Moldy Kombucha. How to identify it, resolve it and prevent it. 

I've been brewing a couple years and I have not had mold either. NEW BREWERS: do not be afraid of mold. You simply will not have to worry ab that if you are the least bit conscientious. Just go for it!!! If it ever smells bad just do not drink. Kombucha always smells nice through every stage.

Straight and to the point! Thank you for the info!!!

Thanks very much for this as it has lots of useful information. (And thanks for not having music drowning you out as so many youtubers do).

Thank you, sis. I am listening. Blessings. P.S. Love your sweater.

Love you! On your scoby mask video you said you like to make face lotions!!! Please make that video!

how to indentify moldy kombucha , thanks for sharing

I forgot about my kombucha for about 3-4 months and this was very helpful. Also my kombucha didn't get moldy, and I don't have a Scooby hotel yet so id have to start from square 1 if I did.

Omg the scientist in me is so fascinated by this whole video! Love how easy it is to follow what you're saying and explaining. I have YET to try making my own but I'm happy just watching you talk about it lol (it's the "accent" hehe). Thanks beautiful. Have an awesome evening 💗💞💋

Thanks!!

The one time I got mold (in 6 years) was when I used water straight from the tap. I thought the heating to steep the tea would be enough. It wasn't. Nice job on this video!

Just saw this …probably because I have been looking for all sorts of different ferments. I made my own Kombucha for around a year and a half to two years. Started literally from scratch by making my own scoby (also from scratch, not from already made Kombucha). Then hubby became disabled in a split second accident and I just didn’t have time to keep up with it. (We had anywhere from 28 - 40 appointments each month for almost 2 years). To answer your question about having mold or not, I don’t remember ever having mold with the Kombucha, even though I didn’t know anything about the ph with it. I have had my sauerkraut go bad a handful of times, but that was more operator error more than anything…not having enough head space and thus losing too much liquid from it bubbling over.

Alex apricots the film u made on about kombucha

Scoby motel....in the frig or out? I've heard both

*If you were my science teacher in my school days, I would not skip class or fail science subjects* 💖 I love your makeup too...look so natural

Hi, my kombucha scobie stayed on the bottom?

Can you do kombucha and sourdough starter in the same room?

I'm always jelaous of your kitchen when I watch your videos. :P

Not funny, ironic - you are such a natural on camera Liz and your information is always presented with confidence and in an interesting way. Could you show us how to make saurkraut too, that's be fab? Have an awesome week Liz.

I too have been making 3, 2 gallon jars of kombucha at a time… I spaced each jar 5 days apart as far as bottling after 2nd fermentation for friends and family. Also have a huge Scoby hotel with lots of starter tea.. Gratefully I’ve never had mold…

Liz, could you maybe do a video about how to deal with flying insects in the summer? I live in the South, and the fruit flies are unavoidable. How do I keep them away while I am preparing my first and second fermentations?

I haven't had any yet thankfully!! Also I thought you might find these flavor kits interesting shop.culturesforhealth.com/collections/kombucha. I finally got to share some kombucha and knowledge with one of my neighbors...yay lol.

I'm an experienced Kombucha maker too. It was a good review! {Tip: My favorite way to flavor is using Herbal Tea [no caffeine] in 2nd Fermentation....two bags per single-serving bottle [steep for half an hour...then add 1/2 tsp sugar or honey.] Thank you! [PS....I've never had mold either....just keep the scoby hotel on my counter and feed it regularly till time to start the next brew.]

Hi there, I have mold on the baby scoby (the one that grows on top). Now, The mother stayed at the bottom... I'm just wondering to use the same mother to start a new batch or to get rid of it and start fresh with a new one?

