Tap Water and Jostling

[Colebricht]

I made two minor errors in my first brewing BEFORE I started to read the big book of Kombucha.

1.) I used tap water. Kansas City has really great tap water. Some of the best in the nation. The book said to be worried about chlorine in the water after I had already started my first brew. The SCOBY seems to be growing just fine but I’ll be sure to get filtered water in the future. Should I be worried?
2.) I got kind of overeager the first few days. I was pulling my jar (carefully) down from up off the fridge to inspect the SCOBY. I later read that his is definitely a faux pas and the SCOBY will stop growing. I have since found an optimal spot and have not moved the jar. Should I be worried about it not growing? What do I do if the baby scoby stops growing?

[Michael Peter – RBC CEO]

Hi Colebricht!

1: Tapwater: more than likely when you boiled the water, all the chlorine was boiled out https://aquanswers.com/does-boiling-water-remove-chlorine-chloramine/

Yes, it is absolutely better to use filtered water for your brew, but if it’s coming from a reliable municipal source, it’s also almost never a brew-killer. Depends on the strength of your culture, but if you bought your scoby from us, it shouldn’t be a problem. DON’T WORRY!!!

2: Scoby growth: the scoby will NOT stop growing…however, that first layer may sink to the bottom and another one may take it’s place. If the baby scoby stops growing, it could be an issue…but it could also mean there’s just not enough sugar left for it to eat. If it was doing well before, it should be doing fine again.

If it were my brew, I’d finish it down to a pH of 3, save 20% of the liquid, and start another batch with it. Your 2nd batch should come out pretty well perfect if you leave it alone…even if you use some of that good KC tap water!

Happy brewing!
-Michael Peter
RBC CEO

• This reply was modified 2 years, 8 months ago by Michael Peter - RBC CEO.

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