Troubleshooting: Both too sour and too sweet?

[r-kombucha]

I've run into a glitch (or a dual glitch) the solutions to which seem to contradict. My kombucha brews are both too sour and too sweet (after roughly 7 days, but I've tested a few days plus/minus in each direction).

The general suggestion for an overly sour brew is to shorten up brewing time, and for an overly sweet brew, to lengthen it. What do I do if the brew is both too sour and simultaneously too sweet?

Is it simply a matter of lowering the initial sugar level? (that's the best approach I can think of). I was using 1/2 cup sugar to approx 1800 ml of brew, brewed in 2000 ml mason jars (which seemed like an appropriate amount from the recipes I've read).

 

[stpug]

Yes, reduce the amount of sugar to final volume ratio. You can work from about 1/2 cup sugar to 1 cup sugar per gallon of tea (~3800ml). I currently use 1 cup of sugar per 1.5 gallons (5700ml) which is a ratio of 2/3 cup sugar per gallon. Relative to what you're brewing, I would be using about 1000ml more brew (~2800ml) for the same amount of sugar (1/2 cup). It has worked extremely well for reducing both sour and sweet, but may require a longer brew time (2-4 extra days).