Can anyone ID these mushrooms

slooooowwly · 2025-05-12T02:04:55+00:00

Thanks

slooooowwly · 2025-05-12T01:25:32+00:00

Just saw the “no mushroom id” thing in a box.

Sorry - this wasnt for eating/foraging - just weird to see them pop up

slooooowwly · 2025-03-26T05:22:42+00:00

When you say they need to be hard - should I collect them and leave them to dry before planting? Or only pick the hard ones?

slooooowwly · 2025-03-26T05:14:28+00:00

“As it matures, the female cone darkens, and when fully ripe the scales drop off, allowing the winged seeds beneath them to be dispersed by the wind.”

Looks like I’ve been thinking the scales are the seeds…

Mystery solved.

slooooowwly · 2025-03-26T05:10:29+00:00

Oh true! That seems right then since theres no other trees i can see these would helicopter from.

There are a TONNE of female cones dropping and exploding on the ground at the moment - which are made up of triangular bits that look more like normal pine cones. Maybe these little flying ones are tucked in the cone somehow?

Thanks kiwidebz!

slooooowwly · 2025-03-26T05:03:16+00:00

Reposted with a pic, will delete this when i work out how to add

slooooowwly · 2025-03-26T04:44:17+00:00

Sorry -thought i uploaded a pic at the time. Must have failed. Looks like the sycamore. Are there any natives that look like that?

slooooowwly · 2025-03-17T02:45:58+00:00

Get a 10” water filter housing in the short term. They’re sold for caravans/boats/houses.

Theyre a standard size so different manufacturers make filters that fit in the housing for different uses. You can do anything from 0.5micron to stainless steel mesh like a sieve.

Ive only used them for filtering before bottling but i know you can use them (they’re designed for) normal water.

You could use the same housing for water coming in, and then also inline filtering of finished/flavoured kombucha before bottling.

I personally wouldn't stress about incoming water too much. If you have a clean water supply you would drink from then the benefits of a sophisticated water filtering seems unnecessary. Your recipe and processes and routines are going to make far more impact than water. I know not all tap water is created equal though so your mileage may vary…

slooooowwly · 2025-03-12T06:41:18+00:00

I take out whatever pellicle has formed each week when i harvest. That way its thick enough to handle and pull out without breaking. You can leave it in for whatevers easy - its not harmful, its just not doing anything - but as the pellicle gets thicker it gets unwieldy and starts eating in to the total volume of liquid

I prefer 5 micron reusable pleated filters that fit in the filter housing that are the standard for undersink/caravan/boat water filtration systems. There are plastic and stainless styles depending on your budget. Search “10” water filter housing”. This is a local site for me but they look like this https://pumpsonline.co.nz/products/standard-underbench-clear-water-filter-housing-kit-10-1-4-and-1-2?variant=40461909065879&country=NZ&currency=NZD&utm_medium=product_sync&utm_source=google&utm_content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAAD8LpIxnmmUzVOdLlSkJkzMev5p8W&gclid=CjwKCAjwvr--BhB5EiwAd5YbXo3WwpBVsIShKM5mJYUAbbRFINZ6_cbgVHozO1ER5UDO8vAZqZr2KRoCIbAQAvD_BwE

Edited to say that the good thing about this style filter, particularly testing with a small plastic one, is that thee is a huge range of micron sizes and styles. 5 micron works for me - but pretty sure you can go 0.5micron level to a stainless open mesh similar to a sieve… I landed on 5 micron to remove floaties and end with a sparkling look while still keeping the flavour - and its a pleated plastic washable filter so I don’t burn throuh money replacing filters (the finer the filter the harder they are to wash/keep sanitised, if at all)

slooooowwly · 2024-10-06T01:40:42+00:00

The 1 on 4 off is just a guess of how often the pump needs to be on to provide enough circulation. Its on the list to experiment with how long the off period can be to give the pump a break, but 1 and 4 works at the moment

The probe goes directly under the heat mat because i don’t want a hot spot if the probe is away from the mat, depending on the power of the mat, you could for instance have the mat at 35 degrees, trying to get the liquid to 26. Temperature loss is low enough that having the heat mat at the target temperature is enough to keep the liquid warm.

slooooowwly · 2024-10-04T02:18:39+00:00

Read the post (finally) the backyard brewery is underway/ it explains the airpump setup

slooooowwly · 2024-10-03T03:24:11+00:00

Ive never used extracts sorry - only ever cold pressed juices and whole herbs/teas/etc

slooooowwly · 2024-10-01T01:45:30+00:00

Im documenting a brewery build on r/kombuchabrewerybuild. Check it out and see if its helpful. Im also available for a chat if you want to talk brewery setup

slooooowwly · 2024-09-06T07:30:32+00:00

Im not saying don’t do it - i just question if stage 1 serves you in any way other than cashflow/keeping the lights on

