If you’ve landed here, you have likely just set up your very first kombucha brew. Congrats! Unfortunately, that might have been followed by realizing that your SCOBY either sank to the bottom of your jar or is half-heartedly floating somewhere on the side of the jar. Either way, SCOBY is not floating. Oh no!! Or, oh no? It’s time for us to settle this feeling of doom.
Is a Sinking SCOBY Bad?
First things first—should you be worried about this? The short answer is no! Fortunately, a sinking mother SCOBY is not at all something to worry about. There are many factors to explain why a SCOBY is not floating—we will address all of these later.
For now, you should know that your mother SCOBY can sink, float at the top, float sideways in the middle—it doesn’t matter what position they are in. In fact, they will likely move throughout the brew! Many variables are at play here, but you should not be worried if your SCOBY remains closer to the bottom of your jar throughout the brew.
But I thought the SCOBY settles across the top of the jar?
This is something we hear pretty often, and it is simply a confusion of the mother vs. the baby SCOBY. The mother SCOBY is the SCOBY that you start your batch with. It is fully formed and will not grow during future fermentations (though it will likely accumulate additional yeast and brown from tannins in your tea over time). The mother SCOBY can be in any position throughout your brew without being cause for concern.
Then we have the baby SCOBY. The baby SCOBY is the SCOBY that will grow in across the top of your jar during fermentation. So, it is important that the baby grows (and ideally stays) at the top of your jar. However, the baby takes 7-21 days to fully form. So, you should not worry if you do not see the baby SCOBY for many days. It grows in very gradually, and it is very important that you do not move your kombucha vessel for at least the first 7 days in order to allow the baby SCOBY to form properly.
Do not Disturb the baby SCOBY
Every time you move your jar, forming baby SCOBY particles may sink to the bottom of your jar and the new SCOBY’s growth can be inhibited. If you leave your jar alone throughout the fermentation, the baby SCOBY should be happily grown in across the top of the jar after your 7-21 day fermentation. If it sinks while you are “test-tasting” your kombucha, you need not worry. As long as you wait at least 7 days to test your kombucha, the baby SCOBY should be formed well enough to withstand a little movement! In fact, it may even sink and then rise again!
What Determines Whether a SCOBY Floats or Sinks?
There are many variables at play in determining the position of your mother SCOBY throughout a brew, but it is largely due to yeast (and variables such as temperature that affect yeast). As yeast on a SCOBY becomes more active, it may create bubbles that cause the SCOBY to float upwards. Yeast tends to be more active in warmer temperatures, so you may find that your mother SCOBY is more likely to float during warmer seasons. You may find your SCOBY is not floating during the wintertime when your house is colder.
It is also very common for your mother SCOBY to begin at the bottom of the jar and rise as your kombucha brews. Your mother and baby SCOBY may even end up growing attached, which would result in a SCOBY surface that looks similar to the one below:
Stress-Free Kombucha Brewing is Successful Brewing!
The moral of the story here is essentially that you should not worry! Kombucha brews and SCOBYs are like snowflakes: each one is unique! The best advice we have for new brewers is not to sweat the small stuff. For the best results, leave your jar undisturbed (in a dark, room temperature space with airflow) for 7-10 days to start, then you may begin checking on your brew.
Should you have questions on the appearance of your baby SCOBY, second fermentation, or anything else kombucha, you can count on us! Our site is filled with brewing resources and we are always happy to help. Happy brewing! : )
Thank you!
You are so welcome! Thanks for taking the time to comment 🙂 Happy brewing!
What a timely article! My mother SCOBY sunk to the bottom when I started a new first fermentation a couple of days ago, and I was worried. Unfortunately, I did move the jar the last few days to get into better light to see if the baby was forming and to check the pH (which was between 3.5-4.0). I won’t move it again, but will it be ok? Thanks.
Thanks for reaching out! Your brew should be fine if you leave it for the remainder of the fermentation. If anything, you may want to give your fermentation a few extra days in case it did lose any “speed” with the movement! Happy Brewing! 🙂
Hi,
A reassuring thread! Quick question, I’m on my sixth batch now… it’s a three-litre jar and every time until now I’ve only ended up with it about 2.5 litres full.
The scoby has always floated on top and I think it’s grown to the diameter of the ‘shoulder’ of the jar. This time I’ve filled the jar to almost three litres, but the scoby is too wide to float on the very top, so it’s partially submerged for the first time… is that ok? Thanks!
Hi there!
Thank you for your kind feedback! 🙂
This is absolutely fine! The new baby SCOBY will likely grow in smaller this time around. No harm if a SCOBY has to be submerged or fold over a bit to fit, though. Happy Brewing! 🙂
Hi,
I am on my first batch of Kombucha, its been in a week now. I must thankyou for your advice on sinking scobys, as 1 had sunk and i thought it was dead. I put 2 in a 1.5 litre jar. After moving the jar to the kitchen to have a closer look the 2nd scoby sunk. How do i know when this is ready to drink? and put into a bottle.
Thanks Lyndy
Hi there, I am glad to hear this article helped you out! Our brewing instructions should help you get more clarity on when your kombucha is ready to bottle.
Thank you for the article! I’m working at growing my first SCOBY from scratch and it’s a slower process than initial research led me to believe… I’m not worried about that but I’ve kept my baby’s bottle in a corner of the kitchen I can’t actually reach while I wait. When I asked my husband to move it for me he thumped it down on the counter and the baby that I didn’t even know had formed (!) sank all the way to the bottom. I don’t know how long it’s been there but it’s very thin and whitish-gray. It does stretch all the way to the edges of the bottle. Do you think it will be ok? Should I feed it with sweet tea at this point? Or just put it (gently) back in its corner to grow another week or so? Any advice would be GREATLY appreciated!
My scoby was in the fridge for 3 years is it dead now. I put it in some tea with sugar
Hi there,
Unfortunately, yes– it is almost certain that your SCOBY is dead. I would highly recommend investing in a new SCOBY
Additionally, SCOBYs should never be stored in the fridge. I recommend this article on proper kombucha SCOBY storage
My baby SCOBY is taking over my jar! It is layer upon layer! They float to the top but I find I am only able to put about half the amount of tea. Is it safe to remove some?
You sure can! It is normal (and healthy) to remove older SCOBYs as they brown and gather more residue. Newer SCOBYs brew more efficiently and are best to leave in your brew. We do recommend leaving at least 1 fully formed SCOBY (and 1-2 cups starter tea) at all times
I tried making my first batch of kombucha.
But the scooby has a black pigmentation on it.
I can’t understand if this is a good thing or bad. Please help me out for the same.
Hi there,
It sounds like this could be yeast, but I cannot say without seeing the SCOBY. I would recommend the following articles for SCOBY image comparisons:
https://buchabrewers.com/healthy-scoby-what-does-a-healthy-kombucha-scoby-look-like/
https://buchabrewers.com/unhealthy-kombucha-scoby-dead-scoby/
Good thing I read this because I was checking on my kombucha and even tried to push it down. Also moved the jar. Bad, bad, bad! Will leave it alone now.
My tea is so dark and I used brown sugar, and so now I can’t really see what is going on in the jar, it’s so dark. Why does everyone else’s kombucha brew seem so light?
I have never made kombucha before, only water kefir. Then one is meant to use organic sugar and ideally raw, as the water kefir grains like minerals. Does the kombucha not care about that?
Hi Alexandra,
I would recommend using organic cane sugar in the future. This is easier for the kombucha to process, & will also not darken your brew as it seems the brown sugar has.