Do Kombucha SCOBYs/Pellicles Expire?

[@georgialandau9843]

I just received a copy of your logbook. It’s terrific! I’m in the middle of my first ferment now. I was able to grow my first Scoby to use. I’m 82and fermentation is my new hobby. I make pickles, sauerkraut, sourdough bread etc. Your book is a great addition to my fermentation library. I would recommend it to all your viewers.

[@marviedouglas7375]

So HELPFUL!! Recently, I'm not been bothering with a pellicle. Your input give me reason to try different things. Currently 2 years brewing and having no real issues, just good brew. Your channel is part of my success.

[@OCteahead]

Yikes, I’m really overdoing it! I start with 5 cups of starter tea (because my drainage spigot is a bit is high on my fermentation jar) and the pellicle from the previous batch. I add 11 cups of sweet tea to total one gallon. With a constant 80 degree fermentation (in a cooler with two warming mats on a timer), I get a batch every five days, regardless of the season, and a nice, new, thick pellicle every batch. I have a power meter on the mats and the electricity costs pennies a batch. Learned a ton from you, YBK! Thx!

[@fabioconsonni3232]

What about connecting a curved tube to the inner side of the spigot, so that it can drain from a lower place in the jar?

[@SH-jy6lc]

So the russians used kombucha a lot during the USSR era and post soviet. In North America it only became popular 2-3 years ago or so. FRom what I rememeber about reusing the pellicle is that my parents used to wash it evry once in a awhile in warm water, take the upper old layer and throw it out or give it to friends. So basically the scoby would grow bigger each time and they would keep washing it and taking the older layers off. They kept the original pellicle for ages!

[@grushdeva]

Russians made kombucha, but it is kinda old grandmas' theme. They drink it from the bottle. It tastes more like tea and not fizzy at all. Kinda disgusting. 2nd fermentation rules.

[@SH-jy6lc]

@@grushdeva Yah, I need to try the 2nd fermentation method. I like it fizzy.

[@PhatBoyiee]

Thank you for the video. Very informative. The scoby i have was about 3 years old. I put it in new tea since the color was very light tan. The container spells very acidic and has 2.5 ph. I have had it in the container about 1 week now. It has no signs of mold growing. The liquid did have a lot of thin layers growing on it not sure if they were new scoby trying to form.

[@fabioconsonni3232]

Pellicles give good acidic flavor to soups and meat. Store them sliced in the freezer and use them when needed

[@nikkipowers1271]

Need more information; obviously cooking with it is going to kill it, do you have to put it through a blender before you add it? I've never heard this.

[@fabioconsonni3232]

@@nikkipowers1271 you can do whatever you want. I chopped them in little pieces and put in the freezer. Obviously the probiotic function will end as soon as you coock the scoby, but the consistence and flavour will remain. My grandpa tought me that it's not a good thing to throw away what can be eaten.

[@eliseamiot5412]

My hens go crazy for my old scobys. I just cut them up into 1/2 or 1/4 inch chunks. I'm sure it's really healthy for them.

[@paulrobertson9439]

Another very interesting and helpful video. I have now been brewing Kombucha for a few months after watching all of your video's. Thank You :)

[@janehaley9548]

Have you tried the scoby jerky or scoby candy yet? It's like having an endless supply of jerky base instead of using meat. Candy is like fruit rollups or gummies. Would love to see you do a video on these. Love your channel.

[@nikkipowers1271]

?

[@janehaley9548]

@nikkipowers1271 Slice the scoby thin and season or marinate and dehydrate

[@brendanlopes7354]

Great video and makes a lot of sense. Every few batches or so, I like to clean my Scoby hotel so I use this as an opportunity to throw out the darker ones and replace them with some of the most recent ones I'm not going to use. I used to keep a bunch pellicles in the hotel but since I run a 4 x 1 gallon system (3 brewing + 1 hotel), I found they absorbed a lot of the starter tea over time (or just took up overall capacity with their density) so now I only keep about 4-5 max. Luckily I've never experienced mold or a bad brew but since fresh ones are always being created, I no longer feel the need to hoard them lol.

[@jeanniepeurasaari8499]

I love your channel. I'm new to this. So informative!

[@cherylannebarill8812]

Why keep the extra SCOBY's?I can understand keeping one maybe two extra, just in case, but why create the "hotel"? Do you ever use more than one in a gallon of sweet tea? Or perhaps having that many makes foe a better starter to use for first fermentation?? Thank you so much for your content and to whomever might chime in what they may know as well!

[@dthomas2047]

Great advice as always!

[@robertdewalt8711]

I have placed two scoby’s in 8” x 10” chamber bag with 250 ml of starter tea and chamber vacuum sealed and placed in refrigerator until I make my next batch. For my first batch I used mixture of black tea and green tea. I am waiting for carbonation after bottling, flavour of unflavoured kombucha batch tasted nice. Black tea I used was Yorkshire Dales tea and green tea I used was Sencha Tea. My first batch size was about 2.3 litres.

[@rgcfamilyfun3871]

Wow I blinge watch all your videos, new to kombucha world, just wondering where do you get your jars?

