Re: White maggots on brewing Kombucha

[Guest guest]

>I have been brewing Kombucha for 3-4 weeks now and happy with feeling

>good with the drink.

>The last batch after a week, I see small white color maggots or wormy

>stuffs (1-2 millimeter) walking on top of the scoby.

>I did not see them in earlier brewing. Is it safe to drink the KT or

>show I throw it. Again, just curious how they got there and how to

>avoid such stuffs. Also I saw very small flies on top of the cover

>too this time.

>

>DM

The maggots are from the small flies (fruit/vinegar flies). I suspect that

your cloth cover is not sufficiently tightly woven to prevent entry of the

fruit flies. Or, it is not tightly enough attached to the vessel.

What to do in the case of a maggot infestation doesn't have wide

agreement. Most of us agree that straining the KT and drinking it should

be fine. However, some people feel the SCOBY may be compromised and should

be thrown away, others feel that a good rinse in vinegar for the SCOBY and

a thorough cleaning of the vessel may be sufficient treatment. It's really

your choice.

If you have more than one layer of SCOBY, I'd suggest throwing out the

uppermost one (that they were crawling on), rinsing the remaining SCOBY

with vinegar, straining your KT to drink, and cleaning your vessel

thoroughly. You might want to start your new batch with vinegar instead of

using any of the reserved liquid KT, but it's up to you.

But don't start a new batch until you have a new cover and rubber band or

elastic to tightly attach. Did you use cheesecloth? Some websites and

other sources say to use cheesecloth, but even several layers of it will

not prevent entry of the flies. The cloth must be tightly woven.

HTH

--V

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

--A.J. Muste