First batch

[WoodHokie4]

I'm brewing my first batch of kambucha. I used the bottom 1/2" of a gingeraid commercial batch and grew my scoby over the last 3 weeks until it formed a nice thick later and smelled like a fruity vinegar.

I brewed my tea and carefully added the starter liquid and scoby, covered and set aside. I'm super excited to try it next week after it matures.

Question though: I just checked on it after a couple hours and it looks like my scoby is having buoyancy issues. Should I be concerned?

Thanks

View attachment 1473640581179.jpg

View attachment 1473640595868.jpg

View attachment 1473640617377.jpg

View attachment 1473640650834.jpg

View attachment 1473640699083.jpg

 

[Spaceman]

Don't worry about the scoby floating around, it's position doesn't matter. Usually they do eventually settle on the top though.

 

[WoodHokie4]

Thanks. I did some more reading and found a lot of people saying similar things. Might take an extra couple days to form a new one, but looks life it should be fine

 

[WoodHokie4]

Has anyone has experience with ginger paste? I'm nervous because it's not just ginger (obviously ) and I don't want it to ruin my batch. my local grocery store didn't have raw ginger so this was all I had other than powdered

View attachment 1474234613914.jpg

 

[Spaceman]

What is on the ingredient list?

I think the problem with paste will be distributing it evenly throughout your batch. I'd recommend watering in down and making a liquid so it mixes in better.

 

[WoodHokie4]

Its finally ready to go! I've bottled up two flavors, apple cider and lime ginger. I decided it was a low risk to try the ginger paste on a single bottle.

The plain KT from the tap is pretty good as well. I'm excited to keep this going and looking forward to enjoying this new hobbie

View attachment 1474334627410.jpg

View attachment 1474334642461.jpg

View attachment 1474334673444.jpg

 

[ericbw]

I like the square scoby!

As far as the original question about floating, it all depends. Usually they stay on top, but sometimes sink. Sometimes they hang sideways. If it sinks, a new one usually forms at the top, so then you have two. It has to do with CO2 getting underneath it and lifting it. If for some reason, the gas doesn't get trapped under it, it won't lift.

 

[WoodHokie4]

So, I've been at this a couple weeks now and have some healthy growth on my scoby. I've been able to try out several flavors as well...strawberry basil was probably the best. The ginger also seemed to have now negative effect on the batch either, so there's that.

One question though: what do you do with your trub from the bottom of bottles? Should I just dump that? I know I can probably start a new culture, but I don't really feel the need for that

 

[ericbw]

You'd have to culture it up slowly. So if you don't need it, just dump it.

 

[Spaceman]

Looks like you are setup to do continuous brewing, hows that working for you?

Personally I do batch brewing and enjoy the control I have with that.

 

[WoodHokie4]

I like continuous brewing. I never have to worry about running out and can vary my flavors bottle to bottle. I just let it get down by about 1/3 and refill