Brewing Kombucha Part 2: Fermentation
After growing your scoby the next step in brewing your own kombucha is your first fermentation. In this prcocess you’ll brew a pot of tea (similar to when you grew your scoby, but with less sugar and more volume), let it cool and then add your scoby. It usually takes about 5-7 days for this first batch since your scoby is still growing and not super efficient yet. Your next batch will take fewer days. I don’t like to let the kombucha ferment too long because I like a less vinegary, and a lighter tasting kombucha. After this fermentation is when you’ll be able to add the flavors that you want, and then drink it shortly after that.
Brewing Kombucha Part 2: Fermentation
2018-07-05 19:03:46
Prep Time
20 min
Ingredients
- 14 cups water
- 8 green tea bags (paper removed)
- 1 cup white granulated sugar
- your scoby
- 1-2 cups of brewed kombucha from previous batch (the cloudy bottom has the best live bits)
Instructions
- In a large pot bring water to a boil.
- Add tea bags and sugar to boiling water and remove from heat. Stir just until sugar is dissolved.
- Remove tea bags after 30 mins to an hour. Let tea cool completely.
- When tea is cool, pour it into a large gallon sized glass container. Add the kombucha from the previous batch and lay the scoby on top. See notes.
- Cover with a coffee filter secured with a rubber band. Let ferment in a cool, dark place for about 5-7 days. After this time you will be set to flavor and bottle up the kombucha.
Notes
- The scoby might originally sink to the bottom of the jar, but should rise to the top in a day or two.
- Bubbles should appear around the edge of the scoby and you should even see them rising.
- If you notice any fuzzy mold something has gone wrong, and the whole process will need to be repeated from the very beginning. I've tried to save part of a moldy scoby and do a new batch but it got infected repeatedly.
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