The Next Booch Batch
Introduction
The first batch worked I guess. Now is the time to get the rotation going for the continuous brew. This is basically the same as the first brew but with an established mother batch and leftover booch that did not get bottled. This leftover booch is important as it is needed to maintain pH and kickstart fermentation in a timely manner.
Getting Started: Ingredients, Tools, and Method
Primary Fermentation (2 weeks)
Brew Tea
I doubled the recipe from the first batch and switched from bagged tea to loose.
2L boiling water
1/2 c sugar dissolved into water
1/4 c loose English Breakfast tea
5 minute steep and then filtered through coffee filter to remove tea
COOL DOWN to lukewarm so you don’t kill the mother
Brew Booch
Sweet tea + mother + leftover booch + ~2 weeks in vessel.
(Recall I used a glass vessel with muslin covering to let air in but keep bugs out)
Once sour enough* I bottled it up and began secondary fermentation
Secondary fermentation (5 days)
3 x 16 oz bottles (leaves ~16oz behind as starter for next batch)
Fruit and flavors went in the bottom.
Topped up with kombucha to mid-neck of bottle.
Bottle 1
2 peach slices (defrosted) diced
1/2 tsp sugar
2 sprigs thyme
Bottle 2
6 cherries (defrosted) quartered
1/4 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
Bottle 3
2 juiced tangerines
1/2 tsp tangerine rind no pith
Observation Notes and Results
Primary fermentation took two weeks and secondary fermentation took 5 days.
The flavors were good in terms of sourness.
Not enough thyme in Bottle 1 and too much vanilla in Bottle 2
None were that fizzy.
*pH and Kombucha
Since my first batch I’ve read that finished kombucha should have a pH between 2.5 and 3.5. White vinegar is 2.4 which is not fun to drink and above 3.5 doesn’t really have a sour enough edge. Moreover, pH needs to stay below 4.5 to be safe which is a reason for backslopping with starter booch. pH test strips - I have the ones on the left - are a helpful guide and relatively inexpensive. HOWEVER pH isn’t everything.
As the SCOBY consumes sugar it produces acid thus lowering the pH. The sugar content and acid content are therefore SOMEWHAT inverse but it is not perfect. In the beginning of the ferment you will likely have a lowish pH but it’ll still be sweet and the ferment is not “done”. TASTE IT. Do not rely on pH alone.
Moving forward
From here I can amp up the volume of my batches to match the volume of my fermentation vessel.
To remember: I need enough starter booch so the initial pH of the new brew is 4.5 or below. If I start a huge new batch I need to have a larger amount of starter.
The other thing I’ll do is fiddle with secondary fermentation. Flavors and fizziness.
