Is this mold, an infection, or normal

[Thaumatourge]

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 scoby and starter liquid. The scoby sank when I first added it but floated to the surface over the next 2 days. After about 5 days I had a full biofilm over the top. Now that 2 weeks have passed, I pull it down and I see this little booger on the side. I don't think it's mold but I've never fermented like this before. The pale section looks to be a large bubble under the scoby.

Thoughts?

Thx,
Thaumatourge

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[Thaumatourge]

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

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[kh54s10]

That looks gross. I don't think mold but it certainly looks like an infection in the starter and then in the Oops, just saw it was for a scoby, and kombucha. I have no idea if that is normal or not.

But not mold. Mold would be fuzzy.

 

[brewshki]

^ I thought the same thing

 

[Spaceman]

Everything looks good, sometimes scobies just get ugly.

 

[adam_buchanan]

Dear forum,

Continuing the theme. Is this mold normal?? the spot of mold in the upper part of the picture. it is green and looks very suspicious. also the black dots are they normal? At this stage the kombucha taste fine. sweet and slightly vinegary. Its been fermenting for about 10 days.

Thx
Adam

 

[Thaumatourge]

Adam,

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

 

[Thaumatourge]

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 drinking tomorrow.

Happy Thanksgiving all,
Thaumatourge

 

[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 will likely contaminate the next batch. At least that is what I have read. I have not seen anywhere where they say, "Mold? No big deal." some say you can cut it off and then rinse the whole thing with vinegar. But it's likely that the mold is now inside the scoby and you can't cut that out.

 

[coypoo]

OP's looks good to me. Adam's is mold and time to dump and start fresh

 

[hippoyell]

Hey guys!
I'd love to have some of you look at my scoby as well.
I'm 5 days into my 4th brew that was originally started from an Amazon scoby and starter tea. The previous 3 brews were using the wrong type of black tea!! It was Bigelow "constant comments" which has orange rind and spices I believe (don't have the box anymore). This brew is the first one that is using straight black tea. All brews have been kept between 74-80f with the use of a thermostat and heater.

Anyway, I looked at the scoby for the first time since setting the brew and saw this...my sister said to dump, but I'm not sure.

PLEASE HELP!

P.S. Having messed with agar plates and seeing how easy it is to culture something, I'm having a hard time understanding how you don't just end up growing anything and everything that is introduced to the medium: Staph, psuedomonas, etc.

Thanks in advance

 

[hippoyell]

Man, this board is slow.

I tossed it and am starting over.

 

[Spaceman]

Good call tossing this one out, that doesn't look healthy.

 

[GregP507]

Mold is a sign that a batch has gone wrong. The dominant organism generally wipes out all the competition.