Kombucha benefits for poultry

You should make kombucha (чайный гриб or chayniy grib) at home to drink and for your children to drink.  It is good for you, it is very cheap to make, and it is simple to maintain.  You may not know this, but you should also give some kombucha to your chickens.  Kombucha is good for chickens in many ways.  

Strangely, other than feeding chickens the old pellicles, I do not hear many reports of people giving kombucha to their hens.  Given all the health claims surrounding kombucha, and the abundance of studies on animals demonstrating kombucha's positive effects, along with all the other weird and wonderful things people feed to chickens that have any alleged health claims, I am surprised I don't hear of more people who fed kombucha to chickens.  

I tried to learn more about this, I looked at anecdotal evidence, I read studies not directly relating to kombucha that should correspond to the effects of feeding kombucha, and I read peer reviewed papers on feeding kombucha to hens.  After much reading, I also gave my hens some kombucha to see if this would be beneficial for them and save me some money.  

The results weren't overly surprising, all the evidence indicates chickens benefit from consuming kombucha. 

Kombucha fermenting in a jar

Anecdotal evidence 

While anecdotal evidence should not replace peer reviewed studies, it can be useful to hear what works, or does not work, for other people in a back yard situation where things are not necessarily ideal.  I found surprisingly few references to anyone attempting to feed kombucha to hens, but the few references I found were positive.  

I found one web page providing anecdotal evidence claiming that giving kombucha to chickens resulted in cleaner eggs and firmer poo.  They think this may be because the kombucha was helping the birds' digestive systems.  

The claims made on that web page are probably true.  This web page has nothing to gain by promoting kombucha, the claims all seem logical, and it existed prior to AI being a big thing (there are far too many pages of computer generated nonsense written by AI, and far too many people blindly thinking that this is worth reading).  

Some other people give fermented feed to chickens and claim it improves their overall health.  While I am unsure if fermented feed has ever been studied, or if there are any benefits from feeding fermented feed, it is often claimed to be beneficial by backyard chicken owners.  Kombucha, being fermented tea, contains a lot of species of bacteria and yeast, many of which are used in fermenting other things.  Anecdotally we should be able to draw some comparisons between kombucha and fermented feed.  

Some people feed apple cider vinegar to chickens to 'acidify their crop', boost immunity, and build their general health.  Again I am unsure of the results of any studies into these benefits, but there is plenty anecdotal evidence suggesting that this is possibly beneficial.  Kombucha is similar to apple cider vinegar in many ways, and can be used to produce a kind of vinegar.  As apple cider vinegar and kombucha are similar in many ways, any benefits from feeding apple cider vinegar would likely also be seen through feeding kombucha.  

I found a few permaculture sites claiming kombucha to naturally de-worm their hens.  I have serious doubts over this claim, and fear it may be rhetoric by people who are simply wishing really hard.  While I don't believe that feeding kombucha to hens can be used to deworm them, kombucha will enhance their immune system (I explain this below), so it may provide some slight resistance to parasitic worms. 

To add to the anecdotal evidence, I fed some kombucha to my hens.  I added the liquid to their drinking water.  They appeared to have firmer poo for some time.  I also fed them some of the old biofilm, again it appeared to stop them doing sloppy poo for some time.  I have done this multiple times, and each time it goes well. 

Anecdotally, feeding kombucha to laying hens should prove beneficial.

Kombucha liquid and biofilm - both great for laying hens

Studies on poultry not directly on kombucha

While these studies did not address kombucha directly, the results should be applicable to feeding kombucha as it shares similarities to the things that were being studied.  

Many studies state that certain probiotics improve layer hen performance - number of eggs laid, egg quality, and the immune function of laying hens.  The probiotics in the below studies include some of the many species that are present in kombucha, so while they are not directly studying kombucha, there is a high chance the results will be applicable to feeding kombucha to chickens.  

One study demonstrates that feeding probiotics, prebiotics, and organic acids results in increased egg production, increased egg quality, and better feed conversion ratio.  Kombucha contains all of these probiotics, prebiotics, and a range of organic acids.  Some of the organic acids in kombucha are produced early, while others are not produced until around day 21 onwards.  Making kombucha using continuous brew is the simplest method, plus it ensures that a wide array of organic acids will be present in every batch.  

One study demonstrated that feeding probiotics such as Lactobacillus salivarius and Bacillus subtilis increased egg numbers, decreased damaged egg ratio, and improved feed conversion.  This study should correlate to kombucha as the probiotic species in the study are among those present in kombucha.  The study tested blood samples and indicated that these probiotics enhances the immune function of hens.  It was also noted that feeding multiple probiotic strains had a greater effect than feeding single strains.  Kombucha has been demonstrated to contain a wide variety of probiotics, with around 320 different species of bacteria and yeast being present in some samples.  Given that multiple strains provided more benefit than single strains, it is safe to assume that kombucha would perform as well as, if not better than, the few strains that were used in this study. 

