New to continuous brewing...

[AKAK]

...and it is somewhat of a disaster. The SCOBY looks happy enough and has been replicating, but the brew is quite vinegary, and doesn't fizz after bottling with ginger. I've just ordered some pH strips to see what's going on, but my question, in the meantime, is how (or whether) this sour stuff can be salvaged. Can I just remove some large amount and replace it with fresh, sweeter tea?
What I have is not undrinkable, it's just not delicious (and I miss the fizz (but not the explosion I once experienced) of batch brewing). How often should I be bottling/replacing liquid to avoid excessive tartness?
That turned into a lot of questions - sorry! And thanks!

 

[hottpeper13]

The process change for me that made my booch over the top good was to switch from continuous brewing to semicontinuous. Where i bottle a 2 gal batch and rite after use the TOP scoby and about 16oz of the booch for a new batch. I get 12-14 swing top bottles per batch and most batches take 14 days in the summer and 21 or so in the winter. I make 1 gal of strong tea then let it chill while I bottle and clean the crock(cleaning the dregs and old scoby helps it from getting too sour, but still maintain a correct pH) I add 1 more gal of water to help get it to pitching temps of 70-80*,fill the crock ,put on heat mat and insulate with a cover I made from reflectix. I like mine fizzy and use this for bottling. 130 grams sugar, 300 ml water, heat to dissolve. Add 1/2 tps Penzys #1 china crack ginger(way better then fresh) and 20 ml of sugar solution to each bottle(16 oz) keep at 78-80* for 4-5 days , refrigerate and enjoy. The longer in the fridge the sharper the ginger,I think there best at 3-4 weeks but sometimes I run out.

 

[AKAK]

Thanks for the info! So basically, you are bottling everything but about 16oz every 2 weeks or so? I will definitely try the Penzy's ginger, and adding more sugar to the bottles!

 

[hottpeper13]

Thats right ,the first 16 oz from the tap go over the scoby in a vinegar sanitized bowl. I use white vinegar to sanitize everything that comes in contact with the tea,including my hands.

 

[AKAK]

I will try that, too - thanks again.