Recent content by Thaumatourge

Hey Adam, just re-read your post. No mold is acceptable. Seems from your post that you are sure it is mold. If it is mold, you shouldn't drink it. The whole thing has to be dumped and the container steralized and a new starter made. Do not reuse the scoby or any of the liquid because it...

Tasted my KT today. Still a little sweet but tasted and smelled good. Did not swallow since I'm still nervous and don't want to spend Thanksgiving in the ER. Lol. Swished my mouth with some vodka and had a wonderful surprise. KT and peach sky vodka go great together. I know what I'm...

Adam, Looks like mold to me. But some of the seasoned members may say differently.

This is a couple shots of my starter prior to transfer.

Ok, so another newbie. I made my starter from a bottle of GT's ginger Kombucka. I made the starter in a quart mason jar. 2 weeks later I transferred the scoby and 2 cups of liquid into a 1.5 gal jar with 1 gal of sweet tea made with 1 cup of sugar. The tea was room temp when I added the...

Ok, noob question. If I use swing-top bottles, you don't have to worry about bottle bombs? The whole not pasturizing the finished bottles has me a bit concerned.

I have often wondered why commercial bottles don't explode. If they are "Live & Raw" as they say, they should continue to build pressure. Even when refrigerated. Otherwise, why am I paaturizing my meads and ciders.

For the love of God man! You have a hipster goldmine on your hands! Completely natural, organic kombucha. Just the way Mother Gaia intended it to be before corporations tortured and corrupted the living drink. $40 a SCOBY would be nothing for some of those whack jobs. Sell the SCOBY in 3"...

Interesting. Will have to try molasses. I'm just starting out. 2 weeks I started my first SCOBY from a bottle of GT's. I made it in a quart mason jar and had about 1 cup of sugar in the mix. In 14 day it looked like this. It's in a gallon container now with 2 cups sugar. The scoby sank the...

Not sure I would trust a carboy under pressure. That being said, it would make things a lot easier for the 1 gallon brewer. You might try buying a 1 gallon bottle of apple juice. Set it in a bath for 20 min and then test the temp of the juice inside. Wear some PPE.

Your forgetting displacment. More bottles = less water to reheat. Put as many bottles as will fit in the pot. Also, fill your sink with hot water and let them soak in it while the pot is warming. Keeping the heat on just sounds like you're looking to re-enact a redneck ER visit.

Wine bottles are not designed to handle carbonation. A safer alternative would be Champaign bottles. As for corks, I seem to remember somewhere in this string about them backing out and popping when heated.

I would not be worried about it. That lid is going to be a safety measure should a bottle explode. You can replace a lid. Eyes, not so much.

My bad, I was not talking about stiring up my primary fermentation setiment. I had already racked over to secondary. There was very little activity and next to no sediment when I bottled. I am thinking that most of my yeast was dorment at the bottom of my secondary. A gentle stir might have...

I had that happen to a batch of mine 2 weeks ago. I just assumed the I did not stir it well enough and all my carving yeast went into the first couple bottles. No gushers, some were perfect and othes were mostly still.