Layers and Layers of Scobie Growing in Kombucha; Is this Normal? page

[choppedliver]

I've been brewing kombucha with a single scobie for a few months. Recently, I looked and there are layers and layers of scobie growing. This used to be a single scobie about 4 months ago. It has multiplied and now there are 4-6. They're pretty humongous. Is this normal?

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[L8F]

Yes, the scobies will grow in layer form. Lots of people start peeling off the layers as they grow (super clean hands). Some refer to them as the "mother" and babies. You only need some scoby, and can prune it down. The longer you brew, the thicker the pancake layers will get. When I tossed mine recently it was about 8 inches thick cause I had let it get out of hand. It was huge.

[kristiashley]

Yeah, mine is a bit out of hand right now, lol. I need to find the time to cull it a bit. Totally normal.

[iniQuity]

Nuke it just to be safe.

[choppedliver]

Seems that these scobies perhaps grew out of hand because I put too much sugar? Don't they feed on sugar to grow so big?

When I tossed mine recently it was about 8 inches thick cause I had let it get out of hand. It was huge.

[Diana Renata]

Do you divide your scobys every time you make a new batch?

I always divide my mother & baby, so that there's only one in the batch each time.

[Sandra in BC]

Do you divide your scobys every time you make a new batch?

I always divide my mother & baby, so that there's only one in the batch each time.

I usually divide each time, unless it was a short ferment and the new one is too skinny. Since I brew in small batches (2 or 3 quart jars at a time) I have a lot of Scobys in rotation and keep ending up with more. I only recently threw away the original I got 2 months ago. It was an odd size/shape that I had cut into chunks and it was not as pretty as its offspring.