Ask Allie!

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I started my jun scoby. The scoby is not getting bigger. Is it supposed to multiply? When can I increase the amount I make, which is now 4 cups? Can I ferment it for more than 5 days? Also may I take a break from making it? How should I store it to keep it alive?

— Veronica

You will, at some point, have a frustratingly large collection of SCOBYs, but there’s no reason for the one you’ve got to get bigger. Don’t take anything going on with a SCOBY to mean much of anything. They are largely comprised of different bacteria than the starter tea, and they’re not needed for anything other than protecting the brew from external contaminants like dust. Those take longer to make than the tea itself in most cases, but yes you can increase the amount at this point. Yes, most people do longer than 5 days. If you need to take a break, put an airtight lid on it. It will stop fermenting and enter stasis if you do that.

My first attempt at culturing (1/2 packet of Bulgarian type using the Mead method in an instant Pot} resulted in a jar of mildly sweet goo and thin milk. Here is the procedure I used:
1. !/2 packet into 3.4 oz. Ultra Pasteurized Horizon Organic milk and put into fridge for 12 hours.
2. Removed jar from fridge and stirred. Added another 1.7 oz. milk. Filled Instant Pot with water (preheated to 91 F} at a level just beneath the jar's milk level and set at "low" setting for 12 hours. During the entire process the temperature was frequently checked with a laser thermometer and was always in the 90 to 92 range. Care was taken not to jostle the jar.
3. At hour 12, added 3.4 oz. milk and returned to the Instant pot for another 9-12 hours. I began checking at the 9th hour and then again at 12 hours.
The result is definitely not yogurt. It is as if the culture were dead and only warmed over milk remained...thin milk with goo...absolutely no hint of sour.
Upon receiving the order, the cultures were immediately placed in the freezer.
Before I make another attempt using a different strain I would like your thoughts, as I am unable to see a mistake.

— Wade

Would you be open to trying to use the other packet with the same method but where the water level is under the jar, no higher than the bottom of the rack? The only thing that you’ve listed that varies from how Tara and I do the mead method is this detail.

Note: I never did hear back from Wade as to whether he tried it without the water bath, so I’m assuming this worked. My assumption of what happened here is that by using a water bath, there’s been some change in how the culture incubates. That doesn’t really make a whole lot of sense to me, since water baths tend to smooth out problems, but that’s my best guess. Please let me know what your ideas on what went wrong here are!

So you're my new fav. Person to ask questions to lol. Does a gallon of kombucha take longer to ferment than the 1st batch? I've checked my gallon 3x over 8 days and it's still rather sweet. Each time I check I have a new scoby on top so I'm assuming it's healthy? Sorry for all the questions. This is so new to me. It tastes like slightly bitter sweet apple juice rn. It is Jun. Any advice would be great.

— Gina

Probably, yes, and especially since it’s the second batch. Basically what happens when we package the starter (well, Sabrina, since I have no hand in operations), the kombucha (ditto jun) goes into a sort of stasis where no fermentation happens. It takes a little while for them to wake back up and hit their stride in their new environment (which they have to adjust to, in addition to having to wake up fully). If it’s still sweet tea, just leave it and taste every couple of days until it’s at the level of fermentation you want. This varies for everyone, where some prefer a fairly sweet kombucha, others fully fermented, and the rest with a preference for somewhere in between. It’s definitely healthy, though!