Re: when does kombucha go bad?

[Guest guest]

When home-made (i.e., from a culture), kombucha " goes bad " in two

cases: 1) when the culture itself develops mold, in which case the

entire batch must be discarded; or 2), when the finished brew becomes

so vinegary and acidic that nothing could induce you to drink it.

oftentimes, when left to sit, the finished brew develops a few

" ooglies " or strands/blobs of culture. I have many such bottles and

simply pour out the baby cultures into a holding jar full of other

babies swimming in liquid.

I do not know the answer about when your kombucha comes from a

commercially produced version like GT Dave's, because they flavor

their kombucha after it's brewed. I notice the GT kombucha needs to

be kept refrigerated whereas a homemade culture generally keeps well

inside a grolsch bottle. I have never refrigerated my cultures

because they go dormant if refrigerated. Hope this clears it up.

~Joe

[Guest guest]

I have to chime in on this conversation as I'm having a KT right now.

MOLD- When you start a brand new batch you need to add about 2 cup of

previously-

made tea/gallon of tea brew, OR add about 1 cup distilled vinegar/gallon of tea.

This will

protect the batch until it starts making it's own lactic acid and other mold

inhibitors. If

you forget to do this, and the mother gets moldy, throw everything away and

start over.

2ND FERMENTATION- This is done after the iinitial brewing. To determine when

the 1st

brew is " done " I go by both taste and pH, I wait until it drops from the

original 6.5 or so

down to below 3 (use pH paper test strips). I then decant and strain it,

bottle it and let it

sit on the counter for another 5 days. I also add the GINGER slices when

bottling. If I use

fresh fruit juices for flavoring I don't do the 2nd fermentation because the

fruit wouldn't

be stable. It goes right into the refrigerator.

GOING " BAD " Since this is a lacto-fermented product this would take a long,

long time,

especially if refrigerated or stored properly. Go by taste. G.T. Dave's is aged

30 days

before it's sold. KT is CHEAP so you can afford to toss it if it's 10 years old

and you are in

doubt.

BABIES/CHILDREN This is an excellent subsitute for soda pop and other sugary

fruit

juices. I've never seen any information on the safety for infants. The pH is low

but all the

nutrients are very good for you. If it's for children use tea with low caffeine.

Will Winter

[Guest guest]

Pictures of Kombucha mushrooms that went bad. This web site has very

good pictures of Kombucha mushrooms or SCOBYs that are still good, and

those with mold. When I first started I really didn't know if that

white stuff growing was the mold people were talking about or just the

normal development. It was normal, but it was confusing at first. This

site talks about continuous brewing (an interesting idea), but has

pictures towards the bottom of the page that show normal white and dark

SCOBYs and ones with mold. The mold looks more like cheese mold, blue,

green or pink and very different from the normal development of the

SCOBY.

http://www.happyherbalist.com/continuous_brewing.htm

<http://www.happyherbalist.com/continuous_brewing.htm>

~Jan

>

> I have to chime in on this conversation as I'm having a KT right now.

>

> MOLD- When you start a brand new batch you need to add about 2 cup of

previously-

> made tea/gallon of tea brew, OR add about 1 cup distilled

vinegar/gallon of tea. This will

> protect the batch until it starts making it's own lactic acid and

other mold inhibitors. If

> you forget to do this, and the mother gets moldy, throw everything

away and start over.

>

> 2ND FERMENTATION- This is done after the iinitial brewing. To

determine when the 1st

> brew is " done " I go by both taste and pH, I wait until it drops from

the original 6.5 or so

> down to below 3 (use pH paper test strips). I then decant and strain

it, bottle it and let it

> sit on the counter for another 5 days. I also add the GINGER slices

when bottling. If I use

> fresh fruit juices for flavoring I don't do the 2nd fermentation

because the fruit wouldn't

> be stable. It goes right into the refrigerator.

>

> GOING " BAD " Since this is a lacto-fermented product this would take a

long, long time,

> especially if refrigerated or stored properly. Go by taste. G.T.

Dave's is aged 30 days

> before it's sold. KT is CHEAP so you can afford to toss it if it's 10

years old and you are in

> doubt.

>

> BABIES/CHILDREN This is an excellent subsitute for soda pop and other

sugary fruit

> juices. I've never seen any information on the safety for infants. The

pH is low but all the

> nutrients are very good for you. If it's for children use tea with low

caffeine.

>

> Will Winter

>