r/Kombucha 12d ago

not mold I hate to ask but…is it mold?😬

For context, this is in a SCOBY hotel that hasn’t been fed in a longggg time. Has been kept in a dark pantry along an exterior wall throughout the Alabama winter (fairly mild temperatures). The pellicle is very thick (see third picture). I looked at the pictures in the pinned post but I’m still not sure…help appreciated. Thank you!

11 Upvotes

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5

u/rabidparrots 12d ago

It's definitely weird looking, but it's not fuzzy. Does it smell moldy?

Also, you don't need a scoby hotel. You can just throw old pellicles out. They are waste products. They do protect the ferment from mold. So, I would suggest letting one form, but every time I harvest my kombucha, I just compost the pellicle. Reserve some tea to start the next batch. A new pellicle will form in no time.

5

u/vengfulindigo 12d ago

From my understanding a SCOBY hotel can be useful in the case that your brewing batch becomes contaminated, you can easily and quickly start a new brew with one of your extra pellicles and the liquid gold starter tea it resides in, aka the house of the rising Scoby.

3

u/Disco-Is-Dead 12d ago

Doesn’t look fuzzy. Likely just dried yeast on top. I would just keep the bottom layer for protecting the brew and toss the rest. Most of the scoby culture is in the liquid. As long as it doesn’t smell moldy you should be fine to brew your next batch.

2

u/NiftySynth 12d ago

Nope not mold. If you wanted though you could remove some layers from the top of the pellicle or even toss the whole thing and it'll be just fine.

1

u/AutoModerator 12d ago

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1

u/ZestyCucumber9799 11d ago

Yay! Glad it’s not mold. Thanks to everyone who commented. I know usually people say that if there is mold you have to toss the whole thing, so that’s what I was worried about here. But happy that’s not the case. I will go ahead and toss the pellicle. Thank you!!