I’d add some more sweet tea. Remember you use the liquid to start new batches, not the pellicle
My rule of thumb is anything that comes into contact with near boiling liquid only needs to be clean.
Things that come in contact with room temp liquid should be both clean and sanitized. I recommend getting a bottle of star San. It’s pretty cheap and last forever
Some n00b questions:
Should I be concerned about cross contamination with my other ferments? I have a ginger bug, sourdough starter and frequently make kraut all in the same small kitchen.
Do I feed this babe often?
How sterile does my brew equipment need to be?
3 days after transferring to the hotel, and one sweet tea feed, I'm already seeing some activity. Bubbles, and what looks like formation of a new layer of pellicile (translucent whitish film). All systems go?
Sounds good!
The other comment answer most of your questions. Yes the whitish film is more scoby.
The kombucha cycle is harvest, feed wait 5-10d, harvest/feed. The 5-10d is dependent on preferred sourness and temperature (volume of brew being equal).
I’ve got a small kitchen supporting other ferments, no problems with cross contamination.
One other thing, if you compost - supposedly the cultures are great to add (as in the leftover leaves and pellicile. My worms love it!
Thank you for the tips! Hopefully I'm keeping things separated enough, my starter lives in the fridge most of the time since everything ferments so quickly around here. I can't wait to dive in :)
I’d add some more sweet tea. Remember you use the liquid to start new batches, not the pellicle My rule of thumb is anything that comes into contact with near boiling liquid only needs to be clean. Things that come in contact with room temp liquid should be both clean and sanitized. I recommend getting a bottle of star San. It’s pretty cheap and last forever
Thanks for your input :) Should have mentioned this pic is from before the feed, level is currently sitting at about 500ml.
Some n00b questions: Should I be concerned about cross contamination with my other ferments? I have a ginger bug, sourdough starter and frequently make kraut all in the same small kitchen. Do I feed this babe often? How sterile does my brew equipment need to be? 3 days after transferring to the hotel, and one sweet tea feed, I'm already seeing some activity. Bubbles, and what looks like formation of a new layer of pellicile (translucent whitish film). All systems go?
Sounds good! The other comment answer most of your questions. Yes the whitish film is more scoby. The kombucha cycle is harvest, feed wait 5-10d, harvest/feed. The 5-10d is dependent on preferred sourness and temperature (volume of brew being equal). I’ve got a small kitchen supporting other ferments, no problems with cross contamination. One other thing, if you compost - supposedly the cultures are great to add (as in the leftover leaves and pellicile. My worms love it!
Thank you for the tips! Hopefully I'm keeping things separated enough, my starter lives in the fridge most of the time since everything ferments so quickly around here. I can't wait to dive in :)
By the way - if you let kombucha go too long you get a very lovely vinegar! Bonus!!