Re: Newbie Question - Mark

[Guest guest]

In message <f19qr8+tm60eGroups> you wrote:

> When I make a new batch of kombucha, the mother always floats to the

> top.

Mark, sometimes it does, in fact quite often it does, but it could be

located ANYWHERE in your brewing jar...that is her right!! ;-)

Wherever the culture/scoby is located, the new culture ALWAYS grows on the

very top of the brew... by itself, if mother is somewhere else in the jar,

sometimes growing to the mother, like having a piggyback!

It is best not to disturb the brew at all during at least the 7 first days

of fermentation. That's a good time to try your brew for the first time -

with a straw conveniently. If you want the brew more acidic, leave it a day

or few longer until it has the taste that YOU like. Then bottle.

Don't forget to keep a generous amount of the liquid back to go with

your culture or cultures into your next brew. Brewing with more scoby than

one is a good practice which often results in a better flavoured KY,

probably of the greater amount of bacteria present in the scobys.

> Also, I have a separate jar for the babies that are created. How

> should they be maintained? Do I just leave them in some kombucha brew...

Yes, and cover like your ordinary brew. You can turn it into a starter pot

and make your extra scobys work for their living:

One of our experienced Kombucha brewers once contributed the following

post:

A kombucha starter pot is a container filled with mature and very acidic

kombucha.

You make it by letting KT ferment for many weeks. The acidic

kombucha is not usually drunk (too sour!) but only used as a starter for

new batches of KT.

When you take some starter out of the pot, you replace it with the same

amount (plus a little more to allow for evaporation) of KT

from your last brew. I keep my starter pot next to my other KT brewing

vessels. It is also a good place to store extra SCOBYs.

The acidic starter minimizes the risk of developing mold on your scoby. It

also helps to assure a stable, healthy culture in the long term.

The idea behind a starter pot is to keep the bacteria activity as high as

possible while keeping the yeast activity low. The bacteria need air and

glucose to maintain their activity. That's why you should NEVER ADD

SWEETENED TEA to the starter pot, only fully fermented KT. Fully fermented

KT replaces the glucose keeping the bacteria happy and the yeast sleepy.

Whereas sugar (sucrose) will stimulate the yeast, causing respiration and

reproduction of yeasts.

It's the bacteria which help your brew to taste especially nice.

A helpful site (Len's) which can be really helpful with troubleshooting.

http://www.geocities.com/kombucha_balance/

All the best with blessings,

Margret UK :-)

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[Guest guest]

Margret

Thanks very much for the explanation. I am presently growing some SCOBYs for

friends. Shouldn't we add a tad have some yeast growth? I understand the

bacteria are extremely important but the name SCOBY implies yeast in the culture

doesn't it? Just curious?

Another thing is that the rubbery " thing " that form on the surface is part of

the culture, I do not think it is THE culture, rather the whole brew IS the

culture. At the culture to Air boundary, a different phenomenon takes place that

produces that rubbery " thingy " ...

Frantz

Margret Pegg <Minstrel@...> wrote:

In message <f19qr8+tm60eGroups> you wrote:

> When I make a new batch of kombucha, the mother always floats to the

> top.

Mark, sometimes it does, in fact quite often it does, but it could be

located ANYWHERE in your brewing jar...that is her right!! ;-)

Wherever the culture/scoby is located, the new culture ALWAYS grows on the

very top of the brew... by itself, if mother is somewhere else in the jar,

sometimes growing to the mother, like having a piggyback!

It is best not to disturb the brew at all during at least the 7 first days

of fermentation. That's a good time to try your brew for the first time -

with a straw conveniently. If you want the brew more acidic, leave it a day

or few longer until it has the taste that YOU like. Then bottle.

Don't forget to keep a generous amount of the liquid back to go with

your culture or cultures into your next brew. Brewing with more scoby than

one is a good practice which often results in a better flavoured KY,

probably of the greater amount of bacteria present in the scobys.

>

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[Guest guest]

In message <670423.88426.qm@...> you wrote:

> Margret

>

> Thanks very much for the explanation. I am presently growing some SCOBYs

> for friends. Shouldn't we add a tad have some yeast growth? I understand

> the bacteria are extremely important but the name SCOBY implies yeast in

> the culture doesn't it? Just curious?

> Another thing is that the rubbery " thing " that form on the surface is

> part of the culture, I do not think it is THE culture, rather the whole

> brew IS the culture. At the culture to Air boundary, a different

> phenomenon takes place that produces that rubbery " thingy " ...

>

Hello, Frantz,

By all means, add as starter liquid the WHOLE of the liquid of KT.

For those who don't know it : S C O B Y means Symbiotic C ulture O f

B acteria & Y easts. :-)

I explain: In any brew there will be both yeasts and bacteria present...

even in the 'rubbery thingy'. ;-)

The yeasts dwell mainly on the bottom of the brew, the bacteria mainly on

the top. The scoby is actually the cellular structure the bacteria build,

but even there yeasts live in symbiotic harmony with their neighbours.

You are quite right, the WHOLE of the liquid plus the scoby is the culture.

That is why it is usually enough to send a scoby plus some liquid.

The very acidic liquid in a starter pot still contains yeasts, very often

dormant. This doesn't matter, as the yeasts in a brew are (especially in

warm temperatures) very quickly dominate. That means, the brew will get too

yeasty and beery very quickly. It will still be efficacious and healthy,

just not so pleasant to drink.

With that in mind many people, including I, send out a scoby with strongly

acidic starterpot liquid (protection against mold!), but also add a dash of

yeast from the bottom, as you wisely suggested, Frantz.

So, it's the best of both worlds.

You rightly have understood what the culture is...not just the scoby.

Generally people tend to be scoby gazers ;-) It's understandable, as

it is usually so visible. However, the life of Kombucha also lies beneath

the waves ;-)

Happy sharing of the wonderful elixir,

Margret:-)

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