Best Fermentor for Kombucha?

[bigdawg86]

My wife bought me a starter kit (ingredients / scoby only) that has enough to brew a 5 gallon batch. Obviously as a beer brewer I already have carboys and all that stuff. Ideally I would prefer to keg my kombucha so I am not worried about bottling. A few questions.

1.) "Starter tea", can someone explain that to me? My scoby is a live disc in fluid, so can I just drop it in?

2.) Batch size. Should I go smaller batches or just do the 5 gallons. Also I will need a large mouth fermentor, so any recommendations?

3.) Equipment. I should have a separate racking cane and all that to prevent beer cross contamination correct?

Thanks in advance.

 

[andrewmaixner]

2 gallon glass, and add a stainless spigot:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BWC0E42/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
Then bottle right from that into swing top bottles.

 

[bigdawg86]

Does anyone ferment their kombucha in a 3 gallon SSBrewtech brew bucket? Yes it's more expensive, but it also can be used for beer when splitting batches. Also I wanted to get a 2.5 gallon keg, with the brew bucket I can brew a full 2.5g kegs worth. Thoughts?

 

[Quinazo]

1.) "Starter tea", can someone explain that to me? My scoby is a live disc in fluid, so can I just drop it in?

Answer: Starter tea is raw kombucha. Everytime you harvest your kombucha you want to save some kombucha to be the starter tea for your next batch. But if you dont have kombucha in the beginning then you can use vinegar. Vinegar has a strong taste so understand that your first few batches will have a strong vinegar taste that will fade after a few batches. You should use about 2 cups of starter tea for every gallon on sweet tea in the primary fermentation. If you use vinegar then I would recommend using 1 cup of vinegar for every gallon of sweet tea.
Yes just drop the scoby in. Don't worry about what is does as in whether it floats or whatever. It will start to release its properties into the tea and soon you will notice a new scoby forming on the top of the liquid. The warmer the room, the quicker and thicker it forms.

2.) Batch size. Should I go smaller batches or just do the 5 gallons. Also I will need a large mouth fermentor, so any recommendations?

Answer: I usually do 6 gallon batches. You never have enough kombucha. And remember you need starter tea.

3.) Equipment. I should have a separate racking cane and all that to prevent beer cross contamination correct?

Answer: I would worry about your beer more than your kombucha. Kombucha is very hearty and hard to kill or contaminate in my experience.

 

[Quinazo]

Kombucha will do fine in that bucket, kombucha loves stainless steel in my experience. But that bucket wouldn't work for me because it's just too small. The turn around time for kombucha is roughly 2 weeks and my family demands way more than 3 gallons of kombucha every 2 weeks.

 

[MWS]

I'd opt for a quality stainless steel kettle with a spigot/port.

 

[Quinazo]

I'd opt for a quality stainless steel kettle with a spigot/port.

I totally agree. Something like this will work great. More bang for your buck. Don't know if that would work for your beer making needs though.

 

[bigdawg86]

Thank you for the replies. I ended up going with the SS Brewtech 3.5 gallon bucket. I was a little confused about the starter tea thing as most references online were having it when using a dehydrated scoby. When I opened my scoby it had about 2 cups of vinegar in it anyways, so I just tossed it in. It was a little slow to start but I now have a nice scoby forming (the original sank) and my pH is dropping. Its been about 10 days @ 76° and I am just pouring a shot glass every day to taste it.

In regards to the starter tea... is that the same idea of pitching lactic acid for pH of 4.5 when doing kettle sour beer? Is there any reason I couldn't have used lactic acid instead? I'd imagine the starter tea is just to drop the pH to prevent a spontaneous wild fermentation?

In regards to the fermentor. I also have a craftabrew catalyst that I can use if for some reason my demand out paces my supply. It's a good fermentor but I just don't use it much any more because temp control is difficult (barely fits in ferm chamber and very little head space).

 

[andrewmaixner]

Thank you for the replies. I ended up going with the SS Brewtech 3.5 gallon bucket. I was a little confused about the starter tea thing as most references online were having it when using a dehydrated scoby. When I opened my scoby it had about 2 cups of vinegar in it anyways, so I just tossed it in. It was a little slow to start but I now have a nice scoby forming (the original sank) and my pH is dropping. Its been about 10 days @ 76° and I am just pouring a shot glass every day to taste it.

