How long do you let your scoby in booch?

I've about got my process down to where I'll brew a batch of tea, add a few ladle fulls of already made kombucha, fruit, and let it sit for about 5 days before bottling.

My question is, how long can I keep my "reserve booch" sitting on the counter before it goes south? I'm guessing it will have a great shelf life, especially with a mature scoby sealing the good and keeping out the bad.

Thoughts?

i tried three weeks and it was ruined.

sorry i can't be of more help.

Thanks for the reply.

What do you mean by ruined? Turned to vinegar or got moldy?

my scoby has always been brown and ugly.

i've done it for a lot of batches and had maybe three babies in 25 batches, i finally threw it out.

the scoby itself dies, even in starter fluid.


as for the booch, i have three gallons sealed with zero air and in a week will be a month like that. i have no idea if it's close to drinkable.

i always mix my booch with bing cherry juice to second ferment in EZ Caps.

i have left mine for 6 weeks when i went on a trip... came back it was strongly acidic... water it down and enjoy the scoby protects it... call it a mother

I should add/note ive never used fruit. Iflavour with herbal teas. Ive read you get a rapid fermentation when you add fruit.

That's what I'm finding too. About 5 days with fruit and it's ready to be bottled.

So far my system of fresh tea + ~2cups of booch + fruit has worked pretty well, I just hope I'm not leaving the fully fermented batch of booch (more like vinegar at this point) go to long.

Ive had success watering it back down and filtering out the scoby, putting in herbal teas for about 15 minutes and bottling. Leave it out for about 1-+-2 days and then into the fridge.

So far I've gone around 3 weeks with no ill affects, I have been bottling with around an once of fruit juice and end up with a nicely carbed end product.

I age anywhere between 10 days and 3 weeks before adding fruit/juice/flavoring and bottling for carbonation. Carbonation takes 24-48 hours.

My current batch is 4 months old. The previous batch was 6 months old and was the best so far.

Wow thats impressive shelly belly, can you share your recipe?

5 black or green tea bags, 1 cup of white sugar, 3 quarts of water and 10oz kombucha from previous batch. At 6 months almost 2 quarts of liquid has evaporated. This is the good stuff. I usually have a 4oz shot. I add water to bring the volume back to 3 quarts and set aside 10oz for the next batch. I then mix the remainder with 3 quarts of flavored tea + 1 cup of sugar and bottle. This makes a very carbonated kombucha which is how I like it.

Wow! 4 - 6 months thats a long time shelly. I have read where people have left them for about 4 weeks and they have tasted like vinegar?
What temp did you store them at, was it the normal 70-75 degrees?
Or have I read the post wrong and you made the batch 6 months ago and its still going stong..??

Shelly must be brewing with a different SCOBY than I have, because if I left mine to digest for 6 months I'd be drinking pure vinegar. Temperature, SCOBY makeup/health or water composition must be at play here.

If @shelly_belly drinks it in ~4oz increments, I can't help but think a sharp, vinegary tasting drink was the intended result.

Sounds interesting at least. I might give this method a try after I get my own method down. I've had marginal success with raspberries so far, but I'll be trying ginger and lemon soon.

My house temps (upstairs) range from 67 to 75. It is vinegary, but it's cut with some concentrated tea flavor too. I never intended to let it go so long, so often, I just have "too many irons in the fire". I've been told that when I was very young I would drink all the juice from the pickle and olive jars!

@ 4 months

shelly_belly said:

I've been told that when I was very young I would drink all the juice from the pickle and olive jars!

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I still do that. And drink Italian dressing out the bottle too.

Kblandfo said:

i have left mine for 6 weeks when i went on a trip... came back it was strongly acidic... water it down and enjoy the scoby protects it... call it a mother

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Did you not get any fruit flys?

Superdown said:

Shelly must be brewing with a different SCOBY than I have, because if I left mine to digest for 6 months I'd be drinking pure vinegar. Temperature, SCOBY makeup/health or water composition must be at play here.

