Re: are my cultures healthy?

[Guest guest]

>

> As a result, the cultures now have holes in them, which don't get a

> chance to heal due to the regular 'farting' of gas though them.

>

> Is this normal?

>

> Also, when changing the brew I notice there's a lot of yucky brown

> stuff in the bottom of the vessel.

>

Hi - Love the smiley face! Very Happy Brew!!! Farts, smiles

and all1 Yes - this is normal - not the smiley face, though. That

was just a lucky fluke =). Your trouble could be coming from an

imbalance in your yeast. Check the files for a posting on how to

balance your brew. This should help. The other, more experienced

and knowledgable members will have more questions and input. But,

that's where I would start anyway.

Happy Brewing - Randie

[Guest guest]

Hi Randie. Thanks for your reply.

I've been looking through the files for a while now, but can't find

the one you're talking about. Would you happen to know off-hand which

one mentions balancing the brew?

I'm not sure whether that 'brown yucky stuff' (in the last photo) is

the yeast or not - sometimes I've been leaving it in the starter,

other times I've been throwing it away, and neither seems to make much

difference to the amount of farting or the taste of the brew...

Thanks again,

Chris.

> Check the files for a posting on how to

> balance your brew. This should help.

[Guest guest]

your smiley face made my day! Thanks,

Do

>

> Hi list. I've been lurking here for months, and actually brewing

> kombucha tea for a couple of months now. I use two 3 litre vessels to

> brew in.

>

> 2 weeks ago, after noticing that one of the cultures was much more

> active than the other, I decided to cut the active culture into two

> halves and use those two halves from then on. The other, slower

> culture made tea which smelled and tasted a bit strange. I thought it

> was probably just that because it was slower, there was still some

> smell and taste of black tea left around.

>

> Anyway, I cut the culture into two semicircular halves and made fresh

> brews. The two halves were both very active, and produced a lot of

> gas. This gas bubbled up around the outside of the semicircles,

> constantly disturbing the growth of the new scobys.

>

> As a result, the cultures now have holes in them, which don't get a

> chance to heal due to the regular 'farting' of gas though them.

>

> Is this normal?

>

> Also, when changing the brew I notice there's a lot of yucky brown

> stuff in the bottom of the vessel.

>

> I took photos of both cultures and the yucky brown stuff and put them

> on the web, here:

>

> http://s89213869.onlinehome.us/kombucha/

>

> The brown circles on the cultures around the holes seem to be a result

> of the constant bubbling of gas through the holes, but I'm wondering

> whether this could be mould. Please let me know what you think.

>

> Thanks.

>

> Chris.

>

[Guest guest]

Yes - the brown stuff is yeast - more than that - they are dead yeast

cells -

Here, check this out - http://www.geocities.com/kombucha_balance

Take care - Randie

[Guest guest]

> I've been looking through the files for a while now, but can't find

> the one you're talking about. Would you happen to know off-hand which

> one mentions balancing the brew?

Here ya go - http://www.geocities.com/kombucha_balance.

HTH - Randie

[Guest guest]

> > I've been looking through the files for a while now, but can't find

> > the one you're talking about. Would you happen to know off-hand

which

> > one mentions balancing the brew?

Let's try that again - http://www.geocities.com/kombucha_balance/

[Guest guest]

> > I've been looking through the files for a while now, but can't find

> > the one you're talking about. Would you happen to know off-hand

which

> > one mentions balancing the brew?

Let's try that again - http://www.geocities.com/kombucha_balance/

HTH - Randie

[Guest guest]

The Kombucha Balance Site

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

> > > I've been looking through the files for a while now, but can't find

> > > the one you're talking about. Would you happen to know off-hand

> which

> > > one mentions balancing the brew?

>

>

> Let's try that again - http://www.geocities.com/kombucha_balance/

>

[Guest guest]

In message <e0gpfo+phgdeGroups> you wrote:

> As a result, the cultures now have holes in them, which don't get a

> chance to heal due to the regular 'farting' of gas though them.

>

> Is this normal?

>

Yes, indeed, this is completely normal! :-)

> Also, when changing the brew I notice there's a lot of yucky brown

> stuff in the bottom of the vessel.

Old yeast cells. again completely normal. I discard them every time

after pouring off the ready brewed KT.

>

> I took photos of both cultures and the yucky brown stuff and put them

> on the web, here:

>

> http://s89213869.onlinehome.us/kombucha/

Hey, they are really great and make me laugh. Seems you have some smiley

scobys here!

> The brown circles on the cultures around the holes seem to be a result

> of the constant bubbling of gas through the holes,

Correct!

> but I'm wondering

> whether this could be mould.

If you have got mould I have got more ;-)

Seriously, I a, pretty sure that your assessment is the correct one.

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

There is a very good picture of mould among the pictures on that site ...

Your scobys look fine to me ... some of mine have even got bigger holes

and just as brown and oogly as yours. This doesn't in any way take away

from the efficacy of the culture.

Long may your scobys smile at you!

Margret:-))

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[Guest guest]

> Let's try that again - http://www.geocities.com/kombucha_balance/

OK, thanks for that.

I've been reading through it, and think that my scobys might be too

yeasty. I brew for 8 days at around 22 degrees C, but each week the

baby scoby is less than 0.5cm thick. The 'balance' web page says this:

" However, if a brew sours prematurely, before the SCOBY has a

chance to get to about 2 cms (3/8 " ) in thickness, then you have

a culture that is becoming unbalanced and the yeast need to be

put in check. "

Now I'm not sure what the author is trying to say there - 2cm is about

3/4 " , not 3/8 " , but either way I'm well short of that. How thick do

your new babies get after each cycle?

Also, I have been leaving all the babies in the pot each week. The

whole stack of babies from 7 cycles is only around an inch thick.

I'm glad my smiling scoby raised a few laughs!

Chris.

[Guest guest]

In message <e0hm6u+q3jjeGroups> you wrote:

> Also, I have been leaving all the babies in the pot each week. The

> whole stack of babies from 7 cycles is only around an inch thick.

Hi the thickness of scobys is not really important, it's the

KT you drink that is. It is a general trend to put GREAT emphasis on

the material manifestation of the culture, when it is actually only

the cellular by-product of fermentation. The liquid with all its inherent

yeast and bacteria particles constitute just as much THE CULTURE as

the scoby itself, which is a structure the bacteria build (zooglia),

part of the nature of the 'beast'.

Your stack of 'babies' sounds just fine. Maybe, it would be a good time

for you now make a starter pot to encourage the bacteria side of your

brew and with it a good formation of scoby.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Here is what Len wrote in times past about the starter pot, just to explain

the matter a bit further since you are interested in thicker scobys:

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.

Where as sugar (sucrose) will stimulate the yeast, causing repiration and

reproduction.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Wishing you a happy day,

kombuchaly,

Margret:-)

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