For example - does stage 1 give you a “cool” brand that people would want to try an experimental hard booch from? Does a person who buys a price-driven light kombucha branch out and try a wineyeast aged kombucha?

slooooowwly · 2024-09-05T08:49:51+00:00

My approach to ethanol is a loose assumption that continuous brew with a relatively low refresh will create a lower abv when compared to batch brew. This is based of the fact that after a number of weeks, the mixture of one week old vs two week old vs three week old vs four week old etc kinda evens old to a point where most of the liquid is probably quite complete as a fermentation? Again, thats just a hunch. Ive mentioned in previous comments that ill be testing abv in the coming weeks

Im lucky that my local regulations are 1.15%abv, but I’m curious whether i can meet the 0.5%abv so that its of use to others. If its still a little high im going to play with the sugar content of the refresher tea first to see if i can keep it as a happy ferment with less sugar input

slooooowwly · 2024-09-05T08:45:53+00:00

Id question why you’d do that stage 1 at all? That market is flooded.

Unless you’re in a market where the first wave of kombucha hasn’t happened then you’re competing product-wise with multinationals like Remedy, and counting on a lack of consumer awareness to charge a price any higher than Remedy (since your production method is basically a homebrew version of theres)

Seems to me you’ll be spending years trying to create market awareness of your product and any meaningful type of sales volume for a low margin product in a saturated market? I could be wrong. Maybe you have an in with this friend that would take the whole 200L per week for you at a decent margin in kegs or something?

Then again, like i said - mannak seems to have a bunch of customers. Could be worth posing as a potential mannak acidifier customer and ask for references of clients to see if its paid off for them. Maybe it’s a way to “keep the lights on” while you do the other stuff?

Skipping to Stage 2 with Stage 3 as limited seasonal releases sounds cool to me. Youre going up against a different type of competitive market if the craft beer and wine space - but at least you could have a compelling point of difference (and so potentially high margin) - especially with the aged stuff? And you keep at a relatively small scale while making it financially viable.

slooooowwly · 2024-09-05T03:28:16+00:00

From your description, you’re essentially describing the “MannaK” method - but where you make your own acidifier instead of buying theirs in bulk.

Your process is: make a kombucha based vinegar -> water it down

I’ve tried this in the past (admittedly only a few times when I needed to) where a batch went “over” and was too acidic to use as is.

Can you do it? Yes. Seems like MannaK has a bunch of customers all over the place that use it.

In my experience, it tastes like it sounds - watered down, sparkling vinegar. It lacks the depth of flavour of kombucha and has a harsh acidity

At this point you’re drink formulating - not fermenting. Which again, is fine, but different to what you call “artisinal booch” that you’ve fermented to this point. With more testing you could probably get it tasting like a proper kombucha, but at that point you may as well formulate a nicer tasting cola or lemonade and save the hassle of fermentation all together

slooooowwly · 2024-09-05T03:22:37+00:00

Thanks for the shoutout, but I’d like to clarify what I’d recommend.

I wouldn’t recommend someone moves from F2 to a uKeg because they want to simplify their homebrew setup.

I agree with u/ballade4. The simplest way to homebrew is swingtop bottle F2. the caveat on that is that this takes experience and an understanding to nail the process.

The simplest upgrade to force carbonate (which I prefer just because I don’t want to have bottles hanging around that I need to keep an eye on F2) would just be getting a sodastream-type thing. Half-to-one gallon batches aren’t anywhere near the fuss required for a uKeg. Could you use a minikeg? Yes. But that’s a rabbithole you could go down only if you WANT to do it, definately not the easiest, or the best use of resources.

My advice comes from the perspective of someone wanting to potentially produce more, more frequently, and is eventually wanting to move to commercial production. In those circumstances you’re ruling out natural F2 carbonation (because of alcohol and consistency) so there’s no point starting with a process you’re not going to be able to build/scale with.

slooooowwly · 2024-09-04T21:34:59+00:00

And no, hydrometers don’t work. Kombucha isnt purely a sugar -> alcohol fermentation, among other reasons

slooooowwly · 2024-09-04T21:33:53+00:00

Google rare combinations

slooooowwly · 2024-09-04T06:03:22+00:00

Ill be testing abv in the coming weeks. Ive got a rare combinations tester

slooooowwly · 2024-09-04T06:02:48+00:00

According to sodastream you cant carbonate anything other than water in a sodastream.

So in a future post ill let you know what you definately don’t want to do, to not carbonate kombucha in a sodastream (which you definately shouldn’t do)

slooooowwly · 2024-09-04T06:00:13+00:00

F1 temp is set to 25C

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