Fermentation and SCOBY in Bottles

[fearwillkeepus]

Hello,

My name is Ryan and I started brewing Kombucha about 8 months ago. I have played with numerous recipes, different tea types, length of fermentation, and adding different fruit juices. All of my brews are in 1 gallon jars as of now with extremely healthy SCOBYS.

I've been following continuous brewing guides and here's my process:

• Brew tea with own recipe (different tea combos and 1 cup of evaporated cane sugar per gallon)
• Add to SCOBY with 1 cup of starter tea from the previous batch per gallon
• Fermentation Step 1: Let sit for 1 week exactly
• Add the Kombucha from brewing jars to a bottle leaving 23% unfilled for adding fruit juice
• Add 100% real fruit juice from my juicer to the bottle leaving about an inch or so from the top
• Fermentation Step 2: Leave it for another week or so to build up desired carbonation (different fruits take shorter/longer amounts of time to build up desired carbonation from my experience)

Now I have 3 different flavors almost perfected, not bragging in any way, but they give GT's a run for their money taste wise . But the problem I'm having is that EVERY single bottle that has the juice in it, during the second fermentation process, is growing SCOBYS that float at the top of the bottle with quite a bit of culture. Is this normal for a SCOBY to grow in a sealed bottle like that? I have just been pulling the SCOBYS out when opening a bottle for the past 4 months haha.

I have tried fermenting the Kombucha in bottles to desired carbonation then added the fruit juice after, but it does not taste the same.

I guess my question is, how do the larger companies send out bottles with no SCOBYS inside their bottles. Are they fermenting HUGE batches of Kombucha with the fruit juice added inside of an air tight unit, then straining out the SCOBYS and excess culture? Are they adding CO2 to get carbonation instead of using the extra week to ferment for carbonation?

Sorry for all the questions, but I have not found to much information about this anywhere. Maybe I just need to look harder

Any answers or suggestions would be great!

 

[hunter_le five]

Bottle baby scobys are normal.

They don't bother me. I just slurp 'em down.

 

[Hawgwild]

From a web search....... Companies need to suppress or halt yeast fermentation and culturing in order to prevent continued carbonation or the bottles could explode. This process leaves you with commercial kombucha which, while still good, typically has high acid and/or suppressed culture, and less varieties of bacteria and yeast.....

This doesn't answer your question as to how but to me the baby scobies are a good indications that your brew is healthy, and more healthy than commercial kombucha. Most of my bottles develop little scobies. I drink them on down and my wife filters them through a strainer.

I use some frozen concentrate for flavoring. We really like the cranberry concentrate. About 3-4 tablespoons is about right for us.

 

[Thaumatourge]

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.

 

[rafiki]

You might try filtering before you bottle.

 

[JStep]

I know this post has been open for a long time and u
You may have found your answer already. My process is much like yours but a few small changes.

After fermentation to proper acidity level I remove the large Scoby. I then add fruit and/or juice. I let it go for a week and then remove new scoby that forms. I then cold crash by putting the entire jar into the fridge for two days. Cold halts any yeast but not bacteria. The kombucha will still age and get more acidic and the scoby will form a lot slower. You can then bottle and keep cold.

Another way to halt the scoby is to bottle then pasteurize the bottles by heating them in a pot Of simmering water, sorta like canning. The issue is all the bacteria and yeast will die off. But the bottles will be shelf stable.