Hello Booch Brewers!
I've been making kombucha in 1 gallon jars for about 2 years, using daughters from my original SCOBY with great success. I usually let the tea ferment for three to four weeks as like my kombucha to be SOUR.
Usually by the time it gets to the level of sour I like, I've "sampled" it to the point where I only have enough left to use as my next starter liquid so I'm moving to bigger batches and trying to do a large continuous brew.
I mixed 3 gallons of the sweet tea and a gallon of my finished kombucha with SCOBY in a new 6 gallon bottling bucket with spigot. My SCOBY quickly grew to cover the top of the liquid. It's been going since Xmas day and it looks and smells as usual, which I assume is healthy. It stays at around 70-75 degrees, however it is not sour.
Having sampled along the way I can tell that most if not all of the sugar has been consumed. I get a light tea flavor, but it's not sweet at all. It is a little tart, but not the teeth etching sour I've had with past brews using this same SCOBY and same tea recipe. It tastes like a weak tea lemonade mix. It's been at a consistent (low) level of tartness for almost two weeks now, so I assume it has to be done. It's certainly drinkable, but not what I'm looking for.
Has anyone experienced something like this before? Could some of my organisms have died or quit?
I'm thinking of dumping SCOBY and starting over, but it looks good and I've been maintaining it for so long I hate to toss it prematurely.
My recipe is 8 bags of green tea and 1 cup sugar per gallon of filtered water.
Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you!!!
I've been making kombucha in 1 gallon jars for about 2 years, using daughters from my original SCOBY with great success. I usually let the tea ferment for three to four weeks as like my kombucha to be SOUR.
Usually by the time it gets to the level of sour I like, I've "sampled" it to the point where I only have enough left to use as my next starter liquid so I'm moving to bigger batches and trying to do a large continuous brew.
I mixed 3 gallons of the sweet tea and a gallon of my finished kombucha with SCOBY in a new 6 gallon bottling bucket with spigot. My SCOBY quickly grew to cover the top of the liquid. It's been going since Xmas day and it looks and smells as usual, which I assume is healthy. It stays at around 70-75 degrees, however it is not sour.
Having sampled along the way I can tell that most if not all of the sugar has been consumed. I get a light tea flavor, but it's not sweet at all. It is a little tart, but not the teeth etching sour I've had with past brews using this same SCOBY and same tea recipe. It tastes like a weak tea lemonade mix. It's been at a consistent (low) level of tartness for almost two weeks now, so I assume it has to be done. It's certainly drinkable, but not what I'm looking for.
Has anyone experienced something like this before? Could some of my organisms have died or quit?
I'm thinking of dumping SCOBY and starting over, but it looks good and I've been maintaining it for so long I hate to toss it prematurely.
My recipe is 8 bags of green tea and 1 cup sugar per gallon of filtered water.
Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you!!!