star san to sanitise

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dowhatitdo

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Would using star san to sanitise my fermenter hurt the scoby? I got my fermenter from homebrew store so I assume the plastic its made from is ok for Kombucha since its ok for beer yeast?
 
I'm a little confused. Are you planning on using starsan with your scoby still in there, Or are you planning on disinfecting before you start?
In the case of the latter, I'm sure it would be fine
 
Is it a new bucket? If so it might be good to throw some cheap vinegar in and swoosh it around for a day.. I read that even though its food safe HDPE that it might leach a little with kombucha because it's more acidic than beer... Can't remember where I read it now!!
Edit: its not what leaches is bad for you but bad for the scoby..
 
Too late, hopefully it doesn't hurt the scoby. It is a new 2 gal bucket fermenter. Also, why don't u see anyone using airlocks, seems more sanitary than cloth and a rubberband...guess people don't know about beer fermenters?
 
Prolly cause most still do the big glass jars that either had a metal lid or no lid... Also most are doing small batches like me, I'm still using a glass sun tea jar with a plastic spigot... My jump is going to also be a 2 gallon batch but looking at a clear polycarbonate tea dispenser for my continuous culture... Are you doing continuous? Mine is over 10 generations and needs to be split up :)
 
There is plenty of oxygen in the tea when it cools and you give it a splash or even dumping the tea into your jar... Me, I don't boil my sugar either and just desolve it into the hot tea and shake.. I also just use my coffee maker for my tea like making iced tea from tea bags..

My continuous scoby!! about 12 generations thick.. Time for me to upgrade to a bigger batch!

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Would it be beneficial to use my aeration stone and my O2 tank, like I do for wort? This would give the yeast plenty of oxy to thrive off of.
 
If it ain't broke, don't fix it. :) You want the scoby to have access to oxygen, hence the cloth/paper towel, cheesecloth, etc. instead of an airlock.

Using this method, you will get all the oxygen you need. No need to introduce an extra level of complexity to something as simple to make as kombucha.

And to the op, starsan should be fine in reasonable quantities.
 
I used Star San to clean some bottles that previously housed beer. I used tap for the first series of rinsing then, bottled water for the final rinse. I'm told it shouldn't interfere with the KT, will report back if I notice anything weird.
 
If it ain't broke, don't fix it. :) You want the scoby to have access to oxygen, hence the cloth/paper towel, cheesecloth, etc. instead of an airlock.

Using this method, you will get all the oxygen you need. No need to introduce an extra level of complexity to something as simple to make as kombucha.

And to the op, starsan should be fine in reasonable quantities.

This is all right.

The surface requires access to the open air, acetobacter require O2 for aerobic processes. If you close off your vessel with an airlock, you will switch to anaerobic processes once the O2 in suspension is depleted. You want all the O2 in the liquid for the yeast to replicate. Additionally, kombucha is deliberate contamination. It is ideal to allow wild yeasts and acid-loving bacteria from the air to fall into the brew. They're very good at overwhelming invaders provided they have the right environment. If you use an airlock, you will get fermented tea, but not kombucha. The anaerobic bacteria take much longer to work than the aerobic do, and you will have little to no pellicle development.

StarSan will work, but remember, the point of kombucha is to utilize wild yeasts and bacteria from the air; StarSan kills wild yeasts and bacteria.

When I need to clean my bottles or fermentors, I wash with dye and scent free dish soap (if necessary[usually only when new]), rinse VERY well with tap water, then rinse with white distilled vinegar and let stand for a few minutes to dissolve any soap residues or until I'm ready to use it whenever. If the container is for bottling, I'll rinse the vinegar off with distilled water. If it's for fermenting, there is no need in rinsing as the kombucha will make vinegar anyway; the residual vinegar will assist with lowering the pH and protecting it from molds and other unwanted microbes.

I haven't had any trouble when I experimented with StarSan, but it seemed to prolong lag time. Could be coincidence though.
 
Ok, so what was the consensus on brewing Kombucha in a food grade plastic bucket. Has anyone done it? does it work or not or work but not as good?
 
It works as expected. I have not done it, as I don't want to take the chance of any amounts of plastics getting into the liquid. Even if they are below FDA values. The FDA also says aspartame is safe, and I think that's BS (among a huge list of other things I disagree with).
If you use a #1 PETE or #2 HDPE you should be fine. Things more acidic than kombucha comes in #1 and #2 plastic. If you go buy a barrel of vinegar, it'll probably come in a large plastic barrel.
When I brew beer in a bucket, it's in there for a week, then it's empty for a few weeks, then it's got beer for a week again. With KT, it's constantly working. I, personally, don't want my acidic beverages in constant contact with plastic like that.
If you don't have an aversion to plastic, go for it.
 

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