Not sure if this “Pellicile” is healthy

[brewdon]

sup guys, I am a novice to home brewing kombucha, and this is my first “pellicile” growth I’ve had.

I started my first starter liquid batch about a month ago using Brew Dr. raw/unpasteurized kombucha, using about the whole bottle in 4 cups of sweet black tea. I never really grew a whole pellicile in the 3 weeks I had it going, only stringy yeast it appeared to be. Smell was very on point to apple cider vinegar, which is what I hear it’s supposed to be like, so never thought anything was wrong.

I’ve used that starter liquid to start a batch of sweet black tea that as well did not have a whole pellicile grow in the 4 days I let it brew (liked my tea how it was on the sweeter side) and just had a very thin layer of clear growth with a ton of stringy yeast. After F2, it came out amazingly. I had instantly started my next batch while putting this one into F2.

7 days later after starting batch 2, here is what I am left with growing on top. Being a novice, I am not sure if what I have going on here is healthy, or obviously Kahm Yeast growing, would love any input. Thanks!

Ps. I also attached 2 photos of how the pellicile is now looking in my starter liquid jar. (The smaller jar) And IMO although not looking white, it’s looking a lot better than before and hopefully heading in the right direction. Please share your thoughts, much appreciated. Cheers!

 

[hottpeper13]

They look good to me. You want the pH to fall quickly to form that pelical so temperature is important. I ferment mine at 78* , no higher then 86*. I found that over 78* it gets more tart and finishes quicker. 2 1/2 gallons at 78* I start tasting at 14 days, and bottle for F2 no later then 21 days.

 

[brewdon]

They look good to me. You want the pH to fall quickly to form that pelical so temperature is important. I ferment mine at 78* , no higher then 86*. I found that over 78* it gets more tart and finishes quicker. 2 1/2 gallons at 78* I start tasting at 14 days, and bottle for F2 no later then 21 days.

Thanks! My fermentation closet ranges from 74 to 78. I’m going to buy a ph monitor to get a gauge on how fast the ph drops, but so far have been going off taste.

Damn 21 days sounds like it would be way too vinegary for me lol, but I can’t knock it til I try it I guess. I can imagine it would smell just like apple cider vinegar based on when I made my starter liquid, but maybe such a big batch wouldn’t be so bad.

Do you use black tea or green tea?

 

[Yooper]

It could be a number of things from the bacteria/yeast in your SCOBY and the amount of acetic acid bacteria to the fermention temperature.
Too much vinegar sounds like an overabundance of acetic acid bacteria, and you may want to try again with a new SCOBY without that strong abundance of that.

 

[brewdon]

It could be a number of things from the bacteria/yeast in your SCOBY and the amount of acetic acid bacteria to the fermention temperature.
Too much vinegar sounds like an overabundance of acetic acid bacteria, and you may want to try again with a new SCOBY without that strong abundance of that.

Would the high amount of acetic acid be fine in starter liquid?

 

[hottpeper13]

You want the starter to taste the way the end product should. I use 7 grams each of black and green tea per gal. Also another chestnut is don't try to make diet booch by decreasing the amount of sugar in a recipe. The sugar is for the yeast and acids and I use 225 grams per gal. I got my first batches fermented to the taste I wanted(a valve on the fermenter is a must) and the pH hovered between 2.85 and 3.0.