3.5 Month Old Mother: Still Good?

[Guest guest]

Hello Kombucha Experts!

So I made my own kombucha mother in December 2010 from a store-bought bottle of

GT.

The mother grew amazingly well.

Then things got busy around here, and the mother got pushed to the side.

Now that things have slowed down, I dug out my poor mother, and it's huge! It

looks like it could have multiple layers, but I haven't touched it yet or taken

it out of the glass jar.

The QUESTION: Can I still use this mother???

Other QUESTIONS: I know we need to use a bit of the tea that is still in the

container for the next batch...is this 3.5 month old tea too strong to use now?

Or is it too strong?

ONE MORE QUESTION: If, for some reason, you deem this SCOBY still okay, can I

separate out the layers of this current mother, prior to the next batch, to give

out to family and friends?

The DETAILS:

1. It's been sitting in a nice, shady spot in the pantry, with plenty of room to

breathe.

2. There are no signs of mold.

THANKS!