There are various probiotics commercially available for poultry, many do not contain living probiotics and would be better referred to as 'parabiotics'.  There are also various organic acid supplements commercially available for poultry.  There have been multiple studies backing up claims that these improve layer efficiency.  Not surprisingly, few home growers use any of these as they are too expensive.  Making kombucha at home is far far cheaper than buying commercially available probiotics or supplements, plus it has real potential to reduce your costs.  

Based on the studies into probiotics and organic acids above, feeding kombucha to hens should prove to be beneficial. 

Papers that do directly study kombucha - this is where it gets interesting

There are a lot of animal studies regarding the health benefits of kombucha.  Strangely I could not find any papers testing egg laying performance in hens.  That being said, there are plenty of studies on feed conversion and growth rates etc in broiler hens and Japanese quail.  All of the studies I read indicate feeding kombucha to hens is beneficial in a variety of ways. 

One study concluded that adding kombucha to chicken's drinking water increased protein digestibility, and exhibits growth promoting effects similar to antibiotics.  I find this study fascinating as similar claims are often made about apple cider vinegar, yet I have not heard of any home grower making these claims about kombucha even though it has been demonstrated in published papers.  

Another study noted giving kombucha to hens resulted in improved feed conversion ratio in broilers, and increased protein digestibility.  They concluded the best growth promoting effect in broilers was with the addition of 6 ml fermented kombucha per 100ml water.  If I fill up the water each day, this would only cost me a few cents, yet it has the ability to reduce feed costs through improving the feed conversion ratio.  Again, I find it odd that a published paper makes this conclusion, yet I rarely hear of anyone feeding kombucha to their backyard hens.  

There do not appear to be any studies on kombucha and its impacts or lack there of on egg laying in hens.  This is odd as there are many studies demonstrating that feeding organic acids and probiotics (both of which are present in kombucha) improve laying performance and egg quality, plus there are studies on the effects of feeding kombucha and the feed conversion rates in broilers.  

Most of the studies I found were about fed conversion ratio and growth rate of broilers, and I found a few studies on growth rate of Japanese quail.  All came to the same conclusions that kombucha resulted in improved growth rates, increased live weight, and increased carcass weight.  All of this is very good, I want my hens to have good weight and good feed conversion as this lowers my feed bill.

I also find it odd that there are proven benefits associated with feeding kombucha to poultry, yet I don't hear of any permaculture institutes encouraging the feeding of kombucha to poultry.  Kombucha is so cheap and simple to make, and these benefits are well worth the effort.

All of the studies into feeding kombucha to hens indicate that it is beneficial to them.  

This ferments in my garage, and is fed to hens

How to feed kombucha to backyard hens

Now you know that feeding kombucha to hens is beneficial, the natural question to ask is how do you feed it to them.  There are a few easy and cheap ways you could give kombucha to your hens.  

First, don't buy kombucha, make your own at home.  Buying kombucha would be expensive and pointless, making it at home is simple and only costs a few cents per litre.  

One of the important parts of kombucha is the SCOBY, this is the live Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeasts.  Kombucha pellicle/biofilm contains a lot of live scoby, kombucha liquid also contains a lot of live scoby.  Feeding either works well and both are readily accepted by hens.  

I brew kombucha in my kitchen for people to drink.  I have a few jars brewing at any point in time so I normally have spare culture.  I don't have extra space in the house to brew kombucha for my chickens, so I also keep a few jars of it in the garage that I use for the chickens.  These are the same as the ones inside the house, but the ones in the garage are in large jars without taps and get refilled far less often.  

As kombucha brews, it produces a biofilm or 'pellicle' - this is the jelly fish looking thing that floats on the liquid.  When you continuous brew, each time you refill the kombucha jar it produces another layer of biofilm.  You can remove and cut up the old biofilms, and feed them to hens.  This will provide the hens with live probiotics, various organic acids, small amounts of vitamins, various antioxidants, and other beneficial nutrients.  The hens will gladly eat this if it is cut up, and some hens happily eat it if left as a disk.  

Another way to give kombucha to hens is to include the liquid in their drinking water.  60ml kombucha per liter of water has been concluded as having the greatest benefits, plus it is simple to administer.  Tipping around 180ml of kombucha into a 3L waterer and topping up with water isn't difficult.  Given that this does not need to be very accurate, I measured it the first few times to get an idea of how much they need, and tend to just eyeball the amount now.  Importantly, 180ml of home made kombucha will cost you less than 5 cents.  Even if this results in one more egg being laid each week by your flock, you will have saved money.  

Another, possible simpler, way to give kombucha to hens is to add some liquid to their feed.  If feeding pellets or grains, you can add a slosh of kombucha liquid and mix it in.  This is not uniform, some days you would add more, others less, the greedier hens would eat most while the more timid would get less (or none), but it would still be beneficial to the flock as a whole, and it will end up saving you money.  

I top this up every few weeks and it is thriving long term

Where to get kombucha to feed to hens

Don't buy kombucha from the supermarket, that would be expensive and counter productive when the aim is to reduce your costs.  Get a kombucha starter culture, then you make it at home very cheap.  

