Left Kombucha brewing for 2-3 Months

[Mikailhaq]

Hi Everyone

About 2/3 months ago I started a brew from a SCOBY I had ordered on amazon and it wasn't taking. After about a month I nearly gave up, and simply just forgot.

Now this is what I have - It looks good in my opinion, but I am unsure if its ok to drink. I couldn't imagine there being any reason not to aside from taste, but no one seems to mention anything about brewing for longer than 30 days.

Right now there is the original scoby, sandwiched between 2 newer scobys (from when I would stir/add sugar)

My goal is to make it a continous brew, but to drain down some of the brew is it ok to drink or should I just take the scoby's out and start again?

 

[Mikailhaq]

Was your comment deleted or this thread?

 

[jbaysurfer]

That scoby looks very healthy. You can continue to brew with it. Taste the kombucha though, it could be beyond sour. If so, my wife will dilute it with regular tea and drink it that way, but save a solid pint (per gallon) as starter liquid. Remove the scoby, add the new tea to the starter liquid, replace scoby, and watch it more closely from now on. With starter liquid and a healthy scoby, it'll get sour much faster, and especially if it's in a warm spot somewhere...

 

[Listen_Up_Sonny]

That looks like a healthy scoby. I'd say there is nothing safety wise for you not to drink it.

Take a sip and see if the taste is good. My guess is that it will be WAY too strong/vinegary.

Sometimes life gets busy and I neglect my kombucha. If it goes too long, I just pour off most of it, add fresh sweet tea, and check on it until it tastes right- usually 5-7 days in summer and 7-9 in winter.

Kombucha is one of those things where you can play around and adjust the taste until its good. Remember the most important part is that you have a healthy, mold free scoby, which you do. If its too strong, dump some off and don't let the next batch go as long. The most common problem I have with taste in my continuous brew setup is too much tannin. Overtime, tea sediment builds up and makes the drink very tannic. When this happens, I just reserve a quart of the kombucha and the scoby. I completely clean out my container, and start again with very weak tea.

Taste it. You won't die.

 

[shelly_belly]

2-3 months has become the norm for me. I do like jbaysurfer and mix with equal amounts of freshly made tea or juice, then bottle. Mine carbs to about 2 - 2.5 volumes CO2. That's the way I like it. The longest I have done was six months. It was so strong I just started a new batch with a portion of it. I never reuse the scobys though as they just get in my way!

Here's the current batch going on 10 weeks and a glass from a 1 year old bottle.

Current batch smells like a huge jar of multi-vitamins!

 

[UncleRusty]

I've ended up doing the same thing out of neglect as well... Needless to say I was able to harvest the "Kombucha" and use it as a Vinegar replacement... Kombucha and Apple Cider Vinegar really aren't that far off from each other, especially once the Kombucha has soured significantly from sitting for a longer period of time.