Jumping into making Kombucha!

[pshankstar]

I reuse commercial beer bottles. I'm somewhat lazy about labeling so I always use short bottles for kombucha and taller bottles for beer. I store them in a bathroom closet and put them in the fridge only prior to drinking. I decant through a strainer as I don't want to drink the bottle SCOBY if there is one.

Do you cap then a few days later release some pressure before recapping and placing in the fridge? Or does straining it help enough to not need to do this?

 

[shelly_belly]

In the beginning I would fill a soda bottle to judge how the carbonation was progressing but quit after I had 6 month old bottles at room temps. I've never vented the pressure on any nor did I store them in the fridge. The straining was just to catch the bottle SCOBY because the thought of it being in my mouth kind of disgusts me!

 

[pshankstar]

Started a two gallon batch in my slightly used old bottling bucket with a spigot on Sunday. I knew my wife wouldn’t like having this large “ugly” bucket on the kitchen counter so it’s in the basement with a reptile heater strapped around the bucket. It appears it’s staying around 73 degrees Fahrenheit, on the low end but staying consistent. Looking forward to leaving it alone all week and pulling a small sample this weekend or sometime next week.

 

[NGD]

The straining was just to catch the bottle SCOBY because the thought of it being in my mouth kind of disgusts me!

+1 I tried kombucha some years ago on a lark. I think you had to be 21 to buy it at the time due to its 0.5% abv. Took a few sips, thought “this is pretty good” before taking a swig and catching a baby scoby. Wondered if I was drinking someones nasal lavage water and spit it out.
Retold the story to a local brewer over a pint a few weeks later. She started laughing so hard she almost tipped over her pint. After being schooled I gave the booch another try...hooked.

 

[pshankstar]

Well that small scoby grew a lot over 10 days. Pulled a sample last night and it was still pretty sweet. I’ll give it more time before packaging.

 

[pshankstar]

What do you experienced Kombucha makers think? I have some questions about adding to my continuous brew for the first time.

I set up my continuous brew back on 4/18 with 2 gallons. I’ve tasted a sample here and there this last week and it’s tasting pretty good right now. I figured I would bottle some in the next day or two.

With that being said, reading the “Big Book of Kombucha” it says to give it a few days before adding more tea to the fermenter. Letting it ferment more without new tea to build the “Sour Power” of the kombucha. That makes sense and I’m good with that, I would like it to have a sourness to it too. It also says “add up to 1 gallon of sweet tea (depending on vessel size)” from page 120. Couldn’t I add more than one gallon since the fermenter is 6 gallons in size?

I was thinking I would add 2 gallons. Then maybe the next time go to 3 gallons and then maybe 4. Or could I add more than 2 gallons? Will it “shock” the SCOBY or have a negative impact by adding too much this early on?

What do you fine folks think? Any help and suggestions is always appreciated. Cheers!

 

[rushpapers]

You should have a batch consist of 20-25% starter. Starter is previously fermented kombucha that has a low pH. Somewhere in the area of 3.0-3.5 pH. When you add the sweet tea, you should take a reading and the new born batch should be around 4.0 pH.

 

[pvpeacock]

Yes, as long as you are leaving enough fermented kombucha in the fermenter, you can add more new, sweet tea than you took out. That is how you can increase the volume in your fermenter over time or start a second batch in another fermenter, create a SCOBY hotel or share a SCOBY and starter tea with others.

Just be careful not to make too much kombucha. I learned the hard way when I ended up with two 2 1/2 gallon kegs of kombucha but not enough room in the keezer to cool them down. Because they were not cold, they kept fermenting in the kegs until they were too sour to drink.

Now I try to balance what I am fermenting with what I can store cold and how much I actually drink. It can be a tricky balance.

 

[ThirstyPawsHB]

Thanks @pshankstar for starting this thread. Been curious myself. In Austin we have Buddha Brew which makes top notch flavored kombucha.

 

[pshankstar]

Bottled eight 12oz bottles of booch for the first time tonight. Half has strawberries & kiwis and the other half have mangos & pineapple. I measured out 0.5oz of purée I made of each (fresh fruit in the food processor) and placed it in the bottle then filled them off the spigot.
I have them sitting in a small cooler just in case they become over carbonated. I’ll report back with the results later this week.
Now I’m brewing more tea to add back to the bucket with the scoby.

 

[pshankstar]

Very little to no carbonation but still tastes pretty good. This was a picture of the Pineapple & Mango booch I made. One mango & a half a pineapple puréed in the food processor. Added 1oz to each 16oz bottle.
I also did a strawberry & kiwi batch (7 strawberries & 3 kiwis). Similar results with carbonation and pretty decent taste.
As time goes on I think there’s a small baby scoby growing and I can’t help but to think of @NGD and his previous story.

 

[pshankstar]

This latest batch of booch turned out really good. One third of the bottles I added 2oz of the Bolthouse Juice to 16oz bottles. After a good week to ten days the carbonation is excellent. My wife loves this one and has been drinking it often. I’ll have to do more with this one. The color is a nice red too. I’m hooked!!

 

[pshankstar]

Just pulled a gallon off the fermenter to bottle with some watermelon, mint & lemonade. Let it sit for several days to carbonate. The scoby looks good. I’ll probably need to pull it out and start a hotel soon. Plus give the fermenter a good cleaning.
Any insights or suggestions would be appreciated. Of course I’ll reference the big book of booch I have on cleaning, but just like anything else anyone with experience may have something to share that’s helpful.
Cheers!

 

[rushpapers]

I wouldn't bother with a "SCOBY Hotel," pellicles are useless. You should, however, save plenty of mature booch to use as starter.

Cleaning: on a plastic brew bucket like that I use a soft bucket brush, 2 gallons hot water, and a half ounce of PBW. After scrub and rinse, I spray with starsan and invert to dry.