Getting a kombucha starter culture is easy.  Some people make their own starter using store bought, while this kind of works the diversity of living cultures tends to be low in store bought and people who do this regularly encounter issues.  You are better off sourcing one that has been grown at home for some time.  Ask around, someone may have some to share with you.  Alternatively, if you can't find any locally, I sell kombucha starter culture through my for sale blog page.  Don't spend much on a kombucha starter culture, they are extremely valuable, but should not be expensive.  

Once you have a starter culture, making kombucha is very simple, it takes next to no time, it never goes wrong if you use the traditional continuous brewing method, and it costs less than 15 cents to brew each litre.  You won't need to spend much to get continuous brew kombucha set up.  The starter culture should not be expensive, a large jar is generally free, and you can ladle out the liquid and remove the old biofilm as wanted.  

Once you have a large jar and a kombucha culture you make continuous brew kombucha, this is the traditional way and is the simplest way.  I wrote a blog post with simple continuous brew kombucha instructions that really can't go wrong.  After that, your feed costs are reduced, and your hens are a little healthier.  

The strainer keeps out bugs and lets in air

Cost per liter чайный гриб 'kombucha'

Home made kombucha (which is often called чайный гриб, pronounced: chaynyy grib) and store bought are two very different things.  The diversity of live cultures, the numbers of culture forming units, as well as the presence of organic acids, can be far higher in home made. 

Store bought can be pasturised (ie the beneficial microbes are dead), or filtered (removing some of the larger microbiota), and more often than not it is unripe and does not contain the full range of beneficial organic acids and other substances that kombucha can produce.  While live microbes are likely beneficial, the organic acids are probably the healthiest part of kombucha.  Store bought often is often higher in sugar, and can have various other additives that I don't want to drink. 

The stuff you get in a can or bottle in the shops if often so under-ripe that it contains few organic acids, and has a low concentration of the few acids it does contain.  The stuff from the shops would probably be better described as 'kombucha flavoured ice tea'.  

While store bought probably isn't bad, comparing the two would be like comparing apple juice with apple flavoured sugary cordial.  While not the greatest analogy, you get the idea.  

Now that I've said not to compare them, I am going to do exactly that.  I am going to compare home made kombucha with store bought kombucha.  I am not comparing flavour, or health benefits, or presence of live cultures, or number of colony forming units, or presence of organic acids, or any other nutrient, I will be comparing the price of home made kombucha with the price of store bought kombucha.  

Kombucha looks like a jellyfish in a jar

My kids and I go through a lot of kombucha over summer, sometimes less and sometimes more over winter.  I could not afford to buy kombucha flavoured drinks from the store, but can I can easily afford to make kombucha at home.  Making kombucha at home is cheap, really cheap.  

I make continuous brew kombucha.  This is the easiest and safest method.  I don't add any flavouring or do a second ferment because I like the taste of raw kombucha.  Making kombucha is simple and it never goes wrong if you do it the traditional way.  If you can boil water, you can make чайный гриб the traditional way.  

Traditional continuous brew чайный гриб

Price of store bought kombucha

The price of store bought kombucha is strangely a difficult thing to find.  Most shops sell a weird and wonderful array of drinks with amazing sounding flavourings that may or may not taste like kombucha, and may only have a small percentage of kombucha in the final product.  Some are high in sugar, others have non-sugar sweeteners added, some pasturise it and then add one species of probiotic of so they can claim it is a probiotic drink.  I assume store bought kombucha are similar to the wonderful array of ice tea that is sold in supermarkets.  They are expensive, and some sound utterly delicious, but I have never tried them.  

I looked around and the price of supermarket kombucha varies wildly.  I considered trying to find raw kombucha and comparing those prices, but raw unflavoured kombucha is difficult to find and seems to often cost more than the flavoured kinds.  I think the most sensible way to compare prices is if I found a few places that sell kombucha, and then listed their cheapest variety (whether it was flavoured or not).  I decided to use the cheapest unit price as this is most easily comparable even when they have different size bottles or cans.  

The cheapest I could find in Coles was $6.35 per litre.  The cheapest I could find in Woolworths was $8.80 per litre.  The cheapest I could find in Harris Farm Market is $15.12 per liter.  If we average out the two lowest ones (and ignore the higher one), this gives a rough idea of the price per litre of about $7.57 per litre.  

It is noteworthy that there were plenty of places selling kombucha flavoured drinks for a lot higher prices than these.  Some of the micro breweries charged prices so high that they make me consider quitting my day job and becoming a full time kombucha maker.  But I digress.  

Kombucha biofilm looks unappetising

Price of home made kombucha

I make continuous brew kombucha.  For me it costs under $0.15 per litre.

Given the price at the supermarket is around 50 times more expensive, the cost of making it at home seems so low that it seems hard to believe.  I will break down the cost below so you can see I am not making this sound cheaper than it really is.  If anything I am rounding up.

