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 🙂
can I use my old scobby in a new batch of tea my one on top is very thin .also there get very dark is this ok thank u
Hi Cindy,
We generally recommend using both your baby and mother SCOBY in the next batch of kombucha– that way you have a back-up SCOBY and fermentation generally speeds up a bit! As long as your last brew was within the last 4 weeks or so, both should be fine to use.
SCOBYs get darker over time due to yeast activity and tannins in your tea. This is normal and nothing to worry about. Happy Brewing! 🙂
I have just started brewing and have two batches and two new scobys on the way and am wondering if I can brew four batches next time using the two mothers and two new ones? Any help appreciated!
Hi there! Yes, you absolutely can! Just make sure to use adequate starter tea in each batch as well (1-2 cups per gallon). Happy Brewing! 🙂
I have splits my Scott twic and the batches have turned out just fine! I even shared a baby scoby with a friend and her Kombucha did great as well.
Twice 😬
Hi, I have left my kombucha to brew for about 14 days now, and I just do not know if the taste is right. Some bubbles were starting to form on the side of the scoby- like gassy fresh bubbles, not really inside the scoby like in one of the previous picture. Does this means that it has been fermented for too long? Maybe everything is fine but I cannot find when it is the perfect taste for it. Any advice on this? thank you!
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! 🙂
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 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!
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 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!
I keep hearing you say to you strong starter tea but how do I know how to make strong starter tea. Stronger than what? I let my black tea brew on the counter for 6 hours. Is that strong enough? I used
Morena pure cane sugar. 2 cups for 2 gallon of tap water . Brew has set 4 days now And looks like litely toasted blistered sun burnt skin with smatterings of white. Can see the tinyest bubbles cumming up . Have just let it sit. Tried making kombucha a few years ago and I got a better looking scoby without even trying and still used tap water but I used white sugar. I have. I have a paper towel with rubber band to hold it on. Smells good at the top of the paper towel when I put my nose against the paper towel and breathe in. Brew is not in direct sunlight.
This Brew will be very vinegary because I’m growing the Scooby for the next batch because I did not buy one. Should there be enough sugar in the solution to get a Scooby big enough to handle so it’s not paper thin and fall apart when I take it out of my jug?
If there is mold in the kombucha won’t that kill the fermentation? But I didn’t see the tiny little bubbles coming up still.
I’m think I should add more sugar before the vinegar gets to tart and I think that is a sign that fermentation has stopped.
If fermentation has stopped can it be restarted. Morena is the most anemic looking brown sugar I have ever seen but is not white. Could that be where the brown toasty color is coming from on the scoby? How big should I let this Scooby get so I can start my next batch and save this vinegar for other things.
Correction on previous post. I did see tiny bubbles coming up from the bottom of the jar.
Hi there,
It sounds like you have some issues with your process, a very significant one being using sugar water and not tea. I would recommend purchasing a SCOBY or full kit and following brewing instructions. Our instructions should provide much clarification.
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! 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 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,
Unfortunately, if you have mold in any part of your batch, the entire brew is contaminated. I would strongly advise you to discard the entire batch and the SCOBYs, starting over with a fresh new SCOBY and starter tea. We recommend running two brews when possible and practical in order to keep a back-up on hand for worst-case scenarios like this.
Make sure you are using a strong starter tea (1-2 cups per each gallon batch) in order to protect your brew against mold in the first place.
Thanks. Also, the first batch I made, I used 1 TBSP of vinegar vs 1 cup starter tea and that worked well…tasted fine. What are the pros / cons of just using vinegar?
Our pleasure! Unfortunately, you cannot truly make kombucha at all without starter tea. Starter tea contains the bacteria and yeast (SCOBY matter) that ferments the sweet tea and essentially makes kombucha kombucha.
Using distilled white vinegar in addition to starter tea in small amounts is okay only for lowering pH level (though it is generally unnecessary), but it must be in addition to the starter tea.
Using any undistilled form of vinegar would potentially involve introducing an entirely different culture. We strongly advise against it.
I would recommend checking out our kombucha brewing instructions.
How do you make starter tea? I just ordered a new scoby that comes with 12 oz of starter tea. What would I do for the next batch?
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
Hi there, thanks for visiting us! Assuming you are brewing a gallon batch, it is best to start with at least 1 cup of strong starter tea in addition to your SCOBY. However, the layer at the top may be a new baby SCOBY growing in. I would recommend using our kombucha brewing instructions for future batches. Best of luck!
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 there, thanks for visiting our site! I would recommend consulting a medical professional in regards to this question. Best of luck and hope you are still able to enjoy your kombucha!
