@kobuta I tried quite a few flavors over the last week. I did try the health aid lemon ginger and personally loved it. You are right about it being strong. What a ginger kick! Your tongue literally starts getting all tingly. Definitely the strongest brew I’ve tried so far.
So tomorrow I will try a sip of my kombucha. It will be one week tomorrow. Wish me luck 
Ps, on the contrary to the ginger lemon, this is a very delicate brew with some unique flavors. I enjoyed this one a few minutes ago…
Wow, can’t wait to see your result!
Maybe someone can answer this. The scoby sank to the bottom maybe 2 days after I started. It is still on the bottom. The bottom of the scoby looks like it is growing but the top shows nothing. It appears kind of “shaggy” but it is hard to see. Does the growth only happen on one side?
So I took a few pics now. Does it appear there is some growth? It’s a dark spot so I needed a flashlight. I tried to get some different flashlight angles
That looks like a fish mouth against the glass. 
The mother is not pretty…
Ok so I just tried it after a weeks fermentation. It definitely smells very funky and there are some bubbles on top. The taste is far too sweet and not "vinegary " (is that a word) enough. It will need several more days minimum. I could definitely taste the black tea. After secondary fermentation that should be minimal I think. This is definitely fun stuff.
Big mama doesn’t appear to be growing much. That has me worried but the smell, bubbles and taste seem to be heading in the right direction.
And yes, it does remind me of a catfish mouth
This is a good resource for troubleshooting, etc.
https://www.wildfermentationforum.com/viewforum.php?f=8&sid=21e2270cd85d079fecc377af5853e930
Thanks
I think all is good but I thought at this point I’d see more growth on the scoby. I guess it takes time.
Ok fermenters, I finally decided on my flavors and bought ingredients. I am doing straight pomegranate and then a lemon ginger brew.
As mentioned, I have two 64 ounce growlers.
I got about a 3.5" piece of ginger, kind of skinny. Any ideas on lemon juice, sugar and ginger ratios? (Ginger was 3.99 a pound and it was 60 cents)
My goal is something not too sweet, heavy ginger profile and medium lemon…if that makes sense. Obviously tastes vary. I got a whole bag of lemons.
Do I have to peel the ginger or just slice it?
For the pomegranate I got the POM stuff and it is incredibly sweet as @Ttrockwood mentioned. I am thinking either .75 cup or half cup.
Do you have a juicer? If not then yes, peel the ginger and use a microplane for all of it, then i would do four good juicy lemons worth with it for the ginger lemon brew. If the pom is sweet you might want to add some lemon to that batch too, just like two worth of juice.
The ginger lemon brew add maybe two teaspoons sugar to help it keep fermenting. If the pomegranate juice lists decent sugar content on the nutrition label- like more than 15-20 grams for how much you use then won’t need to add sugar to that batch.
The original tastes nice and funky? Scoby looks like it’s bigger and floating?
I wouldn’t worry about peeling it. But grating will open more surface area thus creating stronger flavor imo.
Thanks. I think 4 lemons it is, but I’ll see how much juice I get per lemon. Sugar will be 2 tablespoons so a teaspoon per 16oz serving.
Holy sugar batman! Pom is 32g for 4oz!!! I think a half cup will do for 64oz
Grating is a good idea Cat. I can just strain it out. I think half that piece will suffice grated. I don’t want to ruin my first batch.
As for the funk, it smells funky. Taste isn’t there yet. I need a few more days. It is too sweet and not tangy enough.
If it is too strong in flavor you could (when drinking) cut it with seltzer or plain.
I would microplane all of the ginger, the flavor fades a bit during the second ferment so yeah initially it would blow your head off but a week later it will have mellowed a good bit.
And whoahza, yeah no need to add sugar to the Pom batch! Ha!
Definitely want it to be not sweet before bottling, so a few more days is a good idea. And be sure to take notes somewhere how long you fermented and what you use for the flavoring and all that, will come in handy down the road!
