finding enough room in the refrigerator for several small bottles, however. Would it work all right if I were to fill one bottle, refrigerate the remainder, let the bottle ferment, and then start second fermentation on another bottle? In other words, can I do second fermentation using refrigerated kombucha, or does it have to start from room temperature?

Submitted September 18, 2017 at 07:32AM by nikakoi http://ift.tt/2yiTVFf Kombucha

Second Ferment time Kombucha

It's summer and my house is kept at about 75 degrees during the daytime. I typically keep my bottles of kombucha for 1 week at second fermentation before moving to the refrigerator. This gave me decent flavor, but very not much carbonation.

However, I forgot about my latest batch and they were left for 2 weeks before moving to the refrigerator.

After opening these bottles, there was significantly more carbonation. The flavor also seemed a lot more balanced and not too acidic. I was expecting it to taste like vinegar!

My first ferment is usually about a week. and I typically add 1-2 ounces of juice per 16 ounce swing-top bottle.

Is 2 weeks longer than is typical for the second ferment?

Submitted September 01, 2017 at 01:41AM by crazyk4952 http://ift.tt/2wqHHK3 Kombucha

What the hell is happening to my booch? Followed my standard procedure continuous batch and it tastes like ..butterscotch? honey? and has strange things growing in it. Kombucha

Hi all.

I have been continuous brewing for ~6 months now. This batch, I followed the exact same procedure that I always follow -- except for one variable: I bottled it in beer bottles instead of 1L swing tops.

Total 1F was 10 days. 2F for 3 days. Popped one.

I found that instead of being carbonated and tasting like gingerade, it tastes like a sickly sweet butterscotch or honey. I also bottled ONE 1L swing top, which seems to have carbonated, while the other bottles have not.

I taste tested prior to bottling and it tasted like it normally does, a little more tart because I forgot about it and let it go an extra two days, but still good nonetheless. There was a very weak scoby growth in my main vessel, and a very healthy scoby growth in my hotel. I filled them with the same concentrations at the same time.

See procedure and photos below:

1. 4L bottled water boiled.
2. At boiling point, add in 27g loose black & 27g loose green (I do this in a mesh bag for easy cleanup).
3. Let boil for 30 minutes with the tea inside.
4. Turn off heat/burner.
5. Add 4L bottled water from refrigerator.
6. With a vinegar-sanitized wooden spoon, add 600g sugar. Stir until dissolved.
7. Allow to sit overnight until room temp(covered).
8. Remove covering from continuous batch jar, spray surrounding area with vinegar (not directly inside).
9. Pull tea bag.
10. Dump tea/sugar mix right on top of the SCOBY.
11. Cover with fine mesh and rubber band.
12. Spray fine mesh with vinegar.
13. Close and let sit for 7 days before using the bottom spigot to taste.
14. Taste every day until sufficiently tart.
15. Wash all bottles with hot water.
16. Create bottled water/vinegar solution, and wash all bottles with that solution.
17. Rinse all bottles with bottled water.
18. Fill bottles with booch. Leave approximately 500ml in bottom of continuous batch container.
19. Add 25mL ginger juice to each bottle. Cap bottles
20. Wait 3 days, refrigerate one over night, pop and drink.
21. If carbonation OK, then move all to the refrigerator. If carbonation bad, let sit more days based on level of carbonation (this is a "by-feel" thing).
22. Repeat 20-21.
23. Repeat 1-22.

If I have too many SCOBYs, I wash my hands with vinegar and transfer them to my hotel, leaving one inside. Note that I have not cleaned my continuous brewing vessel in over 6 months (~20 batches maybe).

See photos: http://ift.tt/2uL1kPr

Submitted August 17, 2017 at 11:25AM by kcramp http://ift.tt/2v3DN7L Kombucha

Hippies knew better Kombucha

Loose-leaf tea
Filtered water
Teapot
Pickle Jar
Cookie Jar
Iced Tea Dispenser
Bottled Raw Kombucha
Scoby
Swing-top bottles
Siphon
Cheesecloth
pH strip
Airlock
Hydrometer
Sanitizer
License
Permit
Refrigerator
Ginger
Fruit
Blossoms and Herbs Honey
Raw Sugar