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Same here

adam_trainor101 said:

did you not get any fruit flys?

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Or even any larva?

I don't get ANY fruit flies and/or larvae in my kombucha. That sounds awful.

I've been doing kombucha for several months now, using a SCOBY that I generated from a bottled commercial kombucha. I keep three 1 gal. beverage dispensers going at a time and try to go 2 weeks before straining into a pitcher and refrigerating. It's usually pretty tart by then, but not vinegary. A little squirt from one of those concentrated flavors people use in water bottles adds a little flavor and sweetness, if I need it. I make my kombucha with 8 bags of green tea and 1 cup of sugar. I currently have a gallon dispenser about 2/3 full of SCOBY that I would hate to throw away, but I don't really have a need for it. Going to talk to a local brewery and see if they want to make kombucha! I cover my jars with coffee filters and use a rubberband...I have fruit flies in the kitchen that I'm struggling to get rid of, but they haven't been able to get past the filters. I just have to make sure they don't sneak in when I open a batch to process it.

I have a single bottle that I capped in early May...haven't really explored bottling further, but might eventually. I'm a little leary of adding fruit juice and bottling...can it overcarb like beer? If not, a little sugar and some apple juice, cherry, blueberry...hmmm.

Yes, it can overcarb, but I use mason jars so they'll leak long before any glass breaks. Swing-top growlers or bottles also work like a charm for carbing the booch.

If I were you, I'd harvest one or more of those SCOBY and keep it in a jar with some booch as your mother. You don't want to lose your entire culture from one infected batch.

Also, I'd recommend using Oolong tea at least once. It's incredible.

mattmmille said:

I've been doing kombucha for several months now, using a SCOBY that I generated from a bottled commercial kombucha. I keep three 1 gal. beverage dispensers going at a time and try to go 2 weeks before straining into a pitcher and refrigerating. It's usually pretty tart by then, but not vinegary. A little squirt from one of those concentrated flavors people use in water bottles adds a little flavor and sweetness, if I need it. I make my kombucha with 8 bags of green tea and 1 cup of sugar. I currently have a gallon dispenser about 2/3 full of SCOBY that I would hate to throw away, but I don't really have a need for it. Going to talk to a local brewery and see if they want to make kombucha! I cover my jars with coffee filters and use a rubberband...I have fruit flies in the kitchen that I'm struggling to get rid of, but they haven't been able to get past the filters. I just have to make sure they don't sneak in when I open a batch to process it.

I have a single bottle that I capped in early May...haven't really explored bottling further, but might eventually. I'm a little leary of adding fruit juice and bottling...can it overcarb like beer? If not, a little sugar and some apple juice, cherry, blueberry...hmmm.

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I've been bottleing and capping for maybe nine months, never had an issue. I've have had overcarbed but nothing near a gusher. 3/4 of an ounce or so in 12 oz works well for me.
Don't be scared.

Are you guys checking your finish gravity to see if all the sugar is gone?

Cheers
Jay

Jaybird said:

Are you guys checking your finish gravity to see if all the sugar is gone?

Cheers
Jay

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I've never bothered.

ChefRex said:

I've never bothered.

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Nor have I. I know it's 'finished' by smell and taste. I don't care for super astringent kombucha. The probiotic difference is negligible at the point.

I don't check mine, but I do burp the sealed bottles at least once a day. After a few days I'll toss it in the fridge and be done with it.

Adam_Trainor101 said:

Did you not get any fruit flys?

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I use a coffee filter and have no fly action. Sorry for the delay been on vacation.

I acquired a scoby from my sister about five years ago. I properly made booch out of it for about 8 months and let it sit for about a year or so. When I finally checked on it, and tasted the booch, it was super acidic, nearly undrinkable. I threw out the yucky scoby layers and started my brew back up. I've four-one gallon everbrew batches going now from that original batch.