(off topic but we will need a dog photo at some point from your trip!)
Ok so what a difference a day and a half makes. The stuff is now very funky smelling, bubbles up top and some floating “stuff” you can see below. My yield didnt come out to two full growlers but I spilled a little too. I got one whole growler of lemon ginger. Recipe: 4 lemons, half that piece of ginger and 3 table spoons of sugar. These lemons are weird tasting so I went with a little extra sugar. I hope the lemons don’t botch this up. I did 2 16oz bottles of pomegranate and then one 16oz of fresh blueberry (literally blue berries in the bottle with ginger, along with about a half teaspoon of sugar.) I had some jelly fish looking stuff in there and just left it as I made a new batch to ferment tonight. I hope that is safe to do.
The strainer, funnel and spigot all came in handy once I got my routine down to bottle.
Check out the top. It smelled very funky. I didnt taste it. I don’t feel like dying on a Wednesday night 
So in a few days I hope at least one recipe turns out to be half decent. Thanks again for everyone’s help.
Ok team kombucha, I am starting to get a little bummed. There are no bubbles in my three 16oz bottles. I figured I would see some fizz by now. It’s been 3 nights.
The growler is so dark I cant see into that to tell.
Do you normally see carbonation building?
On a positive note, my second batch, which I made at the same time while bottling my first batch, seems to be in hyper mode. It had bubbles on top the second day and there is this big jellyfish cellulose blob on top. I read that is actually a good sign that it is a healthy environment teeming with life. It looks gross as hell though lol.
So this batch could be a dud. I’m not sure. Any ideas? Let it go longer, taste one, add more sugar?
Fresh pomegranate juice is one of my most favorite-ist things ever to drink! Yeah, it’s a pain to juice, but you should try it with fresh pomegranate juice next time. There are a few ways to minimize the labor intensiveness of juicing pomegranates online.
Have you tried to taste it yet? The blueberry lemon ginger sounds good…
I tried the pomegranate one. It didn’t carbonate. My theory is that you need raw sugar and I only put juice/fruit in it. I think my first fermentation brew may not have been strong enough or I didnt have enough sugar for each bottle to eat during 2nd fermentation. The good news is the one bottle I tried, had a very nice flavor. It was sweet as I added raw sugar to it but I cut it with some seltzer to give it a little carbonation…still not the same but it toned down the sweetness and gave it a little zip.
So overall 2nd fermentation was a failure but I’m ok with the flavor of my first test bottle.
So in summation I think I have to narrow it down
A) add raw sugar to the 2nd fermentation bottles.
B) Have stronger 1st fermentation batch which I’m well on my way to doing (the batch I made Wednesday is already really funky and it had bubbles and things growing on day two. ) batch 1 took about 6 days to start smelling funky and showing bubbles up top.
C) bring 2nd fermentation bottles upstairs where it is warmer. I keep my house cool so this might have played a role. The first big ferment was a big spigot jar kept upstairs where it is several degrees hotter.
So with a more potent 1st fermentation brew, a warmer room, and raw sugar added to 2nd fermentation bottles, I am hoping to have a successful batch next time by next weekend.
Question for you guys…I have this big jellyfish looking cellulose creature floating on top and growing in my first fermentation canister. Does that turn into a scoby eventually or just junk it?
Ok so my second batch is ready to be bottled and undergo 2nd fermentation today. It is smelling funky and this was on top that I scooped out. Is that a new scoby? If so, should I start a second batch or add that back to the original to let it grow stronger/bigger? See below.
Ps, the best flavor was the lemon ginger. I’m drinking a glass right now with some black berry seltzer. Good stuff. I cant wait until I can get this right with the carbonation. With two gallons fermenting continuously, I should have a nice supply at all times
I have quite a bit of fruit laying around. I might do a pineapple peach ginger brew. I also have strawberries, black, blue and raspberries…and a bag of meyer lemons. Oh and the bottle of pomegranate juice. Any ideas? I could always run to the store but I should really use some of this fruit up.