I make continuous brew kombucha,  I have this in a glass jar with a line that I drew on the jar.  We drink чайный гриб, once the liquid drops to the line on the side of my jar I add 2 litres of cool sweetened tea.  It is very simple, the time and effort needed per batch is negligible. 

Let's add these costs up so you can see the the total comes in slightly under 15 cents per litre. 

I use 1/2 cup white sugar (about 110 grams) which costs ~14 cents to make 2 litres of kombucha, or just over 7 cents per litre.

Tea bags costs about 2 cents per bag, I use 2 or 3 teabags to make 2 litres of kombucha, or about 3 cents per litre.

Cost of electricity to boil kettle 5-6 cents for a 2 litre kettle, or about 3 cents per litre.

Total: Around 26 cents per 2 litre batch of sweet tea, or around 13 cents per litre of kombucha.  

чайный гриб is very cheap to make at home

There are some one off costs that are not factored in above.  You likely already own a kettle and a measuring cup so I won't go into the price of buying new ones.  Perhaps you want to buy a jar with a tap? 

You don't need thermometers, you don't need heaters or a warm spot in your house, you don't need special sterilisation equipment, you don't need pH test kits.  I never use any of these things, and I never had a batch that failed.  Remember, countless generations of people brewed kombucha in Siberia without issue and they certainly didn't have comfortably warm houses, or (until the 1950s or 1960s) electricity, or use anything fancy.  

I found an 8L jar with tap at Target or Kmart $24.  Perhaps you prefer the 8.7L glass jar about $40 from Bunnings or a set of 2 for about $30 each.  You could probably find something cheaper online, or you may be lucky enough to buy one from a garage sale.  

Traditionally, no one had a jar with a tap so babushkas would ladle kombucha out of the jar and give it to members of the household to drink.  Perhaps you already have a large jar that lacks a tap, and can just buy a ladle to get the liquid out, in which case this would be even cheaper.  

Another one off cost is the kombucha scoby/culture.  Some people use supermarket kombucha to begin their scoby, this often results in weak scoby with low diversity of microorganisms and needs to be carefully looked after to prevent mould and contaminate issues.  

Perhaps you can find someone who will give you a scoby, or maybe you need to buy one online.  If you need to buy some, it should not be expensive.  Plenty of places online sell them for around $20, even though this is a once off cost, don't pay more than that.  

My little monster in a jar

As mentioned above, I normally make чайный гриб in a large jar that has a tap.  I also make small jar batches as back up cultures in case my large jar breaks or gets knocked over or something.  I sometimes sell kombucha scoby (which is living in the pellicle with some starter tea) through my for sale page.  The scoby I sell is from these smaller batches, it has one (or more) biofilm that is about 10cm across and about a cup of starter liquid.  This is more than enough to make 2 litres of kombucha.  Once you have the scoby/culture you can keep it going indefinitely.  

If you like kombucha, it is well worth making some at home.  Making kombucha at home takes next to no time or effort, and is so easy it is difficult for anything to go wrong.  Given how cheap it is to make at home, even if you need to buy a scoby and a jar it only takes a few liters until you are well and truly ahead financially, plus you have control over the ingredients that are added.  

Milk kefir from grains vs sachets comparison

Years ago I had milk kefir grains.  We made kefir most days, and we did this for years.  Other than the cost of the milk, it was very cheap.  

Making milk kefir from grains is very simple.  You put some kefir grains in milk, leave for a day or so, then strain the grains out and drink the liquid.  It doesn't get a lot simpler than that.  

I'm no expert when it comes to kefir, but I don't need to be.  For some reason, people try to make kefir making more expensive, and to appear more complicated, than it needs to be.  For centuries kefir was made by nomadic people, they put milk kefir grains in a goat skin or horse skin bag and added some milk.  Later they drank some of the liquid and added more milk.  Nothing was precise, and this went so well that it was kept up for generations.  

Milk kefir is demonstrated to have a lot of health benefits, so it is worth drinking if you like the taste.  I have heard a lot about kefir starter satchels, I have also seen bottled kefir for sale in supermarkets, so I did some research to compare them with kefir made from grains and thought I would share what I found. 

Milk kefir grains

I read about store bought kefir not being 'real' kefir, so I did a little research.  Supermarket kefir is a poor version that pales in comparison to the real thing, but is far more uniform than real kefir.  It is made by adding a small number of isolated cultures to milk.  This results in a drink that is very uniform and consistent.  

Real kefir made from grains contains a lot more probiotic cultures, both in terms of overall numbers as well as diversity of different cultures.  My kefir is never uniform, it is slightly different day to day, and it changes with the season.  

Store bought kefir is meant to be slightly healthier than store bought yogurt.  I found the image below on a website.  The claims they are making look good, but are rather unimpressive when compared to milk kefir made using grains.  I will explain this further down the page.

Store bought kefir vs yogurt image from https://lifewaykefir.com/kefir-vs-yogurt/

Kefir from the supermarket is expensive, and is an ongoing cost.  You buy it, drink it, and buy some more.  Kefir from grains still has an ongoing cost, but it is much lower.  You buy grains, then the ongoing cost is buying milk to make more kefir.  

