Re: Scoby and bacteria questions

May 8, 2011

I can't tell from what you write, so I will answer based on how it looks

compared to my own experience. If you are separating baby scobys from the mama

with each batch, everytime you pour off your brew, then that is probably a good

reason your scobys are thin. I would let your mama and baby stuck together

through several batches until, hopefully, both mamma and baby grow thick. (If I

am not right in my interpretation of your habit, you can explain more.)

I have a scoby friend who I have gone to twice for a scoby and the baby that she

gives me is always as thick as the mama, which is over 1/2 inch. She has had her

original scoby for over a year. She only does one gallon of KT at a time, so she

only has one mama/baby. So she probably lets that baby attached to mamma for a

good long time before she separates them. My visits to her for scobys were about

two months apart. I have heard that the more scobys that are in a jar and the

longer the brew can sit, the more acidic it will getand the more healthy it will

be. I can't remember if it should sit long with the scoby alone, or also sit

long in the secondary brew. But I plan on testing that with pH testing strips

when I get that far in my current first brew. I have much learning to do, too.

Lyn

________________________________

Hi,

I've been making kombucha for just a couple of months and I have some questions.

.. . 1st one--my scobies don't look like the ones I've seen online. Mine are

very limp, slimey and sort of a tannish color, whereas in the photos I've seen,

the scobies look white, firm and solid. Does this mean there's something wrong

with what I'm doing--I've checked online but I have no clue. . .

The next question is, how do I know that my kombucha has the bacteria it's

supposed to have? The reason I'm asking this is that whenever I've made

sauerkraut or kefir and try to eat/drink it, even just a tiny bit, I get REALLY

sick for a few days, so I think I'm real sensitive or a lot of the bad bacteria

is dying off in my gut and making me feel sick. . . but I can drink kombucha all

day long, and I don't get sick at all. I don't feel any better from it either.

.. . I had read online that kombucha has more strains of bacteria than yogurt or

kefir, so I thought it would give a stronger reaction than those.

The taste of my kombucha isn't sweet, it's kind of tart, very nice, I like it a

lot, so I think that's the way it's supposed to taste (right?). I do a second

ferment for 2 days with fruit juice. The first ferment goes for 5 days. If it

goes longer, it tastes real vinegary, I think because I live in Arizona and it's

already warm here (?). The scobies do grow babies, but they're just thin, filmy

things.

I hope you can help! I really want to do this right!

Thanks so much!

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