What's wrong with my Kombucha? Is it mold? (with pics)

[sheena_roy]

Hi,

This is my second batch of Kombucha and while the first batch grew a decent scoby, I've noticed only this white dotted film over my second batch.
It has been brewing for 8-9 days now in a warm climate (30-35 degrees celsius) and ideally it shouldn't take this long to form a new scoby.

This is what my new scoby looks like. Is it mold? What can I do to save this? The older scoby that sank to bottom has come up and looks like it is attaching itself to this layer.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Sheena

 

[WarmGas]

I don't see mold here but your scoby looks more like a tortilla than a scoby from the top down shot. Mold will only appear on the surface of the scoby and is usually in circles and HAIRY. It also grows fast.

It looks to me you are ok. Wait a day to see if there are any changes that look like the above and if not you are good to go, in my opinion.

Good luck!

 

[sheena_roy]

I don't see mold here but your scoby looks more like a tortilla than a scoby from the top down shot. Mold will only appear on the surface of the scoby and is usually in circles and HAIRY. It also grows fast.

It looks to me you are ok. Wait a day to see if there are any changes that look like the above and if not you are good to go, in my opinion.

Good luck!

Thanks so much! It has now been 8.5 days - should I wait for the two to attach and see what happens then?

I will be checking the ph tomorrow evening - do you think my Kombucha will be safe to drink if the ph is around 3 or lower or should I wait to see if a proper scoby forms?

 

[WarmGas]

At 8.5 days it should be close to ready or even ready, depending on how you like the taste. The pellicles, as most people call the scoby, are fairly irrelevant. It seems their function is to seal over the surface to prevent competing bacteria and yeast from entering into the fray. They allow the original yeast and microbes to get on with their job of fermentation and creating kombucha unmolested. Don't worry what the scoby does. If there is no mold on the surface and the KT tastes good then you are golden.

Enjoy.