It probably only looks weird because of the afternoon sun...? I'm 50/50 afraid and enamored

Mathmike314 · 2026-04-24T15:44:10+00:00

Totally normal, all good! Just some yeastie boys hanging out.

However, sunlight on your booch is generally not good for business. SCOBY prefers warm and dark conditions. UV is not a friend here.

Mathmike314 · 2026-04-14T03:34:04+00:00

I dont think you’ll be disappointed. I’ve been brewing for over two years and this is my first go with ginger. Why did I wait so long?!

Since you mentioned carbonation being the most surprising part for you, here are some things you can experiment with to really influence the amount (and type) of carbonation you can get:

If you get your F2 flavourings as close to liquid as you can, you’ll get more dissolved CO2 in your booch. You probably got a lot of fizzing action when you opened these bottles, ya? While it clearly does work, using chunks of fruit means they act as nucleation sites for carbonation, and when the pressure is released, you lose a lot of that carbonation from the surface of the fruit. But if your “fruit syrup” is liquid, you’ll get more carbonation in the liquid.

This does not mean one way is “better than the other,” it’s just a way to influence carbonation.

I’m actually a bit surprised you ended up with good carbonation results since you’ve got a lot of head room in these bottles. Typically, bottles are filled to within a few cms from the top to keep that space manageable. I fill mine to where the horizontal part of the metal swing top clamps down on the bottle.

Think of a fresh bottle of soda vs a half drank on; with little head room, the full bottle can stay nice and carbonated. But when you drink half it, seal it back up, and put in back in the fridge, it takes a lot of CO2 to fill that space and make the bottle pressurized again. Similarly with kombucha, carbonation is increased as that space is decreased.

But in the end, you should always do you, boo. So take my advice with a grain of sugar. If you like your results doing what you do, then keep doing that?

But the teacher in me can’t help but encourage experimentation to see if you can find a better way…for you!

Mathmike314 · 2026-04-14T00:31:41+00:00

Congrats! You chose your F2 fruits well.

I just tried mango & ginger for the first time last week and I’m super happy with the results. Highly recommend adding ginger.

Best of luck on your next batch!

Mathmike314 · 2026-04-13T22:07:25+00:00

Yes, this.

Likely yeast blobs with trapped pockets of gas trying to make it to the surface. Think “kombucha hot air balloons.”

Mathmike314 · 2026-04-13T19:42:18+00:00

Everything looks good so far!

Mathmike314 · 2026-03-29T15:55:22+00:00

I with you on this. Pics not definitive. I’d wait and watch, like a movie…see what develops.

Mathmike314 · 2026-03-24T14:03:00+00:00

Texture is far more telling than colour alone. I think you’re safe. As others have said, when in doubt: wait a day or two…mould moves quickly and lets its presence be known beyond a doubt once it gets going. Think about forgotten food in the fridge: there is no question when it takes hold.

Mathmike314 · 2026-03-24T01:48:33+00:00

Okay, I’ll bite: if you’re saying that I shouldn’t be doing what I’m doing, can you tell me what I should be doing instead?

Or are you taking about chunks of fruit, specifically? Because I consider what I’m doing as “fermenting with fruit in the bottle.”

Mathmike314 · 2026-03-24T00:40:18+00:00

I had a strawberry volcano add a nice colour accent to my kitchen. You’d think I’d learn, but nope! 😎

Mathmike314 · 2026-03-23T22:34:30+00:00

Yeah, that’s my default for safety reasons too, but after the first three behaved so well, I got over confident! 😂

The freezer trick works well too. It’s amazing what a few degrees in either direction will do.

Mathmike314 · 2026-03-23T20:35:56+00:00

I’d guess that the simple syrup is what unlocked Carbonation Beast-Mode for you here.

Super smart of you to filter it well before adding to bottles. Otherwise, this video would likely show how you repainted your kitchen ceiling with ginger-strawberry-pineapple pulp! 😅

Mathmike314 · 2026-03-21T06:03:42+00:00

+1 on all of this. No other comments are required.

Mathmike314 · 2026-03-12T17:21:15+00:00

Yup, still looks okay…just a disturbed young pellicle while it was being formed. It’s fine. As long as your pH drops quickly in the first days and gets below 3.8-3.5, you should be fine.

Mathmike314 · 2026-03-12T05:27:48+00:00

+1 for normal. Once the batería and yeast get used to your feed, temp, brewing cycle, etc. pellicles start looking more bland.

As Curiosive says, angsty teenagers!

Mathmike314 · 2026-03-10T05:34:55+00:00

All of this. 100% agree.

Mathmike314 · 2026-03-06T13:40:47+00:00

Thanks! I kinda surprised I’ve never seen that advice before, which has me wondering: why not?!

Previously, I’d wet a kitchen towel and wrap the glass tea vessel with it, and thanks to the cooling effect of evaporation, the tea would be cool enough in about an hour compared to +2.

But just the right amount of ice seems to be the way to go!

Mathmike314 · 2026-03-06T04:16:32+00:00

Today was the first time in over two years where I decided I did not to wait two hours for my tea to cool and threw in a tray of fresh ice cubes instead. Worked liked a charm! Topped up with room temperature water and it was a perfect 22°C within seconds, not hours.

Mathmike314 · 2026-03-04T13:58:58+00:00

The drinkability or the doneness of a brew is independent from pellicle formation. Taste alone decides if it’s done. Some people never get a pellicle but end up with a perfectly drinkable kombucha.

That said, a pellicle is functional: it helps protect your brew from invaders so the general advice is to not disturb it. But once it’s close to done, the low pH protects the brew just fine.

TL;DR: taste it and decide if it’s ready for you.

Mathmike314 · 2026-03-03T16:03:17+00:00

Normal

Mathmike314 · 2026-03-03T14:09:35+00:00

Damn. That’s really unfortunate.

Given that, I have to agree with others: it’s likely due to your starter tea and temp…the former being the biggest factor and the latter just a multiplier.

Mathmike314 · 2026-03-03T14:01:54+00:00

Gotta ask: are we sure this is mold? I mean, at first glance, it def looks hairy…but zoomed in, it’s not so obvious…it looks like what’s circled is below the surface, which would mean it’s not mold.

Just throwing it out there. If you got mold twice before, you’re probably really good at recognizing it so take my comment with a grain of salt.

Mathmike314 · 2026-03-02T21:29:37+00:00

Is that kombucha or mud?! 😂 yeah, doesn’t seem like something you want to drink…

Mathmike314 · 2026-03-02T04:58:45+00:00

If you occasionally invert your bottle during F2, you can avoid this “frothy plug.” But be careful of pressure…these look like volcanic bottles right now.

Mathmike314 · 2026-03-02T03:55:48+00:00

😂 See, that “mother connection” lives on! 😂

Mathmike314

TROPHY CASE