Re: Starting KT Baby from Bottle

[Guest guest]

Hi ...and welcome to the world of Kombucha brewing!!

At just five days most brewing KT is not finished, although it may well be

at the 85 degrees your oven is at. That's a tad on the warm side for

brewing.

To taste, run a straw down the side between the baby and the side of the

brewing vessel, put your thumb over the end of the straw and withdraw some

of the brew. Much like using a pipette in chem class. Even this amount of

disturbance will affect the growth of the baby at the point where the straw

must touch it to pass by.

There really is no way of harvesting what is beneath your new baby without

halting its growth. Even moving the container can halt its further

development.

If it were me I would let the new baby continue to thicken and if you find

the KT too tart to drink when the baby is done forming it will make

excellent starter for your first batch to be brewed with your new, more

mature, baby SCOBY.

Gayle

Starting KT Baby from Bottle

> Hello All! Thanks for all of your helpful posts! I am really enjoying

> reading these threads!

>

> I think this may be my first post to this group!

>

> I read that you can start your own SCOBY by using the culture from a

> store-bought bottle of raw KT so I decided to try. I used 1.5 quarts of

> my own filtered water (removes flouride too), loose-leaf, organic Yunnan

> black tea, along with 1/2 cup of sugar and added a 16oz bottle of raw KT

> from a local producer here in Ohio. I put it into a one gallon, clear

> glass jar, covered it with a paper towel and rubber band and put it in

> my oven with only the pilot light lit on April 24. Before putting it in

> the oven, I put a thermometer in the oven to measure the ambient

> temperature, which seems to be about 85 degrees fahrenheit with just the

> pilot light on.

>

> Today is the 29th and my first brew already has the most gorgeous,

> gossamer film covering the top, with a fat, little glob of culture

> floating around near the center. It looks like some kind of spider web

> or lace. Its starting to creep up the sides of the jar just slightly.

> The oven smells quite strongly of apple cider vinegar. I'm thrilled at

> the results so far!

>

> My question is this... How do I remove the tea without disturbing my

> delicate, baby SCOBY? It is too thin to remove in one piece, and I'm

> afraid to tilt or turn the bottle for fear of tearing the film. I've

> also read that when brewing a baby from a bottle that it might require

> extra fermentation time and that at some point during the process some

> fresh tea and sugar should be added. However, since my first batch

> seems to be doing so well, I think I might be able to actually remove

> some of the tea for drinking and use the remainder to continue to grow

> the baby...

>

> I really don't know what to do at this stage. I'd love to enclose a

> photo of my beautiful, gossamer web, but I don't think we can include

> attachments on these posts, can we? Any advice on how to handle this

> delicate baby SCOBY would be greatly appreciated! I look forward to one

> day having many healthy babies to share with others.

>

> Many, many thanks!

>

>

[Guest guest]

Welcome

Starting KT Baby from Bottle

I think this may be my first post to this group!

We've all done one of those {¦;¬))

I read that you can start your own SCOBY by using the culture from a

store-bought bottle of raw KT so I decided to try.

................................................................................I

put a thermometer in the oven to measure the ambient.............

Can't comment on temp

A) Our lot went metric yonks ago

I just go by taste anyway.

Today is the 29th and my first brew already has the most gorgeous,

gossamer film covering the top, with a fat, little glob of culture

floating around near the centre.

.............................................................................I'm

thrilled at

the results so far!

And so you should be I started mine from a supplied SCOBY

My question is this... How do I remove the tea without disturbing my

delicate, baby SCOBY? It is too thin to remove in one piece, and I'm

afraid to tilt or turn the bottle for fear of tearing the film.

I think the Gurus will probably tell you it'll take a while to get a good SCOBY

up to speed, but they ARE fairly tough little fellahs and each brew yields a new

one so the next may be more macho anyway. And it torn to shreds it'll take no

hurt. I recently liquidised a few and jarred them. Lo and behold.....new SCOBY

forming on top of the creamy stuff. Unless you are doing " Continuous brew "

you'll have to disturb him at bottling time.

I've also read that when brewing a baby from a bottle that it might require

extra fermentation time and that at some point during the process some

fresh tea and sugar should be added.

It wouldn't surprise me, but ask a Guru.

However, since my first batch seems to be doing so well, I think I might be able

to actually remove some of the tea for drinking and use the remainder to

continue to grow

the baby...

Sounds good to me, I ALWAYS find myself short of starter.

I really don't know what to do at this stage. I'd love to enclose a

photo of my beautiful, gossamer web, .....................................

Go thou unto:- >>>---------------->

http://health.ph./group/kombucha tea/photos

And you can " Exhibit your wares " there no problem, (Group's photo page)

Many, many thanks!

Don't mention it lad, bets are you get 3 or 4 replies minimum

N. England.

If a group has NO topic there's no such thing as going " Off-topic "

A.B.A.L.T.A.T.

" Any, LEGAL, topic which other groups would consider Off-Topic. "

http://uk./group/ABALTAT/

Current membership ¦;-) = 6

Any advance on 6?

[Guest guest]

Thanks, and Gayle for your responses and help! I guess for the

time being I'm going to let the baby continue to grow and see how it

develops! I have a local person who has offered to give me a real baby

from a healthy mother, so if my baby doesn't work out, I'll have a

fall-back