RE: First Brew!

[Guest guest]

Just sit back and resist the urge to move the brew, just let it sit. What

should happen is, at the top it should develop thin looking film at first, with

patches of maybe brown and white. Eventually, after your brewing process, 7-10

days, your first scoby should form. Sometimes there will bubbles also at the

top.

I usually taste mine on the 6th or 7th day, I like a nice tart taste, to

mine, not to strong, but the longer it brews, the stronger it gets.

On the starter, I find it is a good idea. . I usually take 1 or cups of the

freshely brewed to tea to start mine. Here is an important tip, take the 1st

or 2 cups from the top of your tea, it makes for a much better brew. If you

save the last 1 or 2 cups for your starter, your next brew may be more yeasty.

When I run out of starter, I use apple cider vinegar (1/4 cup to my gallon

brew).

Hope this helps.....love my KT!

Blessings,

Ed

Yasmine rosales wrote: Yes Ive just started my first

brew!

So i guess I should just sit back, does anyone have any good tips as

to what I should do, or what should I be looking for during the

brewing process? That would be really great =)

Thanks

PS. Is it a good idea to make a starter pot?

How do you make one?

[Guest guest]

Ed THANK YOU!.

I almost threw out my first batch after seeing patches of brown on top close

to the glass and thought I was growing mold rather than a Scoby. In fact,

I removed the brown stuff with a spoon tonight and decided I would throw out

the entire batch and ask where I could purchase a healthy scoby. I also have

lots of bubbles and a thin skin covering the top but no real scoby yet.

So perhaps there is hope after all.

I did move my jar once a few feet a couple of days ago.

So seeing brown stuff (felt jelly like) is normal and ok and not the dreaded

mold?

So once I have a real scoby it will be ready?

Concerning apple cider vinegar; is it ok to use raw organic Bragg's apple

cider vinegar or must it be boiled?

Thanks again,

Rosie (trying to make my first batch)

_____

From: original_kombucha

[mailto:original_kombucha ] On Behalf Of

Sent: Tuesday, May 09, 2006 10:02 PM

To: original_kombucha

Subject: Re: First Brew!

Just sit back and resist the urge to move the brew, just let it sit. What

should happen is, at the top it should develop thin looking film at first,

with patches of maybe brown and white. Eventually, after your brewing

process, 7-10 days, your first scoby should form. Sometimes there will

bubbles also at the top.

I usually taste mine on the 6th or 7th day, I like a nice tart taste, to

mine, not to strong, but the longer it brews, the stronger it gets.

On the starter, I find it is a good idea. . I usually take 1 or cups of

the freshely brewed to tea to start mine. Here is an important tip, take

the 1st or 2 cups from the top of your tea, it makes for a much better

brew. If you save the last 1 or 2 cups for your starter, your next brew may

be more yeasty. When I run out of starter, I use apple cider vinegar (1/4

cup to my gallon brew).

Hope this helps.....love my KT!

Blessings,

Ed

[Guest guest]

>So seeing brown stuff (felt jelly like) is normal and ok and not the dreaded

>mold?

The brown stuff is bits of yeast and not only is normal, is

required. Sometimes those brown bits get caught in the matrix of the

SCOBY, and look like discolorations and can be alarming. However, they

will always feel smooth. Mold is ALWAYS fuzzy. No fuzz, no mold. period.

>So once I have a real scoby it will be ready?

No. The presence of the new SCOBY isn't really an indicator of readiness,

because for a variety of reasons SCOBY can be very thin and the brew can be

ready. Depending on the temperature in your brewing room, you should

probably taste it at 5-7 days.

First brews often don't produce a thick SCOBY. First brews often take a

bit longer overall than subsequent ones.

>Concerning apple cider vinegar; is it ok to use raw organic Bragg's apple

>cider vinegar or must it be boiled?

It is perfectly ok to use this type of vinegar. However, yes, it must be

brought to a boil and cooled before adding to your brew. The bacteria are

killed at temperatures well below boiling, so there is no need to keep it

on the heat beyond the first boil.

--V

~~~ There is no way to peace; peace is the way ~~~~

--A.J. Muste

[Guest guest]

Rosie, sorry that your mother went into hospital, but no worries about

whether or not you got back to us here on the list right away

>Is it ok to drink what I'm brewing in the quart mason jar with exception of

>saving the top 1 cup?

I actually use 2 cups of starter for a gallon batch just to be certain on

getting the initial acidity going. I would strongly recommend using at

least that on your first batch. If there's anything left, I'd say go

ahead and drink it if you're just too champing at the bit, though it may be

very strong, so may want to dilute. But using the whole contents of the

mason jar in your first batch would probably be a good idea.

Glad it's going well

--V

~~~ There is no way to peace; peace is the way ~~~~

--A.J. Muste

[Guest guest]

>>Is it ok to drink what I'm brewing in the quart mason jar with exception

of

>saving the top 1 cup?

I actually use 2 cups of starter for a gallon batch just to be certain on

getting the initial acidity going. I would strongly recommend using at

least that on your first batch. If there's anything left, I'd say go

ahead and drink it if you're just too champing at the bit, though it may be

very strong, so may want to dilute. But using the whole contents of the

mason jar in your first batch would probably be a good idea.Glad it's going

well >>

Big smiles indeed . Without you I wouldn't have my own scoby and

soon all the KT I can drink.

Lol I've waited years so I might as well wait another week and a half or so

before I can drink my first batch. I'd rather do it right and follow your

directions than messing up again as I did with the first batch. Thanks for

the helpful discussion on boiling water or not. I have a reverse/osmosis

water maker so all I need to do is just boil the cup to melt the sugar.

You are so right about not allowing the sugar/tea to sit overnight or

longer; things really do start growing in there. I'm an herbalist and know

how easy it is to contaminate teas and we certainly don't want to boil our

organic green and black teas.

Rosie

~~~ There is no way to peace; peace is the way ~~~~

--A.J. Muste