Kombucha mold????

s1man711 · Jan 2, 2014

This is my second time attempting to brew Kombucha and have had this dark brown substance appear. It's not solid, a very dense substance dark brown in color, may be yeast???

Last time I threw it away, this time I'm not so sure, the scoby looks very healthy on top. Anyone experienced this or know what this is?

I used organic green tea from Trader Joe's and raw cane sugar kept around 74 degrees. My brother used the same ingredients and he doesn't have this.

kyt · Jan 3, 2014

Dark brown globs under the surface are yeast strands. There is no need to fish them out before fermentation is complete, but you are welcome to strain them out when you are bottling. Your bottom image looks to have some sediment floating about. Possibly coagulated solids from the sugar. It should settle with time. If the yeast strands are present, I can't see them in these images due to the glare.

Mold would grow on the surface and would be fuzzy and dry, with earthy colors typical of bread mold, like greens and whites.

s1man711 · Jan 3, 2014

Everyone says yeast strands. The thing with mine is they aren't strands but it actually does look like the yeast that forms at the base and has lifted towards the scoby.

I just want to be sure this isn't mold as I am fairly new to this and have not seen this in any other pictures posted online.