Have I killed my kefir grains?

[Guest guest]

I was making kefir from raw milk all last winter and i never got sick

during that time. (I normally have bronchitis from Nov-Feb, in varying

degrees of severity.) In the spring, when i went to visit family out

of state, for three weeks, I didn't take it with me and didn't

continue " brewing it " . Yes, I got sick while there and can home with

it, was really sick for about 2 weeks. In all this time, I wasn't

making new kefir, and the habit just fell away.

I eventually threw away the old kefir with the grains that i left

hanging around my fridge, but I had actually frozen some grains back

when I was actively making it. I had gently washed then before i froze

them, and froze them in a glass jar with non-fat dry milk as it's " bed " .

I just pulled them out and have been trying to restart my kefir, but it

doesn't seem to be working. I am getting sour milk as it sits on the

counter, which eventually separates into one large curd and whey, but

it doesn't have that distinctive yeasty kefir smell or taste-- it's

just sour curdy milk. (btw, is this curdy stuff useable in any way?

So what do I do now? Is it hopeless? should I just try to find some

more grains? Are these old grains useable in any way?

Thanks!

Carol P