Submitted August 15, 2017 at 08:42AM by p38thadl http://ift.tt/2wKSG0Y Kombucha

Hippies knew better Kombucha

Loose-leaf tea
Filtered water
Teapot
Pickle Jar
Cookie Jar
Iced Tea Dispenser
Bottled Raw Kombucha
Scoby
Swing-top bottles
Siphon
Cheesecloth
pH strip
Airlock
Hydrometer
Sanitizer
License
Permit
Refrigerator
Ginger
Fruit
Blossoms and Herbs Honey
Raw Sugar

Submitted August 15, 2017 at 08:42AM by p38thadl http://ift.tt/2wKSG0Y Kombucha

Kombucha too Sweet, Already Bottled and Refrigerated Kombucha

I got ahead of myself and bottled, flavored, second-fermented and cooled this batch of Kombucha. I thought it was ready but sadly I was wrong. I can still taste the sugar. Unfortunately this was a big batch too, 20 bottles. They've been sitting in the refrigerator for over a week because I just don't want to drink them. Can I still take them out and let them ferment longer? Or is it too late... :(

Submitted August 14, 2017 at 04:05AM by GoTeamDenture http://ift.tt/2wVMqCO Kombucha

Could anyone give me a detailed step-by-step mini-guide on how to flavor kombucha with dried fruits? Kombucha

For how long do I need to ferment (second fermentation) kombucha filled with dried fruits/When should I remove dried fruits from the bottles (can I leave them there if the bottles are in the refrigerator?) Should I wash dried fruits in a boiling water or something? etc

Thanx

Submitted August 05, 2017 at 09:44PM by Meretrelle http://ift.tt/2fhFQCY Kombucha

Refrigerator Scoby Kombucha

Long story short, I bottled a batch right before I went on vacation and asked my mother to put them in the refrigerator about a week after I left. She did, but 3 of them grew scoby's, and she didn't realize it. So they have been refrigerated for about 2 weeks now. Do you think they are still viable? Or should I just get rid of them?

Submitted July 23, 2017 at 01:27AM by ohyoumeanhydra http://ift.tt/2uMbjCR Kombucha

Does anyone infuse your kombucha with fruit juice, herbs, and other ingredients in the refrigerator then filter out debris then bottle and allow to carbonate at room temp? Kombucha

I've been doing this for a few batches and I find it works great. I don't have stuff floating around the bottles when it's finished fermenting (other than a mini SCOBY). Are there any downsides to this method?

Submitted April 16, 2017 at 05:13AM by Calvinrocky http://ift.tt/2oLBmHi Kombucha

Tea Base - Feeding Solution Concentrate Kombucha

Tea brewing gets out of hand pretty quickly, once the kombucha addiction sets in -- even if you were already a tea drinker, like me. I still don't believe in overcooked tea, but it pays to adopt the base method of southern-style iced tea, using a refrigerated concentrate to reconstitute kombucha feeding solution as needed. This recipe recognizes that cheap tea comes in bags, is scaled for a normal refrigerator, and I am introducing a refinement to include green or oolong, without oversteeping.

You Will Need:

Rubbermaid 1-gallon plastic pitcher

Dollar Tree 9-quart plastic pail

Stock pot

5-6 cups sugar

~36 tea bags (the small kind) or equivalent

Graduated quart measuring cup

Fill the pitcher with 3 quarts water, and pour into stock pot. Bring to boil, pausing to pour water of appropriate temperature into teapots to brew any desired proportion of green or oolong.

Add black tea bags to the pot and steep 5 minutes. Meanwhile, set bucket in sink and pitcher in bucket. Decant green/oolong brews into the pitcher. Then fill bucket with water to same level, for cooling. If you've brewed a significant quantity of non-black tea, you may want to dissolve some of the sugar into the pitcher, while the level is low, by swirling.

Pick bags out of the stock pot, and place on a dinner plate. Squeeze tea back into the pot. Then dissolve remaining sugar in the pot. Pour into pitcher, then fill cooling bath to same level. When it stops steaming, or shortly thereafter, cover and refrigerate.

To reconstitute as room-temperature feeding solution, fill measuring cup to ~1 1/4 cup mark. Microwave 1 minute, then add 3/4 cup of the concentrate. Fill to quart mark with cold tap water, and feed your various brews as needed.

Secondary fermentations can also use the base directly, as "juice."

Submitted March 19, 2017 at 07:40PM by p38thadl http://ift.tt/2nSbUwb Kombucha

Storing scoby's. Kombucha

I was doing some reading in 'kombucha kamp'. It says storing scoby in a fridge is a no no and to never use a refrigerator stored scoby to make kombucha. Just used my refrigerated (48hrs) scoby to start a new batch. BTW it was closed tight in a mason jar

Do i dump the whole thing out?

