What's a good
SCOBY?
Every SCOBY looks different and that's the beauty of it!
Read below to see how to identify a good scoby from a bad one at each stage of your fermentation!
Stages of fermentation
Look, smell, taste!
Fermentation is a natural process for microbial growth, where yeast and bacteria break down food components (eg. sugar) into our favourite fermented products like beer, yogurt, kimchi, sourdough, and kombucha!
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Good scoby gives you good kombucha! In your home brew journey, let's uncover how your scoby should look like at each stage of the fermentation.
Day 1 - 3
Merging of your new scoby
01.
NEW SCOBY FORMATION
A thin membrane starts forming around your original scoby. Soon, your new scoby covers the whole surface area of your jar.
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03.
BUBBLES
As fermentation begins, slight bubbling can be seen below the scoby.
02.
FLOATER OR SINKER?
Some scobies float to the top, stay suspended, or sink to the bottom. These are all fine!
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04.
IS THAT MOULD?
Don't mistake bubbles for mould! These are just small bubbles forming below your scoby as fermentation produces carbon dioxide.
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Day 3 - 5
More bubbling and more yeast particles
01.
MORE BUBBLING
More bubbles will start forming under the scoby!
04.
YEAST STRINGS
You might also observe these long strands of yeast strings hanging under your scoby or suspended in your brew. This is a good sign of fermentation! It's safe for consumption, but some brewers filter them before consumption.
02.
GRIDS & PATCHES
It's normal to observe patches on the surface of your scoby as it is combining together to thicken. It might also appear dry as it is not in contact with your sweet tea.
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Look closely, those "white areas" on the right are actually air bubbles underneath.
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05.
SLIMY TEXTURE
As your mother scoby takes shape, you will see that it merges with your original scoby, and large bubbles start appearing.
03.
YEAST PARTICLES
This is also perfectly normal as yeast particles settles at the bottom of your jar.
Day 6 onwards
The formation of your Mother Scoby
01.
AIR BUBBLES BELOW YOUR SCOBY
Good fermentation produces carbon dioxide. These air bubbles congregate together and gets trapped below your scoby.
04.
CLOUDY
The surface might be cloudy, lumpy and uneven, but it's just doing its job.
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Some dark brown spots may form, which are just yeast strands embedded into your scoby.
If you're uncertain, give it a sniff to see if there's anything off. You can wait a few days to see how it develops, or just snap us a picture for advice!
02.
WHITE-ISH FILM
As your scoby becomes matured, you might notice a white slimy layer and different sized bubbles. There are all signs that your scoby is working hard!
05.
THICK MOTHER SCOBY
As it all comes together, you get a thick mother scoby which protects your kombucha.
As you brew new batches, new layers of scobies will form below which you can use for more brews!
03.
IT'S BREATHING
As your mother scoby develops, air bubbles are trapped below which might push your scoby upwards.
Use a clean utensil to gentle allow air to escape, and prevent it from touching your cotton cloth cover.
Looking out for mould!
Scobies all look different, but here are universal warning signs!
01.
WEIRD COLOURED SPOTS
Blue, black, green or red spots are not a good sign. This might be because your brew is not acid enough, or the environment is too cold. Just like mould in other food items (eg. bread), mould on your scoby looks and smell the same.
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A healthy scoby is usually white, cream or brown in colour, anything else might be suspicious.
03.
GROWS ON THE SURFACE
Mould only grows on the surface of your brew.
Anything below your scoby, it's most likely yeast strands.
02.
FUZZY SPOTS
White fuzzy dry mould is quite distinguishable. If you see any fuzzy spots developing, discard the contents and sterilise your equipment before trying again.
04.
SMELL
If your kombucha smells off, or has a stinky foul smell, it's better to play it safe. Scoby growth comes in all forms. It's quite rare for mould to occur - but as a guideline, these factors are your most dependable signs.
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It might be difficult to differentiate at times, just wait for a few days to see how it develops as bubbles & yeast strands can be misleading.
