Newbie with a question.

[bio25]

First at all thank you for letting me in. I was reading and watching videos and i think i almost know how to control my kombucha.
I just started with a really tiny SCOBY 5 days ago (maybe there is 2 together) and i started with my sweet black tea that a friend gave it to me. It was on a small jar and i made 3 litres so i know my SCOBY will not be thick.
I noticed from the first/second day a new really thin SCOBY is on the top, and i can see now some bubbles behind it. I know its working because of my sweet tea colour (it looks lighter).
After that i was thinking about tasting them on wednesday and if its ok do again 3 litres (i would love to do 5 litres) but adding more starter, the mother and thin baby SCOBY on it. Is that a good idea or should i remove one of them?? I was thinking about more SCOBY´s = thicker baby SCOBY, is that right??
And my second question is about where to put mi Kombucha jar... My friend told me about getting on a completly dark place and i was thinking if could it grow slower because of that.

Greetings and thank you for reading the whole text.... haha

 

[Yooper]

The more SCOBY (and starter tea) you have, the faster it will ferment. The thing is, I have a "SCOBY hotel", where I store excess SCOBYs, and the resulting liquid in there is very vinegary compared to the regular kombucha.

So I would be hesitant to use more than is needed to actually do the fermentation. You want a balance of lacto bacteria, yeast, and some of the acetic (vinegar) bacteria, and using too much may give you too much vinegar.

The good news with my SCOBY hotel product is that I used it as vinegar in salad dressings!

 

[bio25]

So if it taste good on 7 days that means its ok with that really thin SCOBY? I have to say that the small SCOBY my friend gave me is like 10cm diameter on a maybe 1L jar and now is forming a 20 cm one on 3L ...
Could be a good solution to introduce my SCOBY´s mother and baby mix with a little bit more of starter making a 5 L kombucha? Is better to let it be on completly dark or it doesnt matter?
Thank you so much for the so soon answer!

 

[Yooper]

So if it taste good on 7 days that means its ok with that really thin SCOBY? I have to say that the small SCOBY my friend gave me is like 10cm diameter on a maybe 1L jar and now is forming a 20 cm one on 3L ...
Could be a good solution to introduce my SCOBY´s mother and baby mix with a little bit more of starter making a 5 L kombucha? Is better to let it be on completly dark or it doesnt matter?
Thank you so much for the so soon answer!

Yes, if it tastes good (and the pH is low enough to inhibit mold growth), then it's fine!

You can use a bit more starter tea (to keep the pH low as well to ensure a good fermentation) when you make your larger batch. It won't hurt to add a bit more SCOBY if you want, but don't overdo it.

Mine is not in complete dark, but you do want to keep it out of direct light. A temperature of 75-80 degrees is perfect.

 

[bio25]

Thank you so much for the help... I will do as you told me and i will post here some pics. I can´t post it now because is on a closet and there is no light and i dont wanna disturb it

 

[bio25]

Hi, this is how my SCOBY looks on its 6th day, with a lot of bubbles. I think it looks like tiny but healthy!
I dont know why the jar looks like dirty, because it was really clean... i had to use my camera flash to take the photos because is on a dark place.
Tomorrow i will taste it and if i think its ready i wil do the 2nd fermentation with frozen cranberries juice that i will make.

 

[bio25]

I dont know why the pictures are like that but i dont know how to change it... hahaha
I will try it later on my computer.

 

[ericbw]

Until you get a really thick SCOBY (mother and babies), it's ok to use it all without splitting it. Even if you start with no SCOBY, it will grow a film across the top again. It's even possible that you could ferment and not get any film on top, but that is pretty rare (and a sign that something is out of balance). Remember that the culture is actually contained in the starter tea. What we refer to as the SCOBY is really a by-product of the Symbiotic Culture Of Bacteria and Yeast.

Eventually, it will be very thick and layers, so you'll split it. Some people do "continuous brewing," and they only split the SCOBY every once in a while. I usually split it every batch or every other batch.

As you step it up to a larger size, just try to keep the proportion of starter tea at about 10-15% of the total batch size. And the first batch after you increase the size might not be great, but then all the microbes will find their balance.

I agree that complete darkness isn't necessary, but direct sunlight could raise the temp enough to kill off some of the microbes. So a cabinet or closet is good. It's all about balancing the yeast and bacteria. If yeast takes over, it will be to much alcohol; if the bacteria takes over it will be too sour too fast.