Based on the anecdotal evidence above, if you want something that is the same every time then store bought is best.  If you are consuming kefir for health benefits, or if cost is an issue, then making it from milk kefir grains is the far better option.  

Milk kefir

I have also seen satchels of 'kefir starter' for sale.  These are very expensive, and I have heard they are inferior to kefir made from grains.  I was curious about them so I did a little research to compare them to grains. 

Starter sachets, contain very few species of beneficial bacteria and yeasts.  I found one product that claims to only have 5 strains and even the 'good' brands claim to only contain 7.  While this is better than most yogurts which usually have only 1 or 2 strains (some can have up to half a dozen), part of the reason people drink kefir is because it contains a lot of different probiotic cultures.  

Home made kefir using grains contains far more biota in terms of diversity of the species of microorganisms present.  While this number varies considerably, kefir has been recorded as having 41 species of bacteria and 37 yeasts (a total of 78 different species of microorganisms).  This is more than ten times the amount of species found in good starter sachets and more than six times as many as bottled kefir from the supermarket.  

Based on the above, if you want a lot of diversity in your probiotics, kefir grains is the better option.  

Milk kefir

Diversity is important, another thing to consider is the number of colony forming units.  This number is how many live microorganisms (of any kind) are in the end product.  This number is important because many will die on their way through your digestive tract.  The number of colony forming units in sachet made kefir or store bought kefir is often claimed to be a mere 1 billion to 2.5 billion colony forming units per cup.  This small number has been demonstrated to be far lower in real life than is claimed on packages.  For simplicity, let's assume that this exaggerated number is correct.  

Depending on which paper you read (including this paper and another paper), kefir made from grains is said to contain between 100 billion colony forming units per cup up to several trillion colony forming units per cup.  Even the lowest estimate is vastly more than the amount as sachet made or store bought kefir.  

Based on the above it seems if you want a lot of probiotics in your diet, using kefir grains is the better option.  

Kefir grains

Diversity of probiotics is important, as is the number of live colony forming units, another important consideration is cost.  

The supermarket sells a pack of 5 x sachets (which, after you also buy milk, is said to make up to 25L) for $53 plus the cost of milk.  Another brand which has 2 x sachets and claims to only contain 6 strains sells for a whopping $28 plus the cost of milk.  If you like the taste of satchel kefir, you need to keep buying satchels at this high price forever.  I have heard of people using sachet produced 'kefir' to inoculate milk in the hope of keeping this going long term, apparently it stops working after a few tries.

Milk kefir grains, on the other hand, can be used indefinitely to make as many batches of kefir as you want for the rest of your life.  The grains multiply over time, so you can make more kefir, or give some grains away, or eat some grains, or feed them to chickens, or bury them in the garden.  After the once off cost of grains, you buy milk, maybe a kitchen strainer every ten years, and there is no other cost.  

Financially, kefir grains are far cheaper than starter satchels or supermarket kefir both in the short term and far far cheaper in the medium and long term.  

I don't know how to photograph kefir

Taste is a personal thing.  My kefir can be rather yeasty at times, which I love, or hardly yeast at all at other times.  Satchel and store bought tend not to include yeasts so will not have much of that yeasty taste.  

My kefir tends to get a bit sour at times, perhaps more than I like.  A little honey fixes that.  I assume store bought or satchel would be far less sour as consumers prefer sweeter products.  

If you are drinking kefir because of its taste, I can't tell you which is better.  You need to try a bunch of types and make some from grains and go with the one you prefer.  

Milk Kefir and Water Kefir

If you like to drink milk kefir, it is absolutely worth making your own and seeing if you like that. Milk kefir made from grains is far healthier and far cheaper than store bought or made from satchels.  If you dislike the taste of kefir made with grains, or if you dislike that it is slightly different each batch, then stop making it and go back to buying it from the store.

I make milk kefir, and often have extra grains that I can post throughout Australia.  If you are interested, my contact details can be found on my for sale page. 

Simple Kombucha continuous brew recipe

Very simple Kombucha (чайный гриб) continuous brew recipe 

I wrote an earlier blog post on kombucha SCOBY and described what a scoby is compared to the pellicle and starter liquid.  That post started to get a little long so I decided to stop there and write a separate post on the kombucha recipe we use.  

There are plenty of kombucha recipes on the internet.  They pretty much all work because it is actually hard to go wrong brewing kombucha when you use both pellicle and starter liquid.  Making kombucha at home is simple and cheap.  

I am not suggesting that the way I brew kombucha is the best way to do it, or even a good way to do it, I am only saying it is simple and it never goes wrong.  This blog post is partly a way for me to record this in case I ever forget how to do this in the future. 

Continuous brew чайный гриб

I tend to do continuous brew rather than messing around with batches and bottling and using fridge space.  Continuous brew works for me, and it never goes wrong.  I don't even see how it could go wrong.  Plus it takes very little time and effort. 