I need help identifying if my SCOBY is healthy.
Hi there! Feel free to send a picture of your kombucha SCOBY to our support email
Hi, this is my first time. I am afraid I will make my family sick. I bought the SCOBY and it can win a seal puffed bag, I couldn’t do it inmediatly so it was probably a couple of week before I was able to start. When I open the bag o noticed that the tea has been leaking not sure for how long. The Scoby seems to be growing but I’m afraid it might be growing mold, how long should I wait to see if it is mold what its growing.
Hello,
It looks like you ordered from another company. I would recommend contacting the company you ordered your kombucha SCOBY from and asking for a replacement.
I’ve got some very bubbley areas on top of the scoby and liquid with some stringy dark stuff amongst the bubbles. Is this mold? Here’s an image –
https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5dce939962effe6bd469238c/1594297578963-AOZY3Z13HW7X5S9UI0KA/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kK60W-ob1oA2Fm-j4E_9NQB7gQa3H78H3Y0txjaiv_0fDoOvxcdMmMKkDsyUqMSsMWxHk725yiiHCCLfrh8O1z4YTzHvnKhyp6Da-NYroOW3ZGjoBKy3azqku80C789l0kD6Ec8Uq9YczfrzwR7e2Mh5VMMOxnTbph8FXiclivDQnof69TlCeE0rAhj6HUpXkw/IMG-0344.jpg?format=1500w
Hi there! If you are brewing with green tea, this may actually be green yeast. We generally brew with all black tea, so I would recommend getting a few opinions on this! It’s certainly very active yeast if it is in fact green yeast.
Hello there
I was given a SCOBY with little extra tea with it. I prepared my tea and put scoby and starter juice into the black tea/sugar mix. It is 4 days on and I can smell kombucha but im afraid that it won’t work and i won’t know it hasnt worked and drink it. My work colleaugues have scared me re dying from bad kombucha. Anyway, it smells delightful and has some bubbles, scoby is still on her side.
I feel it is going ok but im a hopeless optimist. Anyway I can know for certain it isnt working.
Thanks in advance,
Tina
My tea volume is about 1.5 litres
Hi there,
We have lots of helpful content on our site for new brewers that may offer some reassurance. I would recommend reading our brewing guide for specifics you can follow as far as timeline and what to expect.
If your brew is fermenting properly, you should see a new baby SCOBY growing across the top of your jar within 7 days. pH strips can be used to verify proper pH level (below 3.5) has been reached by end of brew. Best of luck!
My SCOBY has a cluster of bubbles on top. This is my 2nd batch in the first fermentation. What’s going on?
Hi there,
Bubbles/carbonation are normal and are released as a byproduct of kombucha fermentation. Without a picture of your SCOBY, we aren’t able to offer much more assistance than that. If you believe there is cause for concern, you may want to contact the company you ordered your SCOBY from.
Hi! My SCOBY has green layers in it. They just formed on this batch but they don’t look dry and fuzzy like mold nor are they at the top They developed against the glass under the liquid line and look normal but have a green tinge. Could I have grown algae somehow?
Hi there! If you are brewing with green tea, this may actually be green yeast. Based on your description, the location sounds like it could make sense for green yeast. We generally brew with all black tea, so I would recommend getting a few opinions on this.
[…] are some good resources on the internet that helped calm my own personal freak out – this page is helpful. You can also scroll up and see a photo of my own scoby under ‘how to start a […]
So I have a scoby that has been kept in a fridge untouched for about a year and a half ..there doesn’t appear to be any mold and it is a large disc shape at the bottom of the jar and the liquid is murky brown ..is this scoby still alive? Could it survive that long?
Hi Ally! Unfortunately, I would absolutely recommend getting a new SCOBY at this point. We generally recommend replenishing sweet tea on stored batches at least every 3 months to keep “feeding” your SCOBY. You should also never refrigerate your SCOBY, as it can cause the SCOBY to go dormant.
I have copied a link to our brewing instructions: https://buchabrewers.com/how-to-make-kombucha-at-home/ These discuss how to it best to “hop” your SCOBY(s) from one batch to the next when possible.
To store your SCOBY(s) for longer times (up to two months), you can start a SCOBY hotel: https://buchabrewers.com/scoby-hotel/
These best practices keep your SCOBY happy and active and will result in the best brews! Best of luck!
Hi there! I cannot seem to get my carbonation to work. I ferment the black tea for 10 days, then leave it bottled for 4 days before putting it in the fridge. When I open it, it isn’t carbonated at all. I have bought special seal bottles so the gasses don’t escape. Any ideas what would be causing this? Thanks!