Cranberry is a good flavor for booch!

 

[bio25]

Until you get a really thick SCOBY (mother and babies), it's ok to use it all without splitting it. Even if you start with no SCOBY, it will grow a film across the top again. It's even possible that you could ferment and not get any film on top, but that is pretty rare (and a sign that something is out of balance). Remember that the culture is actually contained in the starter tea. What we refer to as the SCOBY is really a by-product of the Symbiotic Culture Of Bacteria and Yeast.

Eventually, it will be very thick and layers, so you'll split it. Some people do "continuous brewing," and they only split the SCOBY every once in a while. I usually split it every batch or every other batch.

As you step it up to a larger size, just try to keep the proportion of starter tea at about 10-15% of the total batch size. And the first batch after you increase the size might not be great, but then all the microbes will find their balance.

I agree that complete darkness isn't necessary, but direct sunlight could raise the temp enough to kill off some of the microbes. So a cabinet or closet is good. It's all about balancing the yeast and bacteria. If yeast takes over, it will be to much alcohol; if the bacteria takes over it will be too sour too fast.

Cranberry is a good flavor for booch!

Thank you for your replay... Is exactly on a cabinet (i dont speak a good english) waiting for tomorrow to eat a lot of tea and sugar.
I never tasted kombucha so i still dont know which flavour would be great... Any recommendation? Watermelon could be great?? Mango??

 

[ericbw]

Thank you for your replay... Is exactly on a cabinet (i dont speak a good english) waiting for tomorrow to eat a lot of tea and sugar.
I never tasted kombucha so i still dont know which flavour would be great... Any recommendation? Watermelon could be great?? Mango??

I love mangoes and mango flavor, but fresh mango never seems to work for me. Always tastes a little like vegetable, not fruity. But still worth trying.

Watermelon would be great, especially with mint - kombucha is sour, so sweetening it with melon and mint will balance it. Cranberry is sour, so it makes it more sour, but it's still good.

I sometimes make a batch of blueberry tea with sugar in it, and use that for secondary fermentation.

Why did you decide to make kombucha?

 

[bio25]

I love mangoes and mango flavor, but fresh mango never seems to work for me. Always tastes a little like vegetable, not fruity. But still worth trying.

Watermelon would be great, especially with mint - kombucha is sour, so sweetening it with melon and mint will balance it. Cranberry is sour, so it makes it more sour, but it's still good.

I sometimes make a batch of blueberry tea with sugar in it, and use that for secondary fermentation.

Why did you decide to make kombucha?

I heard about Kombucha 2 years ago and now a friend of mine told me about give me an SCOBY... i just tasted the starter a little bit and i found it interesting... i love to see how the new SCOBY is growing since the freak biologist i am... hahahaha
I really love the kind of flavor the people describe. So what sweet flavor do you use?? I thought about cranberries and sugar could work, but i can try pomegranate, watermelon, melon...

 

[bio25]

I think i will have to wait more time to ferment again my kombucha... I tasted right now and it doesnt taste like vinegar.... Its hard to say but it taste like sweet/sour.... but very sweet.
I was thinking about wait 2/3 days more or try 2nd fermentation tomorrow and start tomorrow a new batch with more starter and my new baby SCOBY.
What do you sugest?

 

[ericbw]

What is the temperature? I would say that it usually takes about 1 week but sometimes 2 weeks to get tart. I would suggest waiting another 2-3 days and see how it tastes.

 

[bio25]

Room temperature, 25°C more or less. Maybe could need more time because is a small SCOBY on a big jar but i didnt tasted it well... just a couple of drops because i heard about dont disturb it... hahaha

 

[bio25]

I just made my second fermentation and prepared my next batch on 3L now (was 2L before). My SCOBY was on the top but is now resting down there
I added more starter now with the mother's and baby kombucha so i hope to see it fermenting faster!!

 

[Brewer-Joe]

I ferment mine , only until it tastes good... for me, that's when it's just a little sweet still and just a little tart. I've had some smaller batches finish in 4 days ( at 85F )... other larger batches have taken 7 days at that same temperature. I'm thinking of cooling my fermentation temperature down a little, mainly because when doing it at 85F, a batch can go to tasting a little too sweet, to a little too sour in under 24 hours.