Scoby Status

[Ferreus]

On 30 July, I got a scoby from my friend. They gave it to me in about 8-10 oz of kombucha. I made my tea (14 cups), let it cool, and then poured in the starter kombucha with the scoby. The jar I used for brewing was quite large (approx 9.5” diameter). I covered it and let it sit. Six days later I checked it and there was what appeared to be mold spots on the top of the scoby. I know some normal growth can resemble mold, but this had some fuzz, so I get convinced it was mold. I didn’t do anything to it at the time and just let it sit. Today I checked it and there’s zero mold and the scoby appears to be very healthy. I have a picture, but can’t figure out how to upload it.

So, do you think it was mold and the scoby consumed it? Either way, would you recommend discarding the scoby and starting over or do you think it’s safe to use?

 

[MajorJC]

Usually the pH of your starter tea is low enough to keep your pH in the safe range after you add your new tea. However, you added 14 cups of tea to a 1 cup starter. I’m worried that your pH was too alkaline. It is important that your pH stays below 4.2.
Did you check your pH?

Usually when you have a moldy SCOBY it is a discard, sanitize, and start over situation.

 

[Ferreus]

Usually the pH of your starter tea is low enough to keep your pH in the safe range after you add your new tea. However, you added 14 cups of tea to a 1 cup starter. I’m worried that your pH was too alkaline. It is important that your pH stays below 4.2.
Did you check your pH?

Usually when you have a moldy SCOBY it is a discard, sanitize, and start over situation.

I did not check the pH. Most of what I’d read said the same thing about discard, sanitize, and start over, so that’s what I intended to do until I saw how good the scoby looked today. Had me rethinking it. My friend has more scoby I can have, so maybe it’s better to be safe than sorry and just start over. I’ll test the pH next time.