Kombucha

I'm getting a little obsessed with the kombucha I've been brewing. I've been slowly dividing up the scobies, and brewing more batches so that we have an ever ready supply.  I've gotten up to brewing 5 gallons at a time now -which I know sounds like a lot- but with a roughly 21 day brew cycle, and Oliver, Ethan and I all drinking it, we go through a lot, quickly. Right now we pretty much have a batch ready as soon as we finish one.

The other day, to my horror, I discovered that my heating pad had somehow been turned up to high and these guys were way too hot. They are supposed to be at about 85 degrees, one of mine was 112 degrees. Plus one of my newly brewed batches looked like I had killed the scoby (oh noooooo!) never mind that I was also starting to worry that my little brew lab was becoming a major fire hazard. 

I had been placing them directly onto the heating pad, which is specifically verboten in the safety instructions, so I've switched back to a container with the heating pads on the sides.

All scobies still alive. Looks gross, tastes great!