Earl Grey Issue

[jmadway]

Longtime beer brewer, new Kombucha brewer.

I brewed up a couple batches of Kombucha using Earl Grey tea before reading that this is a no no and may cause my SCOBY to stop functioning as it should (both batches tasted great, by the way). My next batch will use the same Earl Grey tainted SCOBY, but this time I will use black tea. My question is this: how can I tell if my SCOBY is unhealthy? Will it just stop souring the batch or are there other signs to look for?

 

[Hawgwild]

After a few days check to see if your brew is developing a new scoby on top. If so then no worries..

 

[hunter_le five]

Just try it in the new batch and see what happens. If the resulting tea tastes bad and smells bad or too sweet, you have a problem. If the resulting tea smells and tastes good, then I wouldn't worry about it overmuch. Kombucha is pretty forgiving, ime.

 

[jmadway]

Just try it in the new batch and see what happens. If the resulting tea tastes bad and smells bad or too sweet, you have a problem. If the resulting tea smells and tastes good, then I wouldn't worry about it overmuch. Kombucha is pretty forgiving, ime.

That's the kind of answer I was hoping for. Thanks.

 

[buchachic]

I think the main concern is that the oils in Earl grey might cause mold, possibly it could weaken the scoby but like the previous commenter said, scobys are pretty Hardy, it should be fine in the future. However I know a few brewers that only use Earl grey because they simply prefer the flavor it produces. Good luck

 

[jmadway]

I think the main concern is that the oils in Earl grey might cause mold, possibly it could weaken the scoby but like the previous commenter said, scobys are pretty Hardy, it should be fine in the future. However I know a few brewers that only use Earl grey because they simply prefer the flavor it produces. Good luck

Yes, I prefer the flavor, as well. These folks haven't had issues with their scobys?