If not, what are the things to look for to make sure the scoby isnt dead?

I also have scoby in like 1/2 a cup of starter liquid. Do i add 1.5 cup of vinegar in this? and store in dark?

Submitted January 31, 2017 at 10:20AM by extroverthermit420 http://ift.tt/2jO8aMY Kombucha

Is it OK to keep my starter liquid in the refrigerator until needed? Kombucha

Maybe 2 weeks max. Will the starter still be usable at that point?

Submitted August 07, 2016 at 07:16AM by sanchostache http://ift.tt/2aRiU8B Kombucha

Keeping Kombucha refrigerated in an open glass pitcher? Kombucha

Hi all,

I have a continuous brew method setup. It's a little over 2 gallons, but I live by myself, so I oftentimes have surplus Kombucha I'd like to keep.

My question is, lets say I have a gallon or two of ready, fermented Kombucha sitting in my brew container. Could I draw off one or two glass pitchers of Kombucha, put an NON-airtight top on them, and keep them in my refrigerator for however long it takes for me to pour myself a glass or two of booch everyday from them until empty?

My thinking is, instead of bottling, I keep the Kombucha in a of couple refrigerated glass pitchers and enjoy Kombucha from them while my new batch is brewing. Then, when my pitchers are empty, I just refill them, stick them in the refrigerator, put fresh sugar tea into my brew container and just keep going like that.

Any problems with this setup? Is there any obvious advantage to bottling I'm missing (BESIDES flavoring and carbonation) versus simply keeping the booch in open, refrigerated glass pitchers?

Thanks in advance for any insight anyone can give! :)

Submitted July 17, 2016 at 10:46AM by edwinthepig http://ift.tt/29LoyWg Kombucha

Finished first ever brew. While decent, not exactly what I expected. Where could I have gone wrong, and what could/should I adjust in my next batch? Kombucha

First time Kombucha brewer.

I have a 2 gallon container. I made a concentrated pot of sweet Pu-erh tea (dissolved in 400g/2 cups of granulated sugar)

In the 2 gallon container I poured in about 1.5 gallons of fresh water, and then poured the concentrated sweet Pu-erh tea into. After the whole thing cooled, I then poured in about half a cup of distilled white vinegar, and then poured in the scoby/liquid etc. I received in the mail.

Over the next few days, the scoby stayed at the bottom. Then one day it was floating in the middle. White gelatinous stuff began forming at the top. Everything looked alright, so I assumed it was fine doing its thing.

Per some of the recommendations I've seen on this subreddit, I let it do its thing for about 7 days. After 7 days, I poured some into a few different bottles (I used emptied Evian bottled-water bottles, screwing the cap on tight), sprinkled some sugar into each, and let each sit in the room temperate for another 3 days hoping for a fizzy second fermentation.

Then, I put each bottle into the refrigerator, hoping for some fizzy, not-too-sweet Kombucha.

The result? While the taste seemed fine, if only perhaps a little sweeter than expected, there was no absolutely no fizz at all.

My question is, where could I possibly have gone wrong? Not enough sugar in the initial/2F batch? Should I not have used the "concentrated sweet tea poured into water" method, and instead just brew the whole thing as tea? Do bottled-water bottles not work well for 2F? Since it was my first brew, should I have let it brew for longer than 7 days at first? Just hoping for some ideas on what I can adjust my next go-around that might lead to my desired result.

Thanks in advance for any ideas.

Submitted May 22, 2016 at 05:54PM by edwinthepig http://ift.tt/1TnIrZb Kombucha

Every bottle I made grows a scoby Kombucha

Is it normal that every bottle of buch I make grows it's own scoby? My practice is:

1. Make sweet black tea (with white sugar) and add to the dregs of the last batch in a half gallon glass jar

2. Leave at 68 degrees F on the counter and taste every couple days until it's has the tartness we enjoy. 4 days is typical.

3. Transfer to bottles and leave them out on the counter until they have fully carbonated, another 3-4 days is typical.

4. Move the individual serving bottles to the refrigerator and store until consumed.

At some point during steps 3 and/or 4, every bottle forms it's own thin scoby that we have to avoid drinking.

Normal?

Submitted April 13, 2016 at 07:45PM by justinsayin http://ift.tt/1S6E1zW Kombucha