Does your SCOBY have bumps? Perhaps you have a SCOBY with brown spots forming on the top. Perhaps your SCOBY just looks really slimy. So, what does a healthy SCOBY look like?
The most common question we get from our customers is whether or not their kombucha SCOBY has gone bad. In 99.9% of instances, the SCOBY is perfectly healthy! The fact of the matter is simply that a healthy SCOBY has many different faces. SCOBYs are very much like snowflakes; no two SCOBYs are going to look exactly alike!
If you haven’t actually gotten a SCOBY yet but stumbled on this page, checking out our kombucha SCOBYS and brewing kits!
What Might I Mistake a Healthy SCOBY for?
Based on the questions we get from our customers, you might think that your healthy SCOBY is suffering from any of the following issues:
- My SCOBY looks like it has warts!
These “warts” that you see likely look like multiple bumps on the surface of your SCOBY. This is absolutely normal— sometimes as the kombucha ferments, bubbles of carbonation are let off, creating upwards pressure on the SCOBY. This results in bumps of various sizes on the SCOBYs surface.
In short, it means your SCOBY has a healthy, active yeast population. The yeast are responsible for creating carbonation, and they are letting off such big and strong bubbles that they are leaving their mark on your SCOBY’s surface!
The above picture shows a bumpy, but healthy SCOBY. You might also have noticed some darker spots on the SCOBY’s surface– this is also common when you have a very active yeast population.
- 2. My SCOBY has mold spores on it!
Odds are what you are seeing are actually clumps of yeast, which have nothing to do with mold at all! Mold is fuzzy in appearance. When it forms on kombucha, it will usually be either blue/green or white. Regardless of color, it will always look fuzzy and dry whereas you SCOBY and yeast will look wet and slimy.
The picture above shows mold on a SCOBY. It is NOT a healthy SCOBY
Yeast clumps, on the other hand, look rather suspicious if you are not familiar with them. They might be long, brown strands hanging down from your SCOBY. They might take the form of a large brown clump on top of your SCOBY. Yeast might also gather and float around at the bottom of your jar. It can even detach from your SCOBY and float around as a dark creepy clump on its own—especially if you have packaged a SCOBY in a small container to give to a friend.
Fortunately, all of these forms of yeast are A OKAY and should not be confused with mold or mold spores! All of the above pictures show examples of yeast clumps in their different forms. Do not be alarmed if you see something similar in your brew or on your SCOBY! These ARE healthy SCOBYs!
- 3. There is a strange “jelly” forming in my jar. It is clear, so it can’t be a SCOBY, right?
Wrong! When forming, the baby SCOBY initially looks like a clear and kind of gelatinous film/layer. It will gradually fill in more and more, becoming more opaque and less “jelly” looking. If your SCOBY is looking more like a jelly than a creamy white disc, you likely just need to leave your brew for a bit longer.
Please note that you should disturb your brew as little as possible during fermentation! I know it can be difficult when you are very excited to watch your new SCOBY grow in and drink your first batch of kombucha tea; however, shaking the jar around even just to pick it up and observe SCOBY progress also shakes up your SCOBY. Too much movement can make it difficult for your SCOBY matter to come together and form a solid SCOBY disc at the top of your brew. This is why packaged SCOBYs sometimes have some “SCOBY gel” along with them—more SCOBY matter is forming within the package, but it cannot form into a solid disc with all of the movement the package goes through on its journey to you. It is harmless, but it just doesn’t look very attractive!
The above SCOBY is a healthy SCOBY that needs more time to form into a full and creamy white disc!
- My SCOBY seems to be forming in layers. Is this unhealthy?
This is not unhealthy! Layers on your SCOBY likely mean that it experienced slight disturbances (movement) throughout the brew. Each time the jar is shaken up a little, a layer of SCOBY can work its way a little lower into the jar. This opens up the surface of the kombucha, meaning a new SCOBY layer will begin to form. As long as the jar wasn’t shaken a ton, it will probably still be attached to the previous layer. So, it is completely fine even if your SCOBY is looking like a cake!
The above picture is a SCOBY with LOTS of healthy layers! Some layers are stuck together more, and others are somewhat separated.
- My SCOBY is sideways/sunk/horizontal/doing backflips in the jar. Is it dead?
Okay, if your SCOBY is doing backflips you should get it on camera—it has taken its life to a whole new level! As far as any of the other circumstances, it is totally fine!! Mother SCOBYs may or may not float, they may or may not attach to the baby, and they will quite possibly reposition themselves throughout the duration of your brew.
