fermenting is a lifelike part of biography . This chemical substance process is what lend us yogurt , wine-coloured , acetum , sauerkraut , pickles , tempeh , miso , sourdough bread and so much more . The put-on to successful fermentation is harnessing this unconscious process to cultivate the beneficial bacteria that encourage digestive wellness while suppressing the pathogens that can ruin your cause .
Kombucha — fermented sweet tea — is a straight fermentation to try , yet even with its dim-witted advance , just about every kombucha beer maker will run into a roadblock now and then . If you find yourself seem at your brew and enquire “ What the … ? ! ” , know that you ’re not alone . permit us help you troubleshoot five plebeian kombucha problems .
Problem 1: My Kombucha Tastes Sour
As kombucha ferments , the symbiotic culture of bacterium and yeast — what you know as the SCOBY , mother , mushroom-shaped cloud or starter — digests the carbohydrate and caffeine from the mellifluous Camellia sinensis . The longer it sits , the more boodle it digests , so the less scented the penchant becomes .
Solution:“Ferment for a shorter time , and make trusted to refrigerate after it reaches the desired flavor , unique to your sense of taste buds , ” explain Tara Whitsitt , father of the traveling food for thought - Education Department organizationFermentation on Wheels . “ infrigidation will keep the ferment hibernating . It ’s sound practice to try out kombucha regularly through the ferment mental process . ”
It ’s also important to remember fermentation speeds up in warmer weather and slows down in insensate weather , she continues . If your kombucha is sitting in a tender place , such as on top of the icebox , and you find it ’s fermenting faster than you ’re able-bodied to consume it , try actuate it to a cool post , such as in a W.C. .
Problem 2: My Kombucha Tastes Too Sweet
As explained in Problem 1 , the SCOBY will condense lucre as the tea leaf zymolysis .
Solution:“Let your brew ferment at elbow room temperature longer , until the taste is to your liking , ” Whitsitt suggests . You might also move your kombucha to a warmer positioning in your sign of the zodiac to move the cognitive process along .
Problem 3: My Second Ferment Isn’t Fizzy
“ CO2 [ carbon dioxide , the stuff that makes kombucha carbonate ] is acquire in instinctive fermentation — the idea is you want to snare that output in your brew vas , ” Whitsitt allege .
Solution:“To encourage effervescence , finish fermentation in an air - tight bottle , such as a sling - top , at elbow room temperature , ” Whitsitt says . Just be sure to keep on eye on your second ferments and burp them regularly so carbonation does n’t build up too much and send your kombucha soaring champagne - style across your ceiling and rampart .
Problem 4: My Second Ferment Exploded Like Champagne Out Of A Bottle When I Tried To Burp It
Because ferment come about in a vas that ’s closed up tight , the carbon - dioxide gasoline build up and want to escape . When the pressure work up up to an utmost amount , the result can be disastrous .
Solution:“Shorten the distance of time you sour in an tune - tight container , ” Whitsitt says . “ I sour for 24 hour at room temperature . ” You might necessitate a longer period of time to get the carbonation you want , but you should check your kombucha ’s progress with a everyday burping to release the built - up pressure create by the carbon copy dioxide .
Problem 5: My SCOBY Is Moldy
Mold is a guileful diagnosis because when you look into your kombucha brewing vessel , you ’ll see all way of things floating . There ’s the SCOBY , which should take on the shape of the vessel , and there are strands of yeast , which be given to be ropey and brown . Mold on your SCOBY , though , is bad tidings . mould tell apart itself as being dingy or foggy , Whitsitt says .
Solution:“Throw out your kombucha and SCOBY , ” Whitsitt says . There ’s no fooling around with molding , which can be dangerous to your wellness . Even if you remove the mold from the SCOBY , there ’s nothing to say that modeling is n’t swim somewhere in the Camellia sinensis , so it ’s good to not take chances . Clean out and hygienise your brewing vessel , get a new SCOBY , and start out again .
The acidity of kombucha should prevent a fungus from produce , but if part of your SCOBY is not immersed in the afternoon tea — as can take place when your brew aim humiliated — mold spores can really delight this environment . It ’s possible there were bacteria or fungi in your watercraft to begin with , which leave an unwanted colony to reproduce .
Do n’t be discouraged by a few protrusion in the kombucha - brewing route . When you ’re working with resilient culture like these , something is bound to go wrong now and then , but this is a process that ’s been taking place for thousands of eld around the world and still going strong .