Hi there!
I would recommend these articles to check your process:
https://buchabrewers.com/how-to-make-kombucha-at-home/
https://buchabrewers.com/kombucha-carbonation-10-ways-to-get-more/
Are you using flip-top glass bottles?
Hope this helps!
I am new to this. Have tried three times and it hasn’t fermented. I waited longer now, over a month and here’s what she looks like but still doesn’t taste fermented. What do I do!?!?
How do I send you a photo!?
Hi there,
It looks like you have not ordered with us– if you have had issues with 3 fermentations, it is likely there is an issue with your SCOBY/starter and/or process. I would recommend ordering our SCOBY and following our directions or finding another reputable company.
Hi, I left some kombucha unattended for months. It has a super thick large layer of white fuzz on top which I assume is bad mold, but I have 2 or 3 large scobys at the bottom. Can I save the scobys or should I discard everything?
Hi there,
Unfortunately, if you have mold in any part of your batch, the entire brew is contaminated. I would strongly advise you to discard the entire batch and the SCOBYs, starting over with a fresh new SCOBY and starter tea. You can take 10% off the SCOBY and Starter Tea on our site with promo THANKYOU10, or get a SCOBY and starter tea from a fellow brewer.
I would also recommend reading into SCOBY Hotels, which should help you prevent this problem in the future
Why would a scoby sink?
Hi, we have a perfect article for your question: https://buchabrewers.com/scoby-not-floating-sinking-scoby/
I had a large Scoby with holes all around. There was no mold but it looked odd. It was ten days. I figured it was huge bursted bubbles. However, when making more, I broke the scoby into large pieces and put into five new jars of tea. Do I need to use a whole scoby. I was trying to start new batches and this seemed ok to do. I haven’t read anywhere that it has to be a whole scoby. Also, I initially took a short cut and used ready made kombucha to start this particular scoby. With this second batch, I used white sugar forgetting I used cane sugar for my first ever batch. Am I able to make more tea with cane sugar, add it to my new jars to save & rescue these batches? They are one day old.
Hi There, I fermented my first batch of black tea kombucha. After 20 days, I removed the scooby and put the kombucha in a bottle with a screw cap and added pieces of ginger to it and left it to flavour for 7 days. Now I see that a full-grown new scooby is formed. Its firm, layered and white in colour just like in the 9th picture. The drink tastes good. Is that considered to be a good ginger kombucha? Can I use the newly formed scooby for the new batches?
I have a new batch of Kombucha. It is day 14. Using a flash light and looking through the jar, I can see what looks like veils in the brew. Some are from the bottom going to close to the bottom of the scoby. Some look like a mass of clouds getting near the bottom of the Scoby. It looks like it is white. There are some bubbles on the side of the jar and somewhere else under the scoby. Some but not much.
So I am wondering if the veils are yeast particules or some bacteria. After some times, all of it goes up.
Again I am wondering if I should stop the fermentation process and start a new batch before having a too big yeast population, if it is not done already.
Thanks , Sylvie
Hi Sylvie,
Thanks for commenting!
It does sound like this is quite possibly yeast strands hanging down from your SCOBY. This is often reported as creating a “ghost” SCOBY. 🙂
You certainly do not need to start a new batch, but there are many things you can do to increase bacteria and decrease yeast in your SCOBY if you feel the yeast content has gotten too high.
You will basically take the opposite of many steps in this kombucha carbonation article
Most important steps to decrease yeast balance in your SCOBY/kombucha: use starter tea from the top of your fermented brews, keep your brew in a cooler part of your home (low as 65 degrees F), etc. Please note this may mean longer fermentation times since lower temperatures slow down fermentation.
I hope this helps! Best of luck.
My jun has been fermenting for about a week now, it seems fine, theres a few yeast clumps on the top and a ton of yeast on the bottom, but it smells really strong, like bad vinegar, I’m supposed to start my second fermentation today, but i dont know if i should bother it or just leave it be. There dosent seem to be any mold eaither.
Hi Sydney,
Thanks for commenting!
It sounds like your brew may just be fermenting very fast. This is not an issue unless it is too tart for your taste preferences. You can certainly go ahead and bottle when this happens.
If this is happening regularly, you may want to reduce your primary fermentation time.