Some people prefer batch brewing.  I hear about these going wrong from time to time.  I can't offer any advice on batch brewing or adding flavouring to kombucha, because I don't do any of that.  

Continuous brew and batch brew are both good methods, which one to use is more about personal preference than anything else.  The scoby likely doesn't care if you do continuous brew or batch brew, you could try both and see what you prefer.  

Kombucha ready to drink

Kombucha looks like beer or apple cider

I have a large glass jar with a tap.  This jar contains one or more pellicles and plenty of finished kombucha/starter liquid.  

I drew two lines on the jar, one at 4 liters, the other at 6 liters.  I fill it up to the 6L line, we drink it as wanted and I refill it once it drops to the 4L line.  

It is simple, and a little inconsistent, but can never fail unless there is some mechanical failure such as the jar gets smashed or the tap falls out.  

I don't put the lid on the jar as the scoby needs some air.  Instead I tend to keep a cloth on top of the jar, this keeps out insects and dust.  I used to hold the cloth on with a rubber band, but stopped bothering with that a few years ago and the cloth just sitting on top does the trick.  

Continuous brew чайный гриб recipe

Once we drink enough that the liquid drops to the 4L line I fill it with sweet tea that has cooled.  Never use hot tea as this will kill (or at least damage) the scoby. 

1. I have about 4L of kombucha liquid in my jar.
2. I boil 2L of water, add 1/2 cup white sugar, and 2 or 3 tea bags.  I mostly use regular black tea bags, but sometimes also include a bag of green tea.  
3. I let this steep for about 5 to 15 minutes, then remove the tea bags.  
4. I let this cool to room temperature.  
5. Once cooled I pour this sweet tea in my jar that already has kombucha mentioned in step 1.  It is ready to drink in a few days (or immediately if you prefer it sweeter).  

Let me stress that I always allow it to cool before adding it to my jar, never add this when still hot or it will kill the scoby.  

Some people use more sugar while others use less sugar, some people use more tea bags others use less tea bags.  Sometimes I use some black tea and include some green tea, other times I only use black tea.  I use tea bags so I don't have to strain out any leaves, using loose leaf tea would also be fine as long as you can strain out the leaves.  

If I go away for a while I just fill up the jar and it is fine when I return.  I don't have a lid on my jar so there is no risk of building too much pressure.  The contents of the jar are too acidic for most pathogens to survive, so there is no danger there.  A pantry moth or something could get in and I would have to deal with that, but that wouldn't ruin my culture and would be simple enough to deal with.

Continuous brew kombucha simply works.  You can't really go wrong as long as you let the tea cool before adding to the jar and the scoby is strong.  It doesn;t matter if your house is too cold, the continuous brew will never fail.  

Continuous brew kombucha, I keep a cloth on top 

My jar already has a pellicle, and 4L or so of starter, so it brews quickly and is ready to drink in next to no time.  I hear of other people having to wait two weeks before their brew is ready, they tend to use significantly less starter liquid than I do (or they made their starter using store bought kombucha).  I hear of other people having issues with mold when the temperature is too low, again they use far less starter liquid than I do and they usually do not also include the biofilm. 

Sometimes when we are drinking a lot of kombucha this drops a bit below the 4L line before I have a chance to refill it, that doesn't really matter.  Other times I refill before it reaches the line, again this doesn't really matter.  Over summer it brews a lot faster, over winter it brews far slower.  This is not a precise science, and it never goes wrong.  

Most recipes suggest adding a pellicle and 10% starter liquid to 90% tea, this works but is a lot slower than how I do it.  I use about 66% starter liquid and about 33% sweet tea, and it brews very fast.  We tend to drink some kombucha most days, so want to fill my jar and have it ready to drink as soon as possible.  Sometimes my kids drink it as soon as I filled it, I prefer to wait a few days as I like the sharper taste.

It usually has more bubbles

While my method may not be the best way to brew kombucha, the fact that I can keep a continuous brew going like this for a few years is testament to the fact that this method is working.  Perhaps there are better methods, but this works for me, and it is so simple and cheap. 

If you have a kombucha recipe that is different, and it works for you, please keep using it.  If you try one recipe and don't love it, then change it and try something different.  There are many websites out there with 'tricks' and kombucha 'hacks', but you don't need them as they generally overcomplicate things and introduce a lot of ways to fail.  One of the best parts of kombucha is nothing is precise, and you really can't fail.  

If you are new to brewing kombucha, it is difficult for anything to go wrong if you brew using both pellicle and starter liquid.  Some people discard the pellicle from every batch, which kind of works for them, but when first learning how to do this it is best to use the traditional method by including the pellicle as well as the starter liquid.  

чайный гриб has been brewed by people at home since at least the 1800s, it is simple, and it is inexpensive.  I have never used a heat mat, I don't have a thermometer, I don't measure the pH, nothing is overly precise, and nothing ever goes wrong.  At worst I leave it too long before drinking and it tastes a little too sour for my liking.  