[@kevinneal2575]

Just going to add something that most here already know. Make sure you stir your fermented brew before taking the starter tea out. I forgot 2 batches ago and just happened to be increasing my batches into 2 separate brews. I didn’t have a lot of starter tea, but had lots of pellicles. It did not help. The gallon batch struggled into 10 days and was not very fermented. But the 1/2 gallon was pretty robust, so I mixed the two for my 2nd fermentation and luckily it came out incredible. So it’s definitely the starter tea that’s doing the “heavy lifting”. My brews generally don’t take more than 7 days

[@kevinneal2575]

Side note: I learned everything about brewing from this ladies videos and attribute my success entirely to her. Had I not known that stirring the brew was the issue, I probably would have been clueless as to what happened.

[@jbwjr54]

Great info. Thanks for the education!😁

[@marker113]

Lovely presentation, thank you

[@evabloecher]

You are fantastic, thank you so much.

[@SH-jy6lc]

Oh no! I ordered a kombucha pellicle online. It came with some liquids. I thought the pellicle is actually the main thing that is responsible for brewing so I threw away the liquid. I added my pellicle into a gallon container with tea and sugar. Do you think it will ferment?

[@enigma591]

How long will raw kombucha from the first ferment last in the fridge? If I encounter an issue with my brew, I would prefer to restart with my own kombucha instead of store-bought.

[@CC-iq2pe]

Does Kombucha starter work in place of Water Kefir starter with Juices?

[@sunnysurwade464]

It's very hot in Indian homes, my SCOBY's are thickening very fast, Please make some video on brettanomyces yeast and affect on flavour of Kombucha It grows more in summer...

[@lucforest2090]

I use two jars and need two scoby each time I make a new batch of kombucha so from the scoby hotel I take 3-4 scoby that I put in one jar and 3-4 others in the second jar. Don’t have enough liquid to keep the scoby in the hotel while the new kombucha is on it’s way to be done.

[@sinka9879]

Also I’m wondering if my water filter needs changing.

[@liliankimani9524]

what is that creamy stuff and what causes infection on my Scooby. I observed some yellow cream film plus blac mould. I discarded the lot. How do I disinfect the drawer where I store Kombucha?

[@normalizedaudio2481]

For vegetarians, SCOBY is nice and chewy when you cook it. More chewy than meat.

[@janehaley9548]

It makes a good jerky too

[@nikkipowers1271]

Makes me wonder if it's good for your gut anymore if you have cooked it.

[@jesse_ronan]

so good ! thanks much!

[@Bunbun-qw7nh]

Hi, how long do you keep the kombucha to make a strong starter tea? Thank you.

[@milakalac]

14 days minimum for me

[@overlandkltolondon]

As a pedant, I'm glad you use the word "pellicle".

[@hybrid4984]

Hi everyone... Do bad smell indicate failed fermentation? No mold , good scoby thickness and color but the smell is unpleasant. Do i need to toss it and buy new scoby?

[@carynmartin6053]

It's probably just strong, maybe even a bit vinegary, but still safe to drink

[@hybrid4984]

@@carynmartin6053 it was not fresh smell 🥺

[@vernicetan7605]

Hi, i have 2 scobys in my another batch of 1st fermentation. Can i remove one scoby halfway for another fermentation ?

[@sjwestmo]

Ive had phases where i dont make kombucha for 6 months and those dry scobys are like seals on the top of the vessel imo. Then when im ready to go again, i toss it and start fresh with a cupfull of liquid

[@guillermomontoyo]

Scobies are so cute 😊

[@susanjones4593]

Where do you store them, on counter?

[@dallaspilotcar9293]

my scoby dried out, i did not know it would suck up the remaining 2 cups of tea that i left in it. SO, it looks dead and I went ahead and put a new batch of tea in there and added a half bottle of raw kombucha. Today i do not see any signs of life in the form of carbonation Is it dead? It was my first scoby and it made great kombucha i wonder it there is a way to revive

[@juddysballs41]

You can do mouth to mouth on the scoby

[@familyman8439]

Can you use a Kambocha scoby, To start the mother patty, in ACV?

[@janehaley9548]

You can make your own Apple cider vinegar mother. Just put your apples water and sugar and cover and let ferment it will make its own Mother

[@hverdagslykke1897]

Do you use kombucha from your newest batch to set a new batch or do you use starter from your scoby hotel? 😊

[@aprilalbarado2602]

I left my scoby hotel no maintenance for a long time (1 year+ should I throw the whole batch away? As an experiment I did make a batch first and second fermentation but I’m concerned of bad bacteria should I just start from scratch? Does this batch sound bad, it was vinegary Do you think i left it ignored too long? Fyi threw away bad looking scobys on top, the other scobys are dark in color

[@prasanthganesan]

how did it go? were you able to reuse your old scoby? or had to get a new one? i have one for 6months, not sure if i should em or get a new one.. scoby looks good no mold or darkening. just not sure what to do in this case.

[@Manyanababy]

❤️❤️❤️

[@vengaboyfarow6487]

Ok

[@user-qjvqfjv]

Kombucha and scoby are disgusting. What is wrong with you people?

[@leonr115]

Lol

[@juddysballs41]

You must have had all the bullshit covid vaccinations. Your Brain a bit brainless lately?

[@DK-tq3fy]

You're just grumpy cause you need probiotics 😂