I'm feeling conflicted about my situation, which definitely involves mold. My last batch had a large scoby that rose above the surface like a buoy because it trapped gas underneath, and when it was ready I realized the scoby that had risen above had an even coating of green mold in a dry patch outside the liquid. 100% sure it was mold. My immediate reaction before research was to remove the moldy part (cut it off and an extra couple inches around the diameter with a clean sharp knife and clean hands), check the taste and smell of the batch (all seemed fine), and just go ahead and use it (it went through second ferment fine and tasted great). I also then sterilized all my equipment which I usually clean very well anyway but this time I took an extra step of doing a distilled white vinegar and filtered water rinse to all the vessels. I also wiped down the whole shelving unit that I recently started using to keep the vessels on with a cloth and vinegar. I wondered if this had caused it, since the unit had been sitting in my grandmas garage for a long time before I took it. I originally dusted it but not much else. Crucially, during this process I took the healthy looking remaining scoby from the vessel that had mold, and put it back in the hotel and I'm starting to worry about that. I did not reuse the liquid for anything. Then I started researching and thought, oh no, what if the hotel is infected now. I emptied the hotel, sterilized the vessel, cleared out some older scobies that were looking a little darker brown and kept the rest which all looked healthy. I could not tell by sight which one had the issues in the previous batch but if I had I would have thrown it out to be safe. I returned half of the starter liquid which smelled normal and was VERY acidic, and I fed it with a few cups of tea. I dumped the other half of starter. I've since started another large batch. One vessel has 2.5 gallons and another has 1.5 gallons. I used to have a lid loosely on top of each but now I have a fine hand towel fresh out of the wash over each with a few rubber bands securing it, thinking that will improve air flow. They have been brewing at 72 F ambient which is how I've been brewing all year. I just checked in on day 6 and the smaller vessel looks fine but the larger one, again, had the scoby slightly rising out of the liquid and there were a few small spots of what I feel pretty confident was some white mold (Though I'm only maybe 70% sure this time). I did the same thing, peeled off the thin gelatinous fresh scoby which had a few spots on it from the top, composted that, gave both a smell and taste test and all seems fine. I also did a pH test and both were reading 3.4. Could be closer to 3.2-3.3 because I'm aware of some slight error between what I was reading and a 4.0 calibration liquid. Anyway, all seems fine, but I'm starting to feel I'm taking some risks with my health and am concerned that this next batch has also had a bit of what appears was mold. I just don't see how mold could be spreading or even surviving dormant in such acidic liquid. I also don't know how probably it is that all of my scoby's are infected, in which case I need to start a whole new hotel. If it's possible that mold can live dormant but not spread in highly acidic environments, I could just get rid of all the larger scobys and make a new colony from the smaller ones which I know have never given me trouble, but WERE stored in the same hotel for at least a week.

First timer and I did everything good. But I fcked up because it is hella warm where I live and Kombucha evaporated a little bit leaving formated kombucha above liquid level. Got mold.

The one and only time I forgot to add starter liquid I'm pretty sure i got mold. I dumped it just incase. It diddnt taste right. Diddnt really stink but just wasnt right.

hi miss Liz, its me again, just want to ask if i can use powder seamoss on my kombucha 2nd fermentation? thanks

I have photos of my Sobieski. How to upload for your viewing? It looks like a layer of blackish white dust on top of the scobies. When I touch and drag over the scobies the dust comes off the scobies.

Hey! I see that you're still replying to comments and I'd like to ask a question. I only have a little store bought kombucha left -about a mouthful? Do you think I can make a brew, even if it's a little amount with this store bought kombucha? ( Adding it to my own tea brew ) I know that people have used an entire bottle of store bought kombucha to make their own brew but I only have a little and I was just curious ! Thanks in advance!

Is it ok to do your 1st fermentation in a glass container with the spout?Seems easier to get into the glass bottles but I don't see anyone using those kinds of containers.tfs!

Plz if i am using one cup of starter for one gallon of sweat tea without any scoby, how long to get a scoby on top?

