Old kombucha scoby
I have some kombucha scoby that I haven’t been taking care of and has been doing it’s own thing for almost a year. It seems to still be alive. Is it still safe to use and will it still make kombucha?
Best Answer
I've been in the same situation (and am again... I'm a terrible scoby parent).
It's dormant and likely quite weak and/or imbalanced, but as long as it's not moldy or severely discolored, you should be able to bring it back. That said, you probably want to give it a boost. I usually buy a bottle of plain kombucha (GT's for me) and use that as starter tea instead of the ancient tea vinegar you have.
In my experience the well-controlled and cultivated commercial kombucha is pretty vigorous stuff, and a new, healthier scoby usually grows with the first batch. If any of your senses say yuck though, just let it go. These days you can get a new scoby fairly easily.
As always with kombucha, taste and smell are your best guides. A pH test kit is also your friend, with pH between 2.5-3.5 being ideal.
Pictures about "Old kombucha scoby"
Can a scoby get too old?
When to replace your SCOBY. You should replace your kombucha SCOBY if you ever find traces of mold on it, or if it begins to turn black. But when treated with love and kept in the right environment, your SCOBY should last for years to come!What can I do with old kombucha scobies?
What to do with all your extra scobiesHow old can a scoby be?
Storing Your Kombucha Scoby in the Fridge The scoby then goes dormant and can be stored for up to 6 months. However, we have seen scobys forgotten in a corner of the fridge for more than a year that have come back to life without any problems.What does an old scoby look like?
What Color Should a SCOBY be? A healthy SCOBY is always white or light tan, or some shade in between. A darker brown SCOBY might just mean that the SCOBY is older, and probably won't work to brew kombucha. A SCOBY can have streaks of brown or black on it \u2013 this is just leftover remnants of tea from the last brew.What a one year old, unrefrigerated kombucha scoby looks like.
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Images: Karolina Grabowska, Andrea Piacquadio, Tim Samuel, ANTONI SHKRABA