My Scoby Doesn't Float Is It Ok?

Absolutely, your scoby can either sit at the top, the middle or at the bottom of your brew.

The fermenting process will still happen, and create a beautiful brew.​​

There Is A Film On The Surface.

The film is actually your new scoby beginning to grow.

Make sure you don't try and remove it or stir the brew. 

There Are Brown Blobs And Strands In The Brew.

The brown blobs are yeast.

Yeast is created when the scoby feeds on the sugar that has been added to your brew. 

There will also be brown yeast strands in the brew and are nothing to be concerned about.

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My Brew Tastes Too Vinegary.

A brew in the correct conditions will take around 5-7days.

Taste your mix daily after day 5, when you can no longer taste the tea flavour your brew is good to bottle.

Each day past, it will begin to get a vinegary taste that will get stronger each day after.

If your brew tastes and smells very vinegary between day 5-7 your good bacteria numbers are low.

To fix - for the next batch, ensure the starter tea used is from the top of the last batch, and try doing a batch with only black tea, this will help the good bacteria count increase.

Also remember to not over do the sugar, just keep to the instructions.  

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pH Testing

As the SCOBY consumes the nutrients in the sweetened tea, it produces gluconic acid, lactic acid, and acetic acid, which all contribute to the many health benefits . As the kombucha ferments during this process, the liquid goes from being sweet to being sour. The sourness of the tea is also called the “acid level,” something that can be monitored by testing the pH of the liquid. Properly-made kombucha will have a pH level of between 2.5 and 4.5. When the pH is higher than 4.5 the tea is not acid enough to prevent the growth of harmful bacteria. When it’s lower than 2.5, the tea will be too sour for most people to drink.

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