Adding probiotic capsule to process of growing a SCOBY?

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thesarlem

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Hi there!

So I have taken the plunge on home-brewing Kombucha, following standard procedures for growing my first SCOBY…except for one thing: I added the contents of a probiotic capsule with the hope of culturing the strains of bacteria it contains (because that sh*t is expensive and I really like the product because it contains 32 different strains).

4 weeks later my SCOBY appears healthy (translucent/ light tan, smooth) with the exception of a thin, wrinkly, light brown blob forming on one spot of the edge of the SCOBY, growing downward. While the growth is not taking the form of strands hanging downward I have read this is normal yeast growth (?) as it is not growing on the top…but I am slightly skeptical (alright, I should say worried) due to my choice of adding the contents of a probiotic capsule.

My questions are these:

Has anyone else added the contents of a probiotic capsule while growing a SCOBY? If so, did it turn out OK or did it send you to hospital when you drank it? Do you believe it sounds just fine since the SCOBY looks good...assuming the brown growth is normal? Even if you haven’t tried this yourself do you have any reason to think doing so was a bad choice (as the capsules contain their own prebiotic and some added vitamins…any thoughts that any of these things could cause a problem)?

In case the details of my brewing process and/ or products used may be of interest, here they are:

Process: Mixed boiling water with regular sugar, added tea bags & mixed with store-bought Kombucha in a mason jar once cooled to room temperature. Covered with cheese cloth, fastened with a rubber band, set aside in a dry, room-temperature area.

Products: GT’s Organic Raw (plain) Kombucha & Garden of Life RAW Probiotics Women (32-strain probiotic capsules with prebiotic, added vitamins).

Thanks everyone!
 
My wife brews her own and has never added additional "probiotics". I am not a microbiologist, but I am guessing that what you have made would be safe to ingest. I believe the liquid is too acidic for anything bad to take hold and so it should be full of all the good micro-critters... But like I said I am no microbiologist.

Now to bring this to a more beer related topic my wife wants me to try my hand at making kefir beer. Probiotic rich "beer"... Though I am not convinced it should be called beer.
 
Kefir beer! I've never heard of such a thing, now THAT sounds like a fun little science project...I can see how it makes sense since beer and alcohol in general can wipe out some of your good flora and cause an imbalance. Guess you can't know if it's safe to call it beer until you make it and try it! :) Thanks for the reply buddy!
 
Beer is barley, water, hops and yeast.
Kombucha is tea, water, yeast and bacteria.
If you sub barley and hops in place of tea, you end up with sour beer because it still has hops and barley instead of tea. Think Flanders red, or Berliner Weiss. Unless you omit the hops, then you end up with something like a historical alewives' ale. Which I've made and I didn't find it very appealing.

I don't think the capsule is going to hurt anything, but I wouldn't expect all those strains to exist in the final product either. Those strains were chosen because they can survive the human digestive tract. They may not survive in a ferment solution that may or may not contain the required nutrients.
You'd need to research each strain to find out how alcohol and pH tolerant they are. If ethanol kills them in the gut, then they may just die in the ferment too. The levels are pretty low though.
 
thesarlem said:
Hi there!

So I have taken the plunge on home-brewing Kombucha, following standard procedures for growing my first SCOBY…except for one thing: I added the contents of a probiotic capsule with the hope of culturing the strains of bacteria it contains (because that sh*t is expensive and I really like the product because it contains 32 different strains).

4 weeks later my SCOBY appears healthy (translucent/ light tan, smooth) with the exception of a thin, wrinkly, light brown blob forming on one spot of the edge of the SCOBY, growing downward. While the growth is not taking the form of strands hanging downward I have read this is normal yeast growth (?) as it is not growing on the top…but I am slightly skeptical (alright, I should say worried) due to my choice of adding the contents of a probiotic capsule.

My questions are these:

Has anyone else added the contents of a probiotic capsule while growing a SCOBY? If so, did it turn out OK or did it send you to hospital when you drank it? Do you believe it sounds just fine since the SCOBY looks good...assuming the brown growth is normal? Even if you haven’t tried this yourself do you have any reason to think doing so was a bad choice (as the capsules contain their own prebiotic and some added vitamins…any thoughts that any of these things could cause a problem)?

In case the details of my brewing process and/ or products used may be of interest, here they are:

Process: Mixed boiling water with regular sugar, added tea bags & mixed with store-bought Kombucha in a mason jar once cooled to room temperature. Covered with cheese cloth, fastened with a rubber band, set aside in a dry, room-temperature area.

Products: GT’s Organic Raw (plain) Kombucha & Garden of Life RAW Probiotics Women (32-strain probiotic capsules with prebiotic, added vitamins).

Thanks everyone!
Click to expand...
I have done the same would like to join in any info you receive please
 
thesarlem said:
Kefir beer! I've never heard of such a thing, now THAT sounds like a fun little science project...I can see how it makes sense since beer and alcohol in general can wipe out some of your good flora and cause an imbalance. Guess you can't know if it's safe to call it beer until you make it and try it! :) Thanks for the reply buddy!
Click to expand...

Basic Brewing Video did several kombucha soured beers. I believe he only brought it up to 180F to pasteurize and had some gushers and/or bottle bombs. If you're going for probiotic beer, be sure it is at terminal gravity before bottling or bottle in plastic soda bottles.
 
Hey Y'all, I'm brand new at making kombucha. Can anyone give me the basic recipe for making it ? I think it takes tea ,water, sugar and vinegar but how much of each one and the process ?
 
I have added a Swanson L. Plantarum capsule to my scoby at one time because I wasn't getting the tartness I prefer. Reason for Swanson is that it's a single culture which is routinely used in making sour beer.
 

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