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Water kefir grows a scoby?

PostPosted: Mon Apr 16, 2012 2:34 pm
by Rutabagagirl
I am brewing water kefir using organic sugar and molasses. In addition to the grains, sometimes it makes what looks like a small kombucha scoby. Oftentimes it will form a scoby after bottling, much like kombucha does. But there is no kombucha in the house right now, so cross-contamination is a non-issue. Is this normal for water kefir?

Re: Water kefir grows a scoby?

PostPosted: Wed May 09, 2012 2:54 pm
by mitchdb
Sure, could be. Lots of acetobacters are in the air and could form colonies with natural wild yeasts or yeasts from your kefir grains.

Kombucha is much like other vinegar mothers; it floats and contains acetobacters (and other bacteria) and yeast. (side note: claims on the net that no vinegars/MOV contain gluconic acid (or gluconic acid bacterias) are completely false -- there are several peer-reviewed studies documenting the amount of gluconic acid (and gluconacetobacters) in vinegar/mothers; traditional balsamic vinegar (TBV) mothers are particularly rich in them and it is considered a marker of quality TBV).

Some water kefir grains contain acetobactor strains and some don't. See http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22000549 for an analysis of some water kefir colonies.

I tend to remove any stringy growths at the top of my water kefir ferment before refeeding so don't let them get a hold. But if your new mothers look healthy -- feel free to try making straight vinegars or kombucha-style drinks with them.

Re: Water kefir grows a scoby?

PostPosted: Tue May 22, 2012 12:32 pm
by Rutabagagirl
Thanks :) We have kombucha now, but keep it on the opposite end of the shelf from the water kefir so they don't interbreed. I just remove any obvious slime when straining the grains. Currently we have a gallon of water kefir brewing and I let it ferment for four days (we like it sour :) ) Kefir and kombucha are different, but both yummy.

Re: Water kefir grows a scoby?

PostPosted: Sat Feb 01, 2014 6:48 am
by taliacarbis
Hi, this is my first post on this site. :)

This happened to me as well - a mother/SCOBY forming on the top of my WK. I tasted it and it still tastes the same as the last batch of WK I did.

If I leave the SCOBY in it with the grains do you think it will affect the taste? Will it ferment any differently?