Nothing on top of 1st brew

[styles0024]

Hello
Thanks in advance for the help

It has been 8 days since my fermentation.
There is absolutely nothing floating on top.

Does this mean that i need to be more patient, that i did something wrong, or that the new yeast has attached itself to the scoby at the bottom?

I will say once the temp dropped very low, low 60s. I think i got it up quickly. The temp definitely varied the first week until i could get my heating mat.

 

[Joey_K]

I think I have encountered the same situation as you. My apt is kept cold (between 68 and 72). For the first week I got very slow growth. The SCOBY sank to the bottom and very few bubbles formed. Then I bought a heating mat and now things seem to have taken a turn for the best. There’s more bubbles and it appears a film is beginning to form around the top. I’d like to know how yours turned out and how long it took to get to your second fermentation.

 

[King Philip]

Hello all. I looked for a forum to discuss my first attempted SCOBY effort. I got my SCOBY through Cultures for Health (dried) and followed the instructions to establish the SCOBY in the proper way. In a qt mason jar.

I put it in a cabinet (in the dark) at a relatively cool temp (similar to Joey K). It has now been 28 days. The tea-solution smells find, but the SCOBY remained at the bottom of the mason jar. The PH seems to be a bit higher in acidity than what CFH recommends.

I opted not to attempt a batch yet. I now have it out in the light and will wait a few more days to see if the PH gets closer to what CFH recommends.

But the fact that the SCOBY just sunk and has not seemed to grow: How shall I interpret this?

 

[bracconiere]

does anyone here have a hydrometer? coming from the beer part of this site....a hydrometer could tell you if the sugar has been consumed.

kinda like leaky airlocks on a fermenter not bubbling with active fermentaion, maybe it's just done?

 

[gromitdj]

Hello all. I looked for a forum to discuss my first attempted SCOBY effort. I got my SCOBY through Cultures for Health (dried) and followed the instructions to establish the SCOBY in the proper way. In a qt mason jar.

I put it in a cabinet (in the dark) at a relatively cool temp (similar to Joey K). It has now been 28 days. The tea-solution smells find, but the SCOBY remained at the bottom of the mason jar. The PH seems to be a bit higher in acidity than what CFH recommends.

I opted not to attempt a batch yet. I now have it out in the light and will wait a few more days to see if the PH gets closer to what CFH recommends.

But the fact that the SCOBY just sunk and has not seemed to grow: How shall I interpret this?

The SCOBY may or may not float. The good news is, it doesn't have to. Taste it and see.

You say it's higher in acidity than CFH recommends, but you're waiting to see if it gets closer. If it really is higher in acidity (meaning lower on the pH scale) it won't get closer, it'll only get more acidic.

I'm new to Kombucha also, but this is what I have read.

 

[King Philip]

Hello there. Thanks for your help. I got my dried SCOBY from Cultures for Health and put it in a qt jar according to their instructions. The average temp where I live is right around 70, perhaps a bit cooler. Apparently then, I am ready for the next step: using the scoby to create another batch. So, with the info you provided I'll give it a shot!