If you want to try brewing kombucha at home, you could try using unflavoured kombucha from the shops.  This will likely have a significantly lower number of strains and you can't be certain it has not been pasturised (killing many of the bacteria and yeasts) prior to sale.  You are better off finding someone who brews kombucha and buying a scoby (not just a pellicle) from them.  If you can't find any locally, and you are located in Australia, my contact details can be found on my for sale page.  

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Edit to add: above I mention having the two lines on my jar.  I would make 2L sweetened tea and once it has cooled I would add it when the liquid in my kombucha jar dropped to the 4L line.  

Over summer we drank a lot of kombucha.  The jar is large, so I started adding 2L of sweetened tea once the liquid dropped to the 6L line.  

This means I have 8L total in the jar: 6L starter and 2L of new sweet tea.  This works even better, and now the brewing time is shorter.  

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Edit to also add: I also had someone ask why I add 2L of sweetened tea each time.  The answer is simple: my kettle holds 2L of water.  No need to make things harder than they need to be. 

While washing the dishes after dinner I boil the kettle, put sugar and tea bags in a jug, and tip in the kettle of boiled water.  I then wash up the dishes while the tea steeps.  I remove the tea bags when I finish washing the dishes, and then go do something else (ie allow the tea to cool).  Before I go to bed I tip the cooled tea into my kombucha jar.  

Making kombucha is simple, there is no need to even pretend it is difficult.  

Kombucha (чайный гриб) SCOBY

For a few years we made чайный гриб (pronounced as chai-knee grib).  This translates to tea mushroom.  The beverage itself is sometimes known as grib which means “mushroom” or "fungus".  I have read on the internet that it is also affectionately called gribok “little mushroom”, but have never heard anyone use this term.  Most people in Australia call this drink kombucha.  

Kombucha is sweet tea that has been fermented using SCOBY.  If you make kombucha at home it is cheap and surprisingly simple to do.  Many people flavour it with various things, while some of these are nice I prefer to drink it as is without flavouring.  

SCOBY is an acronym for Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast.  Various studies have been done to count the number of species present in the scoby, while these numbers range dramatically depending on the scoby tested (and keeping in mind that each scoby will gain and/or lose species as time passes), kombucha often contains around 200 species with 20 bacteria and 16 yeast being the most dominant.  

Other studies such as this one that was conducted over three years https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8871122/ have recorded kombucha containing 320 different species.  This study clearly demonstrates that the number of species, and abundance of each type, fluctuates significantly over time, and that the number of species/abundance of species is different in the liquid than it is in the pellicle/biofilm. 

People often like to think that symbiosis means all the organisms working together in balanced harmony to benefit each other.  The truth is far less romantic.  Symbiosis only means different organisms living together for a period of time, symbiosis does not have to be mutually beneficial, or even beneficial at all.  

In kombucha, all the organisms are competing for survival, some of them benefit from this arrangement, others less so, some even entrap and almost 'farm' others.  These organisms competing for survival make the environment too harsh for non-beneficial organisms, while adding health benefits to the drink.  It is a fascinating subject that is poorly researched, and no two scobys are exactly the same.  

kombucha jellyfish

For some inexplicable reason there is a growing number of people who like to argue (looking at you Reddit) over what exactly is the 'SCOBY' in kombucha.  It seems like semantics to me.  They will also aggressively demand that scoby is written all in capitals because it is an acronym, they are correct on this point, but I find it harder to read when all in capitals so tend to use lower case. 

Kombucha biofilm/pellicle

When making kombucha at home it often has a biofilm which is also known as a pellicle or a mother.  The biofilm/pellicle is a flat thing that looks a bit like a pancake, or a jellyfish, (or a placenta).  Some people refer to the pellicle as the scoby, while others aggressively attack them for using this term as it is not strictly accurate.  

The pellicle is largely made of cellulose that is built by bacteria.  The scoby lives in and on and under the pellicle, you could not separate them if you tried.  The pellicle helps to protect the scoby, and helps the scoby survive if conditions are not ideal.  Kombucha pellicles have been tested in the international space station to see how it protects against radiation etc - it is a fascinating subject.  We don't fully understand how the pellicle works, or exactly what it does, but we know it has a role for the microorganisms interacting with each other and it has a role for protecting the microorganisms.  While the pellicle is not the scoby, I don't see much harm in calling the pellicle the scoby, to me it seems like semantics.  

While not ideal, it is possible to brew kombucha by simply adding a pellicle to sweetened tea.  

This is possible, and I have done it, but things could go wrong.  The main problem is the liquid will generally not be acidic enough to prevent undesirable microorganisms from growing in the liquid.  Another issue with using the pellicle only is in the early stages most of the scoby are in/on the pellicle rather than mixed through the liquid.  If starting kombucha with only using the pellicle, by the time enough of the scoby are thoroughly mixed through the liquid, and the pH is low enough, there may also be other microorganisms that have started to grow.  

