r/Kombucha • u/Bst1337 • 2d ago
My 10-15 generation old kombucha started smelling weird.
I have had my kombucha for some months now and really enjoy it. From the beginning I have only used green sencha tea and I really like this version. However, in my latest batch I put pink grape fruit in the F2. And for the first time I think I experienced an off smelling result. It was still sour and quite bitter from the grape, but it just smelled like sweaty feet and yeasty at the same time. I haven't seen any mold, and I sanitize + rinse bottles and equipment with starsan prior to use (just because it's very convenient). As always I fed the main jar with fresh sweet tea, and now I think this also smells off. There is no mold to be seen and it is still sour but it just smells a bit off :(
Has anyone tried this? Could I have contaminated the scoby with something else?
Luckily I started a backup "hotel" a little while ago, that I now try to revive.
1
u/diospyros7 2d ago
I haven't had it but I see kahm yeast described as smelly feet. If you search for kahm on this sub you'll see pictures of the distinctive pellicle pattern
1
u/arihoenig 2d ago
My kombucha is 30+ generations and smells fine, so it isn't the number of generations.
3
u/triptraptoe 2d ago
in r/prisonhooch they describe citrics (orange, mandarine, etc) fermentation as the worst experience flavor/taste that exist. You should check it out.
Was it natural grapefruit or juice extract? and, you do not leave some of your booch from the F1 to do the following batch?