In regards to the starter tea... is that the same idea of pitching lactic acid for pH of 4.5 when doing kettle sour beer?
Is there any reason I couldn't have used lactic acid instead?
I'd imagine the starter tea is just to drop the pH to prevent a spontaneous wild fermentation?

yes
no
yes

In regards to the fermentor. I also have a craftabrew catalyst that I can use if for some reason my demand out paces my supply. It's a good fermentor but I just don't use it much any more because temp control is difficult (barely fits in ferm chamber and very little head space).

 

[NeilMac]

Food Grade bucket, same as from home brew stores just no graduation ans 1/8 the cost.
https://www.homedepot.ca/en/home/p.19l5-gallon---white-food-approved-bucket.1000784675.html

 

[Christopher Darkly]

My wife bought me a starter kit (ingredients / scoby only) that has enough to brew a 5 gallon batch. Obviously as a beer brewer I already have carboys and all that stuff. Ideally I would prefer to keg my kombucha so I am not worried about bottling. A few questions.

1.) "Starter tea", can someone explain that to me? My scoby is a live disc in fluid, so can I just drop it in?

2.) Batch size. Should I go smaller batches or just do the 5 gallons. Also I will need a large mouth fermentor, so any recommendations?

3.) Equipment. I should have a separate racking cane and all that to prevent beer cross contamination correct?

Thanks in advance.

I think by starter tea they mean the liquid that should have been packed with your SCOBY. It should have a strong vinegar smell. You dump all that in to your tea and sugar mix. If you have been doing 5 gallon beer boils you already are ahead of the game as far as a big kettle goes. Obviously the tea/sugar should be allowed to cool or you can use your chiller from beer brewing if it's spotlessly clean and sanitized.

There are wide mouth beer fermenters you could use. MoreBeer sells something called a Fermentausaurus or some such nonsense. That's what I use for 5 gallon batches, it's actually seven gallons. And it has a spigot for gravity transfer to a secondary or bottling bucket. The mouth is about 6 or 8 inches wide. But a cheaper route would be to go with a 7 gallon bucket and just tie a pillowcase around the top real tight. Home depot doesn't have 7 gallon buckets but US Plastics does and brew supply places sell them. You can drill and install a spigot on the bottom if you want to drain it easily.

I use my beer equipment all the time for fermenting Jun. You just have to clean and sanitize everything until it's spotless. I use peroxyacetic acid with a surfactant as a sanitizer which will nuke everything absolutely. But Star San will be sufficient. Or bleach for that matter. Harder to get the smell of bleach out of plastic but a spray bottle of vinegar will help neutralize the smell and is SCOBY friendly.

I just hook a tube up to the spigot at the bottom of my fermenter and use gravity to drain my fermented Jun into a keg. I'll use a hops bag full of fruit that is tied off and weighted so it sinks and put that in the keg for flavor, and then force carbonate. As long as you chill it immediately and purge the air and make sure the fruit sinks, it won't mold or anything like that. You'll need a really fine mesh hops bag. Otherwise fruit debris will get sucked up your dip tube and clog your ball lock fitting. Same with juices. Use pulp free juices if you can.

It helps if you have one of those Corny keg lids with a fitting for hanging a dry hops bag. That way your fruit bag won't settle in the bottom and slow the flow into your dip tube.

 

[Bimmster]

2 gallon glass, and add a stainless spigot:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BWC0E42/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
Then bottle right from that into swing top bottles.

What do you use on top while fermenting?

 

[andrewmaixner]

What do you use on top while fermenting?

The lid, or a cloth. Kombucha culture needs oxygen to create acetate from ethanol.

 

[Atalanta]

I got a 2.5 gal glass beverage jug from www.therestaurantstore.com (they have a local store) for under $20. I got a stainless steel spigot on amazon for about $7. Starting small since I'm the only one drinking it right now.

The glass beverage jug has a glass lid. I cover the top with an old t-shirt and use a rubber band to secure. Then I drape the rest of the shirt to cover the jug - it's not pretty and I want to minimize the light action.