Kombucha help

[hopbrad]

My wife is interested in brewing Kombucha for the first time.

she has the following ready to start a batch up this week:
scoby, black tea, sugar, water and a 1 gallon jug.

i brew beer so i have quite a bit of equipment as well.

my questions are:

1. are you suppose to let it completely ferment out, then add sugar to bottle? i have googled a few recipes and most say let it ferment anywhere from 5-30 days then just put it in bottles. i dont want any bottle bombs. and i'd like to use glass bottles and cap it.

2. should i keep my beer supplies away from kombucha? i dont want to create any infections.

3. does anyone have a good instructions/recipes we can follow?

Thanks!

 

[two_hearted]

1. I'm no expert, but I let it ferment for about 2 to 4 weeks depending on how long I've forgotten about it. I check to make sure my PH is below 4 before consuming.

2. Nothing is going to crawl out of kombucha and dive in your fermenter. That being said, I do ferment both in different parts of the house.

3. I use about 6-8 tea bags of whatever kind of tea sounds good to you. Boil 1 gallon of water, kill the heat and chuck in tea and steep for 4 minutes, throw in 1 cup of sugar, cool to room temp and pitch in the culture. I often toss in frozen blueberries or cherries for flavor. I thaw them out first.

I also put it into swing top bottles and add a dab of honey to carb.

 

[boocha]

Hi, my reply is in red.

My wife is interested in brewing Kombucha for the first time.

she has the following ready to start a batch up this week:
scoby, black tea, sugar, water and a 1 gallon jug.

i brew beer so i have quite a bit of equipment as well.

my questions are:

1. are you suppose to let it completely ferment out, then add sugar to bottle? i have googled a few recipes and most say let it ferment anywhere from 5-30 days then just put it in bottles. i dont want any bottle bombs. and i'd like to use glass bottles and cap it.
From what I know and what I've been doing, you have to add the sugar in the tea base and completely ferment it out. It takes around 7-14 days to get the right fizz in your kombucha tea.

2. should i keep my beer supplies away from kombucha? i dont want to create any infections.
Yes you should. Aside from infection, the Scoby might adapt the odor of the beer you're brewing.

3. does anyone have a good instructions/recipes we can follow?
I always recommend this site http://www.getkombucha.com/ because they have awesome customer service and they have lots of recipes and instructional videos.



Thanks!