Kombucha Closet

Here it is, the transparent log of how I personally brew, when I brew and details on what happens.

I decided to keep track on a quarterly basis, we will see how this goes.

 

1-30 11:59PM

1 Gal 5-raspberry 1-original weak culture

1 Gal 4-raspberry 2-ginger weak culture

Both using organic whole cane sugar – Rapunzel Brand

Notes: the weak scobys could be attributed to the types of tea used

 

2-12 5:30PM

2 Gal 6-original great cultures

brown sugar

Notes: original tea seems produces best scobys, double fermentation test

 

2-15 2:00PM

1 Gal 4-raspberry 2-original good culture

1 Gal 2-raspberry 4-original good culture

brown sugar

Notes: I have had the most success with raspberry tea, this batch was meant to help find the best combination of original and raspberry tea bags, it ended with no conclusion

 

3-1 2:00AM

3 Gal 6-original great cultures

trace minerals test

Notes: some good introductory data on the effect of mineral content and kombucha brewing

 

3-9 7:00PM

2.5 Gal 14-original discarded

1 Gal 6-original done

1 Gal 6-original done

testing 2.5 Gal jar

Notes: 2.5 Gal proved to work with a new method I will explain in a later blog post, for this brew it was contaminated with fruit flies

 

 3-15 5:30PM

3 Gal 6-original 15dtm  1 done – 2 discarded

Notes: Only 1 Gal survived due to some fruit flies getting in to my brews

 

3-31 10AM

1 Gal-original 15dtm growing

Notes: My dad replaced our reverse osmosis filters just as I started to brew, so I only had enough for a single gallon

 

 Quarter Recap

The start of 2013 saw challenges I never expected. I had my first few batches contaminated by fruit flies, but like all scientific minds I am curious to not simply eliminate them but to learn about the SCOBY and its job to protect the colony from such invasions. Up until this year, I have never had any bugs in my batches, and I have read enough blogs on how to recognize mold to say I have also never had that.

With regard to bugs of any kind, I will say I recommend using your own discretion. I am sure we all have had a nice elegant meal we were salivating over all of a sudden become the landing zone for an unwanted bug, but a simple wave of the hand and we are not about to let that meal go to waste. Such it is that I will not recommend simply discarding any batches of kombucha that have bugs, but instead to inspect, analyze and discern for yourself what you believe to be the right thing to do.

Flavors

This first quarter also saw experiments with a few flavors in the double ferment process. Black mulberry, mango, pineapple, just to start. Eventually we tried a mix of orange, mango, and pineapple that was all fresh organic from our juicer of course and proved to become a new favorite of mine. I expect to continue to experiment in the coming year and find my own equivalents for GTs lavender and hibiscus flavored teas.

 

 

*The dates are the start dates for the batches, I typically shoot for a 14 day brew but sometimes finish just over that, if its ever relevant I will mention a variation in this.