This is completely okay and due to a number of variables such as temperature and yeast/bacteria balance in the SCOBY. It will likely be different for your next brew and the brew after that. Again, SCOBYs are living organisms and each one is unique!
The above images contain HEALTHY SCOBYs floating and sinking wherever their yeasty hearts desire!
Does Your Creepy SCOBY Deserve a New Category?
If you have an issue or question about your SCOBY that does not fall into the above potential red flags, feel free to comment about it below! We will get in touch with you and are happy to take a look at it and diagnose Mr. SCOBY! Don’t worry in the mean time—all SCOBYs look pretty unusual! Odds are it is just another peculiar look that can be explained with SCOBY science 🙂
75 comments
Hi, I am a first time brewer. My first batch was brilliant. I have drank the tea twice and someone has to,d me that I should not be drinking it as I have no immune system! Is this correct? I had my spleen removed 6 years ago and have no immune system now. I take anti biopics for life to solve the infection risk issues. Many thanks for your help. Sharon
hi this is my first time making kambucha but am very uncertain if i am doing it right. my kambucha has been standing for 8 days and looks really nice to me, but starts to smell a bit musty in kitchens and it has a very thin layer of see through soggy stuff floating on top, should i change water or should i wait .? when i bought scoby it came with almost no water in the bag and I have read that you have to have 2 dl of the last batch to make kambucha, I did not, please help me.
sincerley Nicole
ps: used google translate: P
I just had a batch of kombucha where there was some mold spots on the baby scoby that was sitting at the top of the jar. I removed it and threw it away. The mother scobies at the bottom looked perfectly fine. Are they ok to use again if they didn’t have any mold on them? I read to clean with lemon juice or vinegar so did that and put them in a jar with some kombucha for now. Would like to use them again vs buy new but wanted to make sure it was healthy to do so. Thanks.
Hi there! We actually do not recommend primary fermentation with anything except cane sugar. While it is possible to use other forms of sugar, we would only recommend experimenting with them if you have additional SCOBYs on hand and can afford to have a batch go wrong.
We agree that your batch will probably taste quite different. Even if you use the starter for another batch, you will likely hold onto the molasses taste for some time. Perhaps you will like it and it won’t be an issue— best of luck!
I put a tablespoon of blackstrap molasses in my very first batch of kombucha that was started with a bottle of GT’s Raw & Unfiltered Original, it only had a little strand of mother at first but now 6 days later it has a nice thin scoby on top. I am afraid I won’t like the taste of this first batch because of the molasses, what do you think?
Hi there, is any part of the SCOBY dry or fuzzy looking? It is a bit difficult for us to say without a photo— feel free to send an image to our support email if you still need assistance!
M SCOBY is huge and the entire surface is a light green colour with a clump of white in the middle. When I googled pictures of mold on SCOBYs it didn’t match but it also hasnt matched any of the “good” images either.
Hi Mandy, thanks for reaching out!
How long was the kombucha SCOBY Hotel left? When you say resuscitation batch, do you mean you brewed a new batch and used SCOBYs and 1-2 cups starter tea from your hotel in it?
If so, 10 days is quite a long time to go without growing a new baby SCOBY across the top.
We recommend avoiding flavored teas as they can harm your SCOBY over time, but I would not expect your tea to have immediately killed your SCOBY.
I have linked to our SCOBY hotel article with details on care (refreshing tea every 30-60 days, etc.). We will keep an eye out for your reply should you have additional info or questions for us. Thanks & best of luck!
I left my scoby hotel un attended for a long time. Visually everything looks great, it smells very vinegary! My “resuscitation” batch has been in there for 10 days with NO sign of life! it smells fine, but nothing has happened? I brewed the same combination of sugar & tea as I had in the past, the only thing I did different was that I used flavored black tea instead of all black tea (that’s what I had) Do you think that could cause the problem or do you think I should leave it longer? I’ve never before had a problem getting it to ferment, but I also left it for a really long time :(
Hi there! The bubbles next to your kombucha SCOBY sound totally normal. Fermenting for 7-21 days is completely normal too. Your kombucha has not fermented for too long, unless it is too tart/sour for your personal preferences. As long as you ferment your kombucha for at least 7-10 days, the ideal fermentation time is really just a matter of personal preference. The longer you ferment, the more tart/sour your kombucha will be. This will also happen faster in warmer weather. Over time, you will likely recognize the smell of your kombucha when the taste will be “just right” for you! Best of luck! :)