Water mineral additions

[notrealdan]

I'm new to brewing kombucha (starting my first batch later this week) but I've been fermenting other things for a long time. For beer, I usually start with reverse osmosis (RO) water and adjust the mineral content upwards with gypsum and calcium chloride, plus lactic acid if necessary for the mash.

The information I've seen about ideal water for kombucha is vague at best. There are some recommendations for using RO or distilled water for kombucha, but also notes that they may be too short on minerals for the health of the SCOBY. I'm thinking I should (starting with RO) add a little gypsum and calcium choride, keeping the levels low and balanced. Seems reasonable, but I'm hoping someone else has some experience to share.

Has anyone done any mineral additions to their kombucha water similar to additions for beer? Have you noticed any differences, positive or negative, in the resulting product or long-term health of your SCOBYs? Should I not worry about it, as long as I have eliminated any chlorine or chloramine from the water?

Cheers!

 

[BrewaDrewa]

Hey,
Nice to hear about the new kombucha batch! Looking forward to hearing more. As far as adding minerals: I've been using different sterilized waters to brew my kombucha just to experiment. It is somewhat noticeable as to what water mineral content is used but as I have not been measuring specific minerals so I don't have specific details. If you follow through I'd be interested in the results. Cheers!

 

[mdime]

I haven't read anything about the SCOBY getting any of it's health requirements from the water. AFAIK, the black tea and sugar provide what is needed. The only warning I've seen regarding water is not to use highly alkaline water or you may kill the SCOBY.

It could be that there are certain mineral ratios/levels that highlight whatever fruit/spice additions that come at bottling, but I think that would depend on personal preference. I've only used filtered water to this point but you've got me thinking of experimenting with the sulfate to chloride ratio a little. I'm making mainly dry hopped kombucha now and it would be interesting to see what effect it has.

 

[Yooper]

I've used RO water and I've used my tap water (which is alkaline but otherwise very good) and not noticed any difference.

Chlorine can inhibit the SCOBY, but if you use chlorine-free water it will make it a non-issue.

 

[Nickis Numelin]

I'm new to brewing kombucha (starting my first batch later this week) but I've been fermenting other things for a long time. For beer, I usually start with reverse osmosis (RO) water and adjust the mineral content upwards with gypsum and calcium chloride, plus lactic acid if necessary for the mash.

The information I've seen about ideal water for kombucha is vague at best. There are some recommendations for using RO or distilled water for kombucha, but also notes that they may be too short on minerals for the health of the SCOBY. I'm thinking I should (starting with RO) add a little gypsum and calcium choride, keeping the levels low and balanced. Seems reasonable, but I'm hoping someone else has some experience to share.

Has anyone done any mineral additions to their kombucha water similar to additions for beer? Have you noticed any differences, positive or negative, in the resulting product or long-term health of your SCOBYs? Should I not worry about it, as long as I have eliminated any chlorine or chloramine from the water?

Cheers!

Hello, did you find any answers? I have experimented a lot....