Jo you are a technological genius, not only uploading the video with separate audio but also,managing to edit out where I said “ we shall be looking at various types of commercial KEFIR instead of KOMBUCHA at the beginning ( what an idiot!).
Kefir comparisons can be your next podcast/vlog 😊…if you haven’t already done it! Fascinating conversation. Recovering from cancer treatment so am looking closely at what’s in food and drink. I’m keen to reduce sugar intake and avoid alcohol. I’ll keep going with making my own kombucha because I believe there are health benefits but am wondering about its sugar and alcohol level… how do I test? Did you say hydrometer? Mine rarely gets as fizzy as commercial brews - and now I know why. I feel better about that. Also great to learn about over brewing Caroline. Thank you both.
Hi Laura! Yes the overbrewing thing is the very best way to reduce the sugar - to less than 1% I reckon. Alcohol is much more difficult to test for - needs to be done in a lab really - for the lowest alcohol brew I recommend limiting the sugar you put in to 50g per litre and doing it in continuous culture - this way if there’s maximal air exchange, the vinegar-making bacteria will be able to k/eep converting alcohol made by the yeast into vinegar. We add fizz at home by diluting the over brewed stuff with sparkling water about 1:4 booch to water. How’s it recovering from its fridge stay?
Yes using a hydrometer can tell you sugar content by telling you the specific gravity or density of the kombucha. But to be honest you can also do this using your taste buds. Kombucha starts off quite sweet but moves to tangy as the sugar is consumed by yeast to make alcohol and then turned to vinegar by acetic acid bacteria. Alcohol levels will likely remain low unless you make large batches and bottle them and then keep them in the bottle for a long time so if you make smaller batches that don’t spend a long time in the bottle, the alcohol levels will not be of concern.
Jo you are a technological genius, not only uploading the video with separate audio but also,managing to edit out where I said “ we shall be looking at various types of commercial KEFIR instead of KOMBUCHA at the beginning ( what an idiot!).
Kefir comparisons can be your next podcast/vlog 😊…if you haven’t already done it! Fascinating conversation. Recovering from cancer treatment so am looking closely at what’s in food and drink. I’m keen to reduce sugar intake and avoid alcohol. I’ll keep going with making my own kombucha because I believe there are health benefits but am wondering about its sugar and alcohol level… how do I test? Did you say hydrometer? Mine rarely gets as fizzy as commercial brews - and now I know why. I feel better about that. Also great to learn about over brewing Caroline. Thank you both.
Hi Laura! Yes the overbrewing thing is the very best way to reduce the sugar - to less than 1% I reckon. Alcohol is much more difficult to test for - needs to be done in a lab really - for the lowest alcohol brew I recommend limiting the sugar you put in to 50g per litre and doing it in continuous culture - this way if there’s maximal air exchange, the vinegar-making bacteria will be able to k/eep converting alcohol made by the yeast into vinegar. We add fizz at home by diluting the over brewed stuff with sparkling water about 1:4 booch to water. How’s it recovering from its fridge stay?
Yes using a hydrometer can tell you sugar content by telling you the specific gravity or density of the kombucha. But to be honest you can also do this using your taste buds. Kombucha starts off quite sweet but moves to tangy as the sugar is consumed by yeast to make alcohol and then turned to vinegar by acetic acid bacteria. Alcohol levels will likely remain low unless you make large batches and bottle them and then keep them in the bottle for a long time so if you make smaller batches that don’t spend a long time in the bottle, the alcohol levels will not be of concern.