Brewing At Home
Discover the fermentation times for perfect homemade kombucha, from first fermentation to flavoring, plus factors affecting timing and how to test for doneness.
Oct 30
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Asked Aug 17,
Top Answer
If your kombucha has very little carbonation, I would say this would almost completely remove the carbonation entirely. So it depends how much carbonation you currently have. As others have mentioned, running kombucha through sieves and filters does reduce carbonation, the type of sieve does make a difference, and the sieve you have in your picture seems like a mesh one, which does reduce carbonation by a lot.
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Asked Aug 4,
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I asked myself the same question. In my mind, each and every F1 is a batch, but, I would also think of the F2s in a way as a batch if I am using a different recipe and trying out different things. But I guess that because everything in F2 comes from F1, F1 is what counts as the batch.
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What do I do if i can't tell if my F1 is sour, sweet, or tart and it all tastes the same to me?
It may sound weird, but I cannot tell if my F1 is sweet, sour, or tart. It tastes like all of them. I have 3 different batches going, one with green + black tea, another with green + white tea, and another with green + hibiscus, they all taste differently, but they also all taste slightly sour, weirdly sweet, and have a vinegary after taste. This has happened in the past also with other batches I have done, so I don't think it's because of the tea I used. How can I tell if it's done?
Asked Aug 4,
Top Answer
I don't think it's weird at all, I can't tell the difference in mine either! I always have to get others to try out my batches to tell me if they are sweet or vinegary or what ever they taste, otherwise I just don't know! So my advice is to just ask others to taste it, if anyone is brave enough to try it.
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John Asked a Question
Brewing At Home
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Nov 5
Is it better to add sweat tea to store bought kombucha, or to wait for the kombucha to grow a pellicle?
Some add sweat tea to store bought kombucha and that becomes a full batch after a few weeks, with a pellicle and all. Others just put the store bought kombucha in a mason jar and cover it until it grows the pellicle, and then use that whole thing as the starter and add sweat tea to it. Does it matter which way you go? Is one method better than the other?
Asked In Article: How To Brew Kombucha Without A Starter Kit
Asked Nov 5,
Mark Asked a Question
Brewing At Home
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Nov 5
Whats your take on pH testing?
I only recently started using pH strips to test my F1, and I don't really see a point in it to be honest. First of all, it seems like the results are always the same! They are always around 3.0 pH, I even used different strips. I have tried testing right after I put in fresh sweet tea but don't remember the results, but it seems that after a few days, 1 week, and even 2 weeks, the results are always the same. Same for testing after F2. So I always just go by the taste of it.
Asked Nov 5,
Recent Answers
What do I do if i can't tell if my F1 is sour, sweet, or tart and it all tastes the same to me?
It may sound weird, but I cannot tell if my F1 is sweet, sour, or tart. It tastes like all of them. I have 3 different batches going, one with green + black tea, another with green + white tea, and another with green + hibiscus, they all taste differently, but they also all taste slightly sour, weirdly sweet, and have a vinegary after taste. This has happened in the past also with other batches I have done, so I don't think it's because of the tea I used. How can I tell if it's done?
Asked Aug 4,
Top Answer
I don't think it's weird at all, I can't tell the difference in mine either! I always have to get others to try out my batches to tell me if they are sweet or vinegary or what ever they taste, otherwise I just don't know! So my advice is to just ask others to taste it, if anyone is brave enough to try it.
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If I can hear the caps leaking carbonation, does it mean my F2 wont be carbonated at all?
When I put the bottles to my ears I can hear carbonation leaking out. Will this completely prevent carbonation to build up, preventing the kombucha from being carbonate,or is it only leaking just excess carbonation?
Asked In Article: How To Flavor Your Kombucha: Complete Beginner's Guide
Asked Oct 25,
Top Answer
Nope, you will still get carbonation, but it depends how much the bottles are leaking. I recently bought bottle caps for old kombucha bottles I have, their original caps were thrown away so I ordered what I thought were good ones. I filled almost 30 of them up and found out they were also leaking like yours, but they still carbonated really well.
If anything, it prevented the overly excess fizz that would turn my bottles into a nuke, my kitchen is much cleaner now.
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Asked Oct 11,
Top Answer
Rose petals and pomegranate are my top choices, they work well every time and are not too sweet. I don't even have to add any sugar to it to get carbonation either.
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Kombucha & Health
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Nov 5
I don't think I have ever had to update my computers dictionary like I am now when I am writing about kombucha.
F1, F2, pellicle, SCOBY, the dictionary didn't know of these words.
F1, F2, pellicle, SCOBY, the dictionary didn't know of these words.
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Brewing At Home
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Oct 3
I have done almost 30 batches I believe, and I let almost all of them go for 14 days in F1 at a temperature of 82. After that I have been bottling them in flip top bottles and leaving them for a few more days, sometimes 3, sometimes 5, sometimes longer since they don't always carbonate (I'm still learning).
One of the reasons I was leaving them longer in F1 was because I was testing them with Ph strips, trying to get it down to 2.5, but I have a suspicion that those Ph strips I had were not all that good since it seems like the colors of them were always the same.
One issue I have been having is that during F2, they don't all carbonate, so I have been adding more sugar. But, since F1 was 14 days, it's very acidic to begin with. The result of this was sweet acidic kombucha that was way too sweet and had quite the kick, like drinking vinegar.
What I did with the latest batch is I just left the F1 for about 7 days and then bottled with fruits for F2 that lasted for 3-5 days. I had my concerns about this because after about 7 days of F1, it was still a bit sweet to me, but I may just be very used to it being acidic after 14 days that it just tastes sweet to me if it's not that acidic as it normally is.
So far, this has worked great! There isn't that strong acidic taste and feeling in the throat as if I am drinking vinegar, and they carbonated even after 3 days. So I would say this is a successful new path I will try for the next batches, and I will also try to leave them longer for F2 since they are a bit sweet for me right now.
One of the reasons I was leaving them longer in F1 was because I was testing them with Ph strips, trying to get it down to 2.5, but I have a suspicion that those Ph strips I had were not all that good since it seems like the colors of them were always the same.
One issue I have been having is that during F2, they don't all carbonate, so I have been adding more sugar. But, since F1 was 14 days, it's very acidic to begin with. The result of this was sweet acidic kombucha that was way too sweet and had quite the kick, like drinking vinegar.
What I did with the latest batch is I just left the F1 for about 7 days and then bottled with fruits for F2 that lasted for 3-5 days. I had my concerns about this because after about 7 days of F1, it was still a bit sweet to me, but I may just be very used to it being acidic after 14 days that it just tastes sweet to me if it's not that acidic as it normally is.
So far, this has worked great! There isn't that strong acidic taste and feeling in the throat as if I am drinking vinegar, and they carbonated even after 3 days. So I would say this is a successful new path I will try for the next batches, and I will also try to leave them longer for F2 since they are a bit sweet for me right now.
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