Sourcing a SCOBY

[ChefRex]

I have been wanting to start doing KT but Iv'e been too frugal, ok cheap to buy one on Amazon. Anyone want to supply one? I'll cover shipping costs or willing to trade my very healthy sourdough culture.
Thanks in advance.

 

[kyt]

You can typically use store bought KT to get started, if you have some available. If not, get on Facebook and join a group called Kombucha Nation. You can find lots of cultures on there for only reimbursement of shipping.

 

[SJB104]

Growing your own is a piece of cake and will only cost you the price of a bottle of KT. I used GTs original.


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[Owly055]

Growing your own is a piece of cake and will only cost you the price of a bottle of KT. I used GTs original.


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It doesn't really cost a bottle of GTs or other commercial kombucha to make your own..... You get that kombucha back! .......... So it's free!

H.W.

 

[kyt]

It doesn't really cost a bottle of GTs or other commercial kombucha to make your own..... You get that kombucha back! .......... So it's free!

H.W.

Yea definitely, GTs is $3.29/bottle here. When I got started I didn't know anyone, or relatively anything, and paid $40 for 2 cultures from Kombucha Kamp.

Don't do that.

Her cultures have good bacterial viability, but the yeasts are exceptionally poor.

 

[ChefRex]

I made one attempt with GT's and had no luck, the reading I have done, not extensive,GT's was not recommended.

 

[lotusworker]

You can look on craigslist. I got a free scoby from someone on CL, plus enough KT to get started.

 

[kyt]

I made one attempt with GT's and had no luck, the reading I have done, not extensive,GT's was not recommended.

GTs will work it just takes a long time it seems. I haven't tried it but I have heard from people that have.
Maybe I'll pick up a bottle one day and give it a try myself.

 

[ChefRex]

Any one that has used GT's remember which of their line that they used as they have a few, thanks!
Edit: quite possible the classic, which my local store doesn't carry.

 

[kyt]

Yea well if you can find the classic I'd ask for you to ship me one lol
Enlightened will allegedly work. Get the plain with the blue label.

 

[ChefRex]

I'll pick some up this weekend and give it another try,anyone have any tips to help me down the road?

 

[kyt]

I'll pick some up this weekend and give it another try,anyone have any tips to help me down the road?

Start small.
Use the whole bottle of GT + 500ml of new tea. Let that go until the pH gets down to <3.2, then use all of that liquid plus a new 1000ml of tea. Just keep stepping your way up. As long as the GTs has good viable cells counts, you should only need 1-2 weeks per step. Pellicle growth isn't a good indication of fermentation, you need to taste it. If it's sweet, let it sit longer.
If at 2 weeks it's still sweet, the yeast cells were not viable enough. You can pitch some brewers yeast to get their counts up. A pack of Safale dry yeast is pretty cheap, but you could use liquid if you wanted. Liquid yeast smack packs and vials are $7 from my LHBS, where Safale is ~$1-2 for like 11g. You'll only need about a gram worth.
If the yeasts are fine, there's no need to supplement.

 

[ChefRex]

Thanks for the input, any strain of yeast recommended?

 

[kyt]

Thanks for the input, any strain of yeast recommended?

When needed, I used whatever I had in the fridge. Different yeasts have different attenuation and flavors produced. If you're going to leave your fermentors sitting out at room temp, you'll want to go with an ale yeast.
Safale 04 or 05 would probably be a good one to start out on.
http://www.fermentis.com/brewing/homebrewing/product-range/

Those are pretty common in local brew shops. Our liquor stores that carry some brewing supplies usually have one of both of those, so it should be easy enough to find.

 

[cosmatics]

Where are you in central jersey? I have gotten a real nice scoby from a women in JC for $10, I was brewing KB for a bit then got bored with it. She sells prepared mothers in a small jar, it worked great. https://www.facebook.com/SazzuHope I'll look around to see how many bottles I have left, if I have more then 1, you are welcome to it. I live in Union County.

John

 

[ChefRex]

When needed, I used whatever I had in the fridge. Different yeasts have different attenuation and flavors produced. If you're going to leave your fermentors sitting out at room temp, you'll want to go with an ale yeast.
Safale 04 or 05 would probably be a good one to start out on.
http://www.fermentis.com/brewing/homebrewing/product-range/

Those are pretty common in local brew shops. Our liquor stores that carry some brewing supplies usually have one of both of those, so it should be easy enough to find.

Shouldn't be to hard to find, always have some dry on hand for emergencys

Where are you in central jersey? I have gotten a real nice scoby from a women in JC for $10, I was brewing KB for a bit then got bored with it. She sells prepared mothers in a small jar, it worked great. https://www.facebook.com/SazzuHope I'll look around to see how many bottles I have left, if I have more then 1, you are welcome to it. I live in Union County.

John

Thanks, that would be great. I'm in Woodbridge.

 

[two_hearted]

I had a good and healthy scoby, but it dried up a bit in the last break between batches. We'll see if it bounces back in the current batch. If so, I am happy to send some.

Edit: would love to trade for a sourdough culture!

 

[ChefRex]

I had a good and healthy scoby, but it dried up a bit in the last break between batches. We'll see if it bounces back in the current batch. If so, I am happy to send some.

Edit: would love to trade for a sourdough culture!

Sounds promising let me know, I can send you a culture either way.

 

[two_hearted]

It's been fermenting for a few days now. I'll check in on it this afternoon. I had a nice new scoby from a bottle that was only half full and refermented that I tossed in. I'll for sure have some viable culture to send your way.


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[ChefRex]

It's been fermenting for a few days now. I'll check in on it this afternoon. I had a nice new scoby from a bottle that was only half full and refermented that I tossed in. I'll for sure have some viable culture to send your way.


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PM me your address and I'll get a starter out to you.:rockin:

 

[Zuljin]

I've never done this. What about "bucha"? I've a bottle in the fridge. It claims to be live. They have a site. Mybucha.com.

 

[kyt]

I've never done this. What about "bucha"? I've a bottle in the fridge. It claims to be live. They have a site. Mybucha.com.

Eh, no and maybe.

We remove most of the yeast from Búcha before we bottle. This assures that secondary fermentation in refrigerated product will be minimal.

So if they filtered out the yeasts, did they filter out the bacteria too?
If they did, it's not really "live" anymore. You could try, but I wouldn't.

 

[Zuljin]

But it also says,

Why is Bucha so clear? Why doesn&#8217;t it have sediment or floaters?

It&#8217;s simple: we filter out the sediment, while retaining most of the &#8216;live culture&#8217; microorganisms. We don&#8217;t think kombucha has to look and taste bad to be good for you.

Our fruit-based flavors; Guava Mango and Grapefruit Sage will have organic puree sediment. Simply turn these flavors over once or twice to disperse the fruit, and enjoy.

But yeah, it may not be the best one to harvest from. Oh well.

 

[two_hearted]

PM me your address and I'll get a starter out to you.:rockin:

Ok, my batch is going well. I'll probably take some of the fermenting kombucha and some of the scoby and put it in a small nalgene to ship to you if you're still looking for one. I'll be out of town until Monday, so I can ship it next week.

 

[ChefRex]

Ok, my batch is going well. I'll probably take some of the fermenting kombucha and some of the scoby and put it in a small nalgene to ship to you if you're still looking for one. I'll be out of town until Monday, so I can ship it next week.

That would work for me, I have a batch started from a bottle but no noticeable action yet, yours would get me up to speed faster.