WisconsinGardener
Loony Member
I am new to the whole Kombucha thing. I've made three rounds of it, now. The first time, I let it go 7 days, and the resulting liquid was so vinegary that it was pretty much undrinkable without tons of diluting. The second time, I let it go only 4 days. It was still quite vinegary, but better. Decided to try the "second ferment" that my friend always does. I added a bit of juice (maybe 2 ounces) in a 16-oz. bottle, and filled the rest up with the kombucha, leaving about 1.5" of space at the top. Sealed it tightly and put it on my counter. Got busy and wound up leaving it there 48 hours. There was so much "stuff" in there, that I got worried and dumped it.
Now, round three. Again, let it go only 4 days. Tasted vinegary but not too bad. Put it in the 2nd ferment bottles all by itself this time. Looked at it this morning, less than 24 hours later, and there is "stuff" at the top that I don't know whether it is normal or not.
I posted it on my business Facebook page. I don't think you even need an account to see this link:
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=891956810883803&id=113856622027163
Please help. Is it doing what it's supposed to? Am I growing mold and should dump it again? Maybe stop trying to do second ferments?
P.S. I do milk kefir and water kefir and seem to be fine with both of those.
Edit to add: My house is kind of cold at the moment. We've been resisting turning on the furnace, and it is 64 in here.
Now, round three. Again, let it go only 4 days. Tasted vinegary but not too bad. Put it in the 2nd ferment bottles all by itself this time. Looked at it this morning, less than 24 hours later, and there is "stuff" at the top that I don't know whether it is normal or not.
I posted it on my business Facebook page. I don't think you even need an account to see this link:
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=891956810883803&id=113856622027163
Please help. Is it doing what it's supposed to? Am I growing mold and should dump it again? Maybe stop trying to do second ferments?
P.S. I do milk kefir and water kefir and seem to be fine with both of those.
Edit to add: My house is kind of cold at the moment. We've been resisting turning on the furnace, and it is 64 in here.
Last edited: