Hello! New to brewing here.. Just tried for the first time and bottled for F2 yesterday. I set aside 2-3 cups starter tea and scoby and was originally planning to start again tomorrow. However I just noticed white growth that appears to be mold? Any advice here on what might have gone wrong?

Also, do I keep the F2 items? I don't notice anything odd so far..

Thank you in advance!!

Hi! I just picked up some freeze-dried strawberries at the market because I want to try them for F2 - I’ve read that it works for other people but was curious about leaving them whole vs turning to a powder? What have folks experienced? Going to try it with fresh basil and a squeeze of lemon + honey, stay tuned 😏

I am about 15 days in F1 but my house has been decently cold half the time. There’s a huge pellicle, it tastes vinegary, but still pretty sweet compared to store bought. Will the microorganisms eat more of the sugar and make it more vinegary when I bottle it for F2? I just don’t want to have such a sugary drink.

I've completed my brew andI have the original SCOBY along with its newly formed pellicle. I now want to make my next brew in my spare brewing jar.

What's the best process for moving from jar 1 to jar 2?

• Do I take just the original SCOBY or the SCOBY and pellicle?
• Should it/they be gently washed in cold water before placing into jar 2?
• Should I transfer the remaining liquid from jar 1 into jar 2?
• Should I not do any of this, and simply add newly mixed brewing liquid into the original jar along with the SCOBY & pellicle? :-)

Thanks!

This is a casual space for the r/Kombucha community to hang out: feel free to post about anything related to kombucha, brewing, or life in general.

Show off your latest batch, what you have in progress, or anything that you're thinking about trying.

Questions from new brewers are especially welcome!

been brewing in a 5 gallon bucket for a while. this is a gallon jar, i fear it might not have room soon. what can i do with extra scoby?

https://preview.redd.it/0pnktq7wmfge1.jpg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2639e27b2af9e734d4f2207e22a699faecfd9470

I feel my flavors are not flavoring my kombucha. i have tried filling it up a ton, longer ferments. i want to reduce my 2F from a week. would it be better to make liquid extract and add that to the bottle when bottling or is that not a good idea for some reason? for example, my ginger kombucha barely tastes of ginger even with a boat load of it, and store bought can be *extra bold*.

This is my first time brewing kombucha, and I’d like some advice regarding a potential problem. I started fermentation five days ago, and I’ve noticed a bubbly, brown patch growing around the SCOBY. I’m concerned this might be mold and wonder if I should discard everything and start over with a new SCOBY.

For context, I’ve been trying to maintain a pH between 2.5 and 3.5, and a temperature at around 71°F. However, I live in western New York where winters can be quite cold. One night, I forgot to leave the heat on, and when I checked the next morning, the brew was at 67°F and my apartment temperature had dropped to about 50°F. Could this temperature drop have caused the issue?

Please find the images below.

https://preview.redd.it/aupm26c8yege1.jpg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6d82a23b39fb6054b7e8e52dbd6ff2ef923d0f86

https://preview.redd.it/5cwbu4c8yege1.jpg?width=2268&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9bb4796ddf7cad181f2895b31d2eeeb8eee94244

https://preview.redd.it/h7eki5c8yege1.jpg?width=2268&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=eb13a7ed376a2249d410def7e1f33cf3e642a691

This is my first brew and I will never ever buy kombucha again. My F1 took 10days, and F2 7days and it's so delicious. My new batch is 6days old and I can't wait!!

Just getting back into it after about a year off. All pineapple/ginger goodness. 🤟🏼

Hi! I just started my kombucha journey and I noticed this today. For reference I started it about 6 days ago, left it in a cabinet with a cheesecloth and rubber band. Is this mold? What is going on?

Triggered simply by the word SCOBY, it should auto comment an explanation about the difference between the SCOBY and the pellicle.

Hello!

I'm making kombucha for the first time and I'm in my first fermentation to make the SCOBY. When I first set the jar in the cabinet to sit few a couple of weeks, a bit splashed on the coffee filter I was using as a lid. I just went to check on the SCOBY and the filter had a bit of mold on it from the spot that got wet from splashing around. The actual liquid and scoby are a few inches down from the lid, so they haven't touched the molded filter.

Let me know if this is okay to continue or I should start again. Thanks!

So I am nearly done with first ferment, had a taste, still too sweet.. But I noticed that my OG scoby (~1/4" or 6mm), formed from a bottle of raw Kombucha I bought, went down, and a brand new, very thin SCOBY formed on top. Just wondering if I keep them together since they formed completely apart? One is sank right down, one is a skin?

I'm. Thinking this is normal and I just stack them when I pull the brew?

Has anyone here tried to make vinegar from their kombucha? If so what were your results? Would yall be interested in me sharing results of me attempting it?

Day 5 of my First batch. Using apple cider juice and Scoby. Noticed a white part on the scoby that was floating at the top, doesn’t seem fuzzy. Is this mold?

2 cups of tea, half cup GT kombucha.

My first attempt molded with little spots. This is attempt 2.

Day 7 of my first brew. It tastes sweet, smells slightly like vinegar. Any tips or suggestions welcome

I'm just starting my Kombucha journey, and to get started I ordered a scooby from Amazon. After just 36 hours of F1, I've got these beautiful tendrils coming from the bottom part of the pellicle, and reaching the surface, in what it looks like to be a new pellicle forming.

It's the first time I see something like that, but it's beautiful. Hopefully, seeing activity so quickly is a good sign.

Hi! im 14 F for context alot of women in my family have been known to have breast cancer, and i heard around a year ago something about how kombucha can help prevent that. i made sure to get the right stuff i think its called GT's. I know that with alcohol the smaller the person the less it takes to get them intoxicated and stuff and the easier to get alcohol poisoning. I drink about a bottle every other day and I'm just wondering if because of my age and my height if there could be adverse effects?

I've started to go a bit bigger since we drink too much of it and I like to experiment. I have a 2gal glass container that I'm using. I noticed the fermentation speed has massively decreased in comparison to the smaller ones I've used before.

I searched on this sub and read that it's more difficult to keep bigger batches on temp and some users suggested heating pads.

Isn't a heater for aquariums much better/more precise? Also easier to use? I don't know how other people use those heating pads but I'd simply wrap it around the glass?