I'm a big fan of kombucha and am about to brew my first batch. My 2.5 gallon jar arrived today and my LHBS shop sells SCOBYs for a reasonable price. I'm planning on running 1 - 2 gallon batches depending on how much my wife and I end up drinking every 2 weeks.
Current plan is to ferment the kombucha in the 2.5 gallon jar for 10 days using the following recipe:
7.50 grams black tea/qt
0.25 cups white sugar/qt
0.25 cups kombucha liquid/qt (can be subbed with apple cider vinegar)
After that I'm going to remove the mother and use an autosiphon to strain and transfer the kombucha into a bottling bucket. Currently planning on bottling with 12 or 22oz reused beer bottles and letting carbonate at room temp for 3 days. After the bottles will go into the fridge until they are ready to be consumed.
I use the bottling bucket, the autosiphon, and the bottles for brewing beer. Is StarSan going to be enough to kill the bacteria and yeast that grows in kombucha? I would hate to have to sanitize with bleach after every bottling (would probably have to invest in a pair of gloves too) or getting new equipment and bottles just for kombucha.
Is there anyone who brews beer and kombucha that can get me up to speed?
Also an unrelated question - would a 2 quart size SCOBY mothers be enough to get a gallon batch of kombucha going if the proper amount of vinegar is added to adjust the pH?
Current plan is to ferment the kombucha in the 2.5 gallon jar for 10 days using the following recipe:
7.50 grams black tea/qt
0.25 cups white sugar/qt
0.25 cups kombucha liquid/qt (can be subbed with apple cider vinegar)
After that I'm going to remove the mother and use an autosiphon to strain and transfer the kombucha into a bottling bucket. Currently planning on bottling with 12 or 22oz reused beer bottles and letting carbonate at room temp for 3 days. After the bottles will go into the fridge until they are ready to be consumed.
I use the bottling bucket, the autosiphon, and the bottles for brewing beer. Is StarSan going to be enough to kill the bacteria and yeast that grows in kombucha? I would hate to have to sanitize with bleach after every bottling (would probably have to invest in a pair of gloves too) or getting new equipment and bottles just for kombucha.
Is there anyone who brews beer and kombucha that can get me up to speed?
Also an unrelated question - would a 2 quart size SCOBY mothers be enough to get a gallon batch of kombucha going if the proper amount of vinegar is added to adjust the pH?
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