I ordered a boys online and added them to the tea. To start my scoby hotel. Everything went well for 26 days and it made a new scoby as well. I took a scoby to start a kombucha batch in a new vessel. 4 days later I had blue mold in the kombucha And my scoby hotel ☹️ I’m at a loss as to what caused it, but now that you mentioned bread, it might have been that because my husband put bread on the counter

Watch this! It is a great video!!!

Can you keep & reuse the scoby if you have mould on top?

I've been brewing my own kombucha my scoby is slowly getting there, I did notice two tiny spots of mold on the top but it still smells fantastic. I got the mold spots out; I will also point out that my house is really weird in how the air and moisture are so I'm pretty sure that is what has been playing the biggest role. Any helpful suggestions would be nice, thanks.

Hey thanks for the information. It's been a week that I've brewed my kombucha. There were some green and white spots in my kombucha and the new scoby is not formed. What should I do?

🙏💜

Mine got mold but it smelled good, so im throwing half and see if it still works because i have no more to ferment 😢

I just threw out my first batch ever.. First try went wrong Hopefully with your tips I'll get it right on my second try

omg Liz my last 4 brews have had mould. I'm not lying. I am so disappointed, someone said to me that temperature can cause it too, so I moved it thinking my room would be warmer and I noticed the mould last night, I'm guttered. Back to the drawing board.

It has been few weeks i grow mold on my kombucha batch. I don't get why it's happen. I sterilized all my equipments, the glass jar and use the enough amount of starter, still not sure that my suger amount is enough but it drives me crazy. Last 3 batches went to the sink because of mold. It was summer and the weather was warm yet humidity (im living in the Netherlands).Please Helpppp me.

But i wonder if the kombucha that has mold it's safe to drink?

I have black molds on the top and scoby is not formed as a thick layer. What should i do?

What do you do if you started your kombucha & it was too cold then you moved it to warmer, dry area and it’s 75 degrees but it still only has the original Scoby? It’s been 7 days already. Is the Scoby still viable to start a fresh batch or does it need to be tossed? Thank you, your video was very informative. I don’t have mold.

I have been brewing for over 20 yrs & now I have mold !!!!!! 5 batches of trying everything …

I have this dark black... spot but the kambucha ..at the bottom ..is it mold or not...

I see the word fuzzy and I hear it from you, is that meaning "hairy"? I have three containers with kombucha brewing atm, and all got from a few to lots of white spots that when I inspect it closely with a flashlight looks like they are "hairy" and I suspect it could be mold. I'm not gonna throw it just yet, because I'm just not sure if it is normal. //Regards from Sweden

Do you really need the starter tea? I didn’t know anything about Kombucha except that I tried, and I enjoyed it, and that I’m looking for ways to get a healthy gut biome. to make a long story short, an acquaintance passed a Scoby on to me and gave me her recipe; tea, water, sugar and the Scoby. I made it a week ago and it seems okay. But I never used any starter tea. After watching RU-vid videos from kombucha makers, it seems I may have something dangerous brewing now. One week in and it’s not moldy and smells nice. should I take the Scoby out, throw out the kombucha I’ve brewed and start over with some kombucha starter tea ordered online instead? thanks

Heyy. I am here trying my first batch and I haven't gotten mold yet, but I am preparing emotionally for it. Should I toss it together with the scoby or just the tea?

hi, iam new in kombucha, i try to make one but cannot fine the raw kombucha as my starter, so i use the mix greens kombucha and my tea is hibiscus, its been a week now and i see green like a mold on top of my tea, is it normal from my combination?

If your kombucha isn't moldy, but doesn't really grow either, is it safe?

My scoby got maggots :(

I've had it mold twice in about 5 years. The Buch smelled OK, but it was definitely mold. I tossed it for sure because mold has spores. I put my kombucha in a corner of my dining room and cover my container with a dish towel to keep it dark.

Please ... How do I get a Scooby election by a suitable medium for her .. Meaning: How do I create Scooby from nothing

Hi, Yes I have mould!!!🤦‍♂️😠