Kombucha

[Sunfire96]

I put together a SCOBY starter today and hopefully will be able to ferment some kombucha in a few weeks. Has anybody else tried to make kombucha at home?

 

[GFHomebrew]

I put together a SCOBY starter today and hopefully will be able to ferment some kombucha in a few weeks. Has anybody else tried to make kombucha at home?

Yup years back was great did some other flavour ingreedience like ginger lemon.
It's kinda like a Starter where you need to give it frequent attention. Fun though.
I remember in summer it got bitter in a couple of days
Oh be careful bottling that stuff I had some nasty explosions lol

 

[Sunfire96]

Yup years back was great did some other flavour ingreedience like ginger lemon.
It's kinda like a Starter where you need to give it frequent attention. Fun though.
I remember in summer it got bitter in a couple of days
Oh be careful bottling that stuff I had some nasty explosions lol

Yea I'm reading all the beginners bottling kombucha forums and they are so fast and loose with their bottle carbing! I've got some swing top beer bottles and PET bottles that I can use, but I'm so grateful I already know what dangers bottle bombs present.

 

[The Brew Mentor]

It's very simple to make and makes for a great refreshing drink.
I keg it so no worries on the bottle bombs

 

[Sunfire96]

I think I've got some good scoby growing, fingers crossed! Definitely a couple weeks to go still

 

[Yooper]

I make kombucha, and even spoke about it at HomebrewCon (and served some!) a couple of times.

I'm making some now, and I think I'll use some blackberry puree at kegging, but I really like it with ginger and lemon zest as well (tastes like ginger ale, sort of!).

 

[Sunfire96]

I make kombucha, and even spoke about it at HomebrewCon (and served some!) a couple of times.

I'm making some now, and I think I'll use some blackberry puree at kegging, but I really like it with ginger and lemon zest as well (tastes like ginger ale, sort of!).

That sounds delicious. If I'm bottling, should I add fruit puree/juices to the bottle or do a secondary fermentation in a 2nd vessel?

 

[Yooper]

That sounds delicious. If I'm bottling, should I add fruit puree/juices to the bottle or do a secondary fermentation in a 2nd vessel?

Many add it to the bottle, and then strain when pouring. Just be careful to keep the bottles cold once you reach the desired carbonation level, to avoid bottle bombs! If you bottle in plastic soda bottles, you can squeeze them at intervals and when they are hard, put them in the fridge. If you don't want crud in your bottles, you can put your additions in secondary and allow that to ferment out and then bottle it. I like the fresher flavor of adding it to the keg, but that is a whole different set up.

 

[Sunfire96]

Thanks! I guess I'm imagining the bottles gushing when I open them based on my past experience of having too much crud in the bottom of a bottle of homebrew beer. Maybe kombucha behaves differently?

 

[The Brew Mentor]

That sounds delicious. If I'm bottling, should I add fruit puree/juices to the bottle or do a secondary fermentation in a 2nd vessel?

Juices, yes.
Puree, I'd be careful. this can make a muddy mess.

 

[Sunfire96]

My scoby is getting there! About 1 cm thick now

 

[Sunfire96]

Hey @Yooper, do you know if the priming sugar calculator will work for kombucha?

 

[Sunfire96]

Filled a few bottles of Pomegranate booch. I'm trying out some different dosing rates of the juice to get the carbonation and residual sweetness just right

 

[Yooper]

Hey @Yooper, do you know if the priming sugar calculator will work for kombucha?

It would...............except. There is usually still sugar in the kombucha when you bottle it, as if there isn't it is pretty darn tart. I bottle it when it's tart, but still with some sweetness. Adding sugar to it could be very explosive.

I think of it like soda (when I used to make root beer and ginger ale for my kids). Get the sweetness right, and then stick it in the fridge when the bottles are hard (using plastic bottles).

 

[Sunfire96]

It would...............except. There is usually still sugar in the kombucha when you bottle it, as if there isn't it is pretty darn tart. I bottle it when it's tart, but still with some sweetness. Adding sugar to it could be very explosive.

I think of it like soda (when I used to make root beer and ginger ale for my kids). Get the sweetness right, and then stick it in the fridge when the bottles are hard (using plastic bottles).

Awesome info, thanks. I've read on the kombucha subreddit to add 10-20% volume of fruit juice for priming, which is what I did today. I was wondering about making simple syrup with honey or agave and then steeping dried ginger and lemon peel for flavor, and using that to prime. But I wasn't sure if I should treat it like a gallon of beer in the priming calculator. Sounds like that will be too much sugar for bottling. I'll have to play around with it, error on the side of caution, and bottle in PET plastic until I've got a consistent ratio down.

 

[Yooper]

Awesome info, thanks. I've read on the kombucha subreddit to add 10-20% volume of fruit juice for priming, which is what I did today. I was wondering about making simple syrup with honey or agave and then steeping dried ginger and lemon peel for flavor, and using that to prime. But I wasn't sure if I should treat it like a gallon of beer in the priming calculator. Sounds like that will be too much sugar for bottling. I'll have to play around with it, error on the side of caution, and bottle in PET plastic until I've got a consistent ratio down.

Yes, that's what I've done. I've just stuck the bottles in the fridge when they are hard. I usually keg it now, and that does make it make easier!

 

[Sunfire96]

Yes, that's what I've done. I've just stuck the bottles in the fridge when they are hard. I usually keg it now, and that does make it make easier!

I'm dreaming of the day I can have a fleet of kegs for all my carbonation needs

 

[Yooper]

I'm dreaming of the day I can have a fleet of kegs for all my carbonation needs

No matter how many you have, you will always "need" at least two more. I promise.

 

[Donoroto]

I'm dreaming of the day I can have a fleet of kegs for all my carbonation needs

Talk to @Hawkbox he has a zillion of them...

2 liter pet bottles are a close substitute. Just need a carb cap and CO2 tank.

and regulator
and hoses
and fittings
and a local refill place

....

 

[Sunfire96]

That's a long list for "just"...