Scary looking...is this okay?

[juliebu2]

I'm a relative newbie, on my 2nd batch, and this batch has some really scary looking bits to it. Please see pic.
Does it look okay? If so, what do I do with the alien looking part?
Help!

 

[Cyclman]

Kombucha always looks like an infected alien to me...

 

[SJB104]

I'm fairly new to it too, but I think the coloration there may be mold.... If it's mold you'll have to start over.


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[kyt]

Mold will always be on the top, and powdery/fuzzy. Just like bread mold.

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[snarf]

Indeed it doesn't look like mold. It does look a bit funny, but my guess is that it's fine.

 

[Listen_Up_Sonny]

I'm a relative newbie, on my 2nd batch, and this batch has some really scary looking bits to it. Please see pic.
Does it look okay? If so, what do I do with the alien looking part?
Help!

That looks okay to me. Mine do that occasionally. That weird jellyfish looking piece is the older scoby. When it gets a little dehydrated, it will darken like that. Then, a new scoby grows over it, and the old scoby does that creepy "suspended animation thing."

You're fermenting tea. It's not going to be pretty, LOL.

Usually, I just skim it off when I change the sweet tea. You can have multiple scoby's no problem. But, I try to limit my continuous brew to one nice healthy scoby. Otherwise, the ferment times become inconsistent because sometimes you have a larger bacteria colony. I set one aside in a scoby hotel, and I keep one going in the sun tea picture. All the rest go in the trash or to a friend.

Mold will grow on top.