Growing a SCOBY

My current SCOBY and brewing system

    A SCOBY is a Symbiotic Culture Of Bacteria and Yeast. Sounds kind gross, but I promise you that its products are far from it! The bacteria in it are lactic acid bacteria, acetic acid bacteria, and yeast. The yeast grows from fermenting food or drink such as kombucha. I have heard of many uses for a SCOBY such as pureeing it and putting it in cookie dough, dog treats, and even sherbet! Some people have also used it for skincare, gardening, art, and clothes! I am definitely a little unsure about a few of those to be honest, but if you think one of those things sound interesting to you, I encourage you to give it a google and let me know how your alternative SCOBY uses work! I think I'll stick to making kombucha. 

    If you know anything about my endeavors with making a sourdough starter it will mean a lot when I say that making a SCOBY is much easier! All you have to do is make sweet tea and let it sit in a warm, dark place with a little airflow. I make my starter sweet tea with four cups of black tea and a half cup of granulated sugar. Once that gets to room temperature, I add a bottle (12 oz) of organic plain kombucha from the store or from a friend and then cover it with a paper towel held on by a rubber band. 

    After a week of letting that sit there should a slight film on top. That is the start of your SCOBY! To keep it growing I made another batch of sweet tea. I used a measuring cup to scoop up the film and top bit of liquid. I then dumped the rest and poured my fresh sweet tea into my previous container before I added the liquid in the measuring cup on top. Do not worry if your baby SCOBY gets messed up. It just shows that the bacteria you are looking for is present and the film will grow back soon. Make sure your sweet tea is at room temperature before you mix it with your baby SCOBY. 

This was after 2 weeks

    Repeat this about 3-4 more times until your SCOBY is about 1/4 inch thick. This is now what is called your mother SCOBY. Every time you brew a batch of kombucha you can grow a whole new SCOBY that you can either keep with the original or split off. I like to keep mine together until I eventually decide that there is too much. 

Once my baby SCOBY was thick enough, I transferred it to a bigger jar and it grew to fit its new container.

This is the top of my current SCOBY. At one point it got folded over and you can see there are several layers to it but that's all good! It is healthy and thriving!

FAQ about SCOBY

Why isn't my SCOBY floating?

If your SCOBY isn't floating, do not fret! It can still be alive and healthy, just a little lazy. As it ferments, it creates carbon dioxide or carbonation. If your tea is too weak or there is not enough sugar for your SCOBY to feed on it will not create enough carbon dioxide to make it float. It is super normal to be a little droopy at the beginning of a brew or towards the end when it is running out of sugar. It could also sink because it is too cold, or even just because of the density change in the middle of your brew. Do not worry unless it does not come back up after a second brew has started or it has been a few days. 

Is it a mushroom? 

No! A mushroom is a fungus and a SCOBY is a floating lump of bacteria and yeast also known as a pellicle. Although, it does kind look like a mushroom top!

Can it mold?

Yes! Any time something is touching your SCOBY or your starter liquid it should be sterilized. When you are growing a SCOBY, you are trying to foster the growth of bacteria. You just have to be really careful about what kind of bacteria you allow to grow! Some other things that can cause it to mold are weak starter liquid (that bit of liquid that stays with your SCOBY), too cold of an environment, mold spores in your house already, using something other than plain black or green tea for your first ferment, or not cooling off your sweet tea enough before adding your SCOBY. If you ever think your SCOBY looks weird and potentially moldy, do not hesitate to throw it out! Although they take some time, they are really easy to grow so if something does happen you will soon have another!

How do you preserve it? 

The best way to preserve your SCOBY without killing it or actively brewing a batch of kombucha is to put it in a cabinet with some sweet tea to make it happy with a paper towel, or other kind of breathable cloth rubber banded over the top. This will make it last about four weeks before it will need to be fed again. To feed it, all you have to do is make 4 cups of black tea with 1/3 cup of sugar, let it cool to room temperature, and pour it in! I do recommend you do check on your  SCOBY around every week though, just in case more liquid than you expected has evaporated and you need to add more sweet tea. The main things are do not let it get dry and do not refrigerate it! There are bacteria in your SCOBY that actually prevent harmful bacteria and mold from feeding on it, but if it gets too cold or dry, those bacteria take a little nap and have a lot of trouble waking up. This leaves your SCOBY vulnerable to lots of nasty things! However,  some people say that if you seal your SCOBY in an airtight container, it can survive 6 months in the refrigerator and 3 months at room temperature without water or being fed. If you do decide to go this route be very careful to notice any changes in your SCOBY and as always, "when in doubt, throw it out!"

How many times can you use it?

Your mother SCOBY can start to get weak after 3-4 brews, this is why saving the "offspring" or leaving them with the mother after every brew is so important! If you do think your SCOBY is getting a little lazy, split it and remove the mother. To constantly maintain a healthy SCOBY you can also just remove the mother every time and move on to the next "generation" when it is about 1/4-1/2 inch thick. 

Can I brew with a second fermentation SCOBY? 

Yes and no. Usually a SCOBY produced from a second fermentation is too small and weak to brew by itself in the first place. However, you can add it to a SCOBY hotel, which is a big jar filled with a bunch of SCOBYs that aren't being actively used. It is filled with kombucha and sealed tight or covered lightly to allow airflow. If it is sealed it does not need to be fed as often. When you add your second ferment SCOBY to a hotel it can grow and eventually be used to brew its own batch. 

    The main reason I would be hesitant to use a second fermentation SCOBY is usually the second ferment is when you have flavor. The SCOBY that is created in your kombucha when you add that flavor will be contaminated with whatever you flavor it with and unusable in a brew. It is a big no no to use flavor in your main brew because it can cause a ton of issues with the bacteria and potentially cause your SCOBY to mold. Do not put your flavored second ferment SCOBYs in a SCOBY hotel either, it can cause the others in the hotel to also be contaminated and everything would need to get tossed! 

Can I cut it?

    Yes! It is actually really important to trim your SCOBY with scissors or a knife every once in a while to avoid allowing it to get too big and lazy. You can cut it in any way you want and it will grow back! You can even save the cuttings in a SCOBY hotel to use in future brews.

Do you have any more questions? Leave a comment and I will answer the best I can!