It sounds like you may have overly abundant yeasts, which would reduce the sugar content faster. If you believe this is an issue and would like to reduce the yeast content, you will basically take the opposite of many steps in this kombucha carbonation article
Most important steps to decrease yeast balance in your SCOBY/kombucha: use starter tea from the top of your fermented brews, keep your brew in a cooler part of your home (low as 65 degrees F), etc. Please note this may mean longer fermentation times since lower temperatures slow down fermentation.
I hope this helps! Best of luck.
My brew is forming a new looks like scooby i have never seen before. It looks like little withe lumps mostly separated. Consistenculy like eggwhite, not thick yet. The scooby is half way floating in the jar, is heavy. I dont know if the batch is healthy and lack something or if is unhealthy.
I used about 1cup greentea leaves, 4l water, half dl cup sugar per liter of water.
Hi Paula,
When in doubt, extra time is your best friend! It sounds like this could be a new SCOBY growing in. I would recommend leaving your brew undisturbed in a dark space for at least 5 days, then checking on it. You will quite possibly find it has solidified into a more recognizable SCOBY.
If you find that you aren’t getting great results with that recipe/ratio, I’d recommend brewing with our kombucha home-brewing instructions.
Best of luck! 🙂
My scoby has bubbles which I think is normal. But they are blue. Is that normal?
Hi Hannah,
The bubbles are normal, but blue bubbles are certainly strange. This could be a result of the type of tea you used (assuming you did not use standard black tea).
I had some loose leaf tea that I used for my last batch, and I tried to strain it before I poured it into the brewing jar. Inevitably, my strainer wasn’t fine enough and I saw a few tiny tea leaf fragments floating in the brew. Fast forward to tonight, I’m bottling this batch and preparing the next one along with the SCOBY hotel. I noticed tiny black flecks on the bottom of my SCOBY. The color is otherwise normal, the feel is normal (slimy/bumpy), no mold, and it tastes fine. I can feel the tiny bumps of the black flecks in the SCOBY along with the normal yeast lumps–I’m guessing that the carbonation pushed the tea leaves up and they imbedded themselves in the SCOBY? Are tea leaves dangerous to the SCOBY? Could these tiny flecks be something else I should be worried about? Thank you!
I found some tiny black flecks on my last SCOBY, though I did use loose leaf tea to brew my last batch (guess I couldn’t get all the leaf flakes out?) Are tea leaves bad for the SCOBY? Could it be something else I should be worried about? The SCOBY’S color and consistency is fine, (slimy, lumpy, no mold) and the kombucha tastes fine.
Hi Tillie,
If there were tea leaves loose, I would fully expect them to form into the growing baby kombucha SCOBY. I would just suggest ordering some tea bags or being more careful to strain all leaves out in the future. Once you have grown a SCOBY or two without tea leaves in it, you may want to toss the SCOBY with the leaves in it & use the normal ones.
Having said that, I would not expect it to ruin your kombucha brews when used short-term.
I hope this helps!
Hi there!
I have black flecks in my scoby too, I have been using black lose tea, but very big leaves so I don’t think it ads up with the flecks I’m seeing on the scoby. Is there any chance of it being black mold?
I do not see anything fuzzy or growing, its all small flecks on the surface and in the sides.
Hi Nya,
It is difficult to say without seeing your brew, but it sounds like this could be yeast specs or even tiny tea fragments mixed in with big leaves.
Given that you said it is not fuzzy or growing, it sounds unlikely to be mold. Does it look dry on those spots? Mold would look dry whereas yeast would look wet and even slimy/slippery.
Happy Brewing!
My scoby has been getting super bumpy lately. rn it’s covered in a fine layer of tons of hard little bumps!! is it still safe to use?
let me know if i can send a picture!
I want to send a picture of my scoby for an expert to look at.
Hi there, when I was searching for a 1 gallon jar, and not realizing I should have bought a kit, I ended up purchasing a 2 gallon jar with a very wide mouth so the jar is half full and the scoby has taken over the whole top of the jar. Does it matter that I’m using a wider taller jar? Should I downsize for my next batch ? I just bottled my first batch, pretty excited!! Just don’t want to mess up. I was worried about the dark patches on my scoby but after looking through your pictures I believe he is totally happy and doing great.
Hello, I am on my second homemade batch of kombucha. This is day 2 and a very thick and clearish substance is growing under my scoby, it almost reaches the bottom of my jar and is about half as wide as my scoby. Is this normal? Also can I brew for only 4 days if the temperature is 85 degrees?
Hello. I’ve been brewing kombucha. And there has been forming more SCOBYs.
I change the kombucha every 10 days but these last batch it lasted a little bit longer. Maybe like 15 days.
A friend of mine told me one of my SCOBYs is dead. Can you please tell me?