Im new and want a quasi serious setup.... please help me make wise purchases

[tadow]

Hi,

Great forum! I want a 3-4 gallon brew setup. I was just going to get a 3 gallon ceramic crock with a spigot but then I started researching and there are mixed opinions on spigots (some say metal is better others say bamboo and others say plastic is best)... then I read mixed opinions on tops to the crocks.. do I use a cloth or do I use a ceramic crock top etc...

I liked the continuous brewing concept (hence the spigot)... drink a bit then keep adding the right ingredients but then I was chatting some "hardcore" kombucha company and they were telling me that spigot is a pain in the butt! Of course hes trying to sell me his crocks (of which none have spigots); conflict of interest/profit motive etc...

So Im just curious... what are some good crocks I should be looking at? I definitely want a good size crock (3-4 galloner im guessing). There are 3 people... my GF myself and my brother who will be drinking some everyday and then when we have guests over I want to be able to serve them as well so Im guessing 3 gallons is enough?

Overall... looking for some equipment advice.

Thanks
T

 

[hunter_le five]

The only issue with the spigot is that sometimes you get bits and strings of SCOBY that get sucked up into it and kinda get stuck. Then when you close the spigot, you have half of it inside, half of it dangling out the spigot. This could potentially present a cleanliness issue if doing a continuous brew method.

I don't do a continuous brew; I do weekly batches using a starter from the previous week's batch. That gives me a chance to flush out the fermenter and spigot with clean water between batches, so this is not an issue for me. It may or may not be an issue for you with continuous brew.

 

[snarf]

I use a 10-11 gallon ceramic crock without spigot. It works fine for me. Personally, I don't want to use a spigot, because the material might interact with the 'booch and it's hard to keep them clean.

 

[tadow]

OK thanks

 

[dye4me]

Ive had good luck with plastic spigots. I use one on a 6 gallon food grade pail for my big batches. countertop glass juice dispensing jars also work good but I've only found them hop to 3 gallons.

 

[drgonzo2k2]

If you want to do 3 gallon batches, I recommend the 12L Speidel jugs. That's what I use for my 3 gallon Kombucha batches, and they work great. You don't need a special crock, really any vessel will work just fine.

 

[snarf]

You don't need a special crock, really any vessel will work just fine.

Well, no. It depends on what the vessel is made out of...

 

[drgonzo2k2]

Well, no. It depends on what the vessel is made out of...

Haha, ok, well true, not any vessel would do, but any sort of food safe container should work just fine.

 

[ffmurray]

Metal can ad off flavors to the kombucha and make the scoby week. I used to do contunius ferments in a glass crock, but I now do batch ferments. I like the batch fermenting process a lot better, I have not had any problems with contamination, and I dont have to deal with scoby clogging the spout and having to remove everything and having to disassemble and clean the spout

I had a continuous ferment going for 2 years, and I will never go back to it. I ferment in 2, 2 gallon jars with cloth rubber banded over the top. finish a batch, throw it in flip top bottles with a little bit of fruit juice, close them up and let them sit on the counter for 2 or 3 days to let them carbonate and throw them in the fridge. whenever I want to drink some kombucha, I just grab a bottle from the fridge, cold refreshing and carbonated!