For this reason you should always include at least some starter tea when brewing kombucha.  Most people add about 10% starter to 90% sweet tea, but I include a lot more starter.  You could only use the pellicle and add something acidic to lower the pH, but it is easier and better to just include some starter tea.  

Kombucha looks like a monster in a jar

Kombucha starter tea

Some people refer to the kombucha liquid that you drink as the SCOBY.  Again, this is not technically true.  

The liquid is tea and waste products after it has been partly digested by bacteria and yeast (it sounds gross, but it is good for you).  The scoby lives in this liquid, and feeds off this liquid, and it would be very difficult to separate them if you tried.  While the liquid is also not the scoby, I don't see any harm in people referring to the liquid as the scoby, again it seems like semantics.  

It is possible to brew kombucha by simply adding some starter liquid to sweet tea.  I am told the finished kombucha brew tastes different than when the pellicle is also added.  There is a higher chance of losing some species of microorganisms from your scoby when only using starter tea and not including any biofilm.  

Fermenting kombucha using only the liquid and no pellicle works well enough because this liquid is often too acidic for many harmful microorganisms to thrive, the scoby are mixed through the liquid, and the scoby can multiply quickly and make the environment too harsh for other microorganisms to get a foothold.  

Interestingly, the only times I have heard of kombucha going wrong was when people batch brew and/or are using only starter tea.  Perhaps the pH is slightly too high, or there are not enough scoby living in the liquid and they struggled with cold temperatures, which allows mold to develop.  

kombucha jellyfish in a jar

For those who disagree with me that the pellicle/biofilm can be used effectively as an inoculum to brew kombucha, I thought I would include a link to a paper on this topic and quote some relevant parts.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8371556/#:~:text=Kombucha%20pellicles%20are%20often%20used,part%20of%20the%20kombucha%20consortia.

The below talks about what the pellicle is, the different layers, and the role of entrapped yeasts: 

The kombucha biofilm presents similarities to cellulosic pellicles grown by pure acetic acid bacteria (AAB) in sugared black tea but differs by the presence of yeast, which are involved from the early steps of biofilm formation. Based on observations, the formation model consists in an initial trapping and aggregation of yeasts (possibly in pseudo-mycelium form) in bacterial cellulose. With accumulation of cellulose and cells, a consistent layered pellicle is formed and, from then on, grows in thickness. The top layer at the interface with air is made of parallel cellulose fibrils and hosts yeasts and bacteria, while the bottom surface at the interface with liquid is made of cellulose network colonized by bacteria and where biomass accumulates. Finally, a middle layer located under the top cellulosic layer is filled with biomass and viable bacterial cells that are suspected to be the active agents of pellicle growth. This region is thought to play a nutritional function for bacteria by taking advantage of entrapped yeast metabolism and autolysis, thus revealing an aspect of the microbial interactions in kombucha. This study indicates that the yeast–AAB interactions in kombucha act on the structure and building of the pellicle, which could, in turn, enhance other types of interactions, including the metabolic interplay necessary for optimal kombucha production.

Some people brew kombucha without ever using a pellicle, and throw away every pellicle they see.  While this seems to work well enough for them, they are reducing the metabolic interplay in their kombucha even if they don't know it.  They are also slowly reducing the number of different species of microorganisms that are present.  

Brewing kombucha using both starter tea as well as the pellicle is the traditional way that stood the test of time because it is very simple, and it has been demonstrated to produce a healthy result.  Using both pellicle and starter tea is the traditional way to make kombucha, it helps maintain the highest diversity of microorganisms, and it is really hard for anything undesirable to start growing.  I am yet to hear of anyone having issues when using both starter tea and pellicle to brew kombucha. 

For someone who is just starting out brewing kombucha, it is easiest and safest to use both pellicle and starter tea.  

The pellicle and the starter liquid both contain live SCOBY, and including both when brewing kombucha is simple and gives a beginner no real way to fail.  Including both the pellicle and the starter tea ensures you will have the maximum diversity of microorganisms, it will have the maximum number of beneficial microbes, and it gives the best chance that they will be interacting in ways you want them to.  The linked paper above demonstrates that in some years some species were present in biofilm that were not present in the liquid, other years they were present in the liquid but not the biofilm, other years they were present in both but at vastly different concentrations.  

Once you have done a few kombucha brews and have a feel for how things should progress, as well as what looks normal, feel free to discard the pellicle and only brew using the liquid (which is simple), or to only use the pellicle (but only if you are very confident you know what you are doing).  When you are still learning, or if you are planning on sharing your kombucha scoby with others, I strongly suggest using both the liquid and the pellicle.  

If you are new to kombucha, and are buying scoby to get started, don't just buy a pellicle.  Make sure you get pellicle and some of the starter liquid.  While you can begin a kombucha brew with either just the biofilm, or just some starter liquid, it is better and easier to use both. 

Kombucha

Kombucha continuous brew 

There are plenty of kombucha recipes on the internet.  They all work because it is hard to go wrong brewing kombucha when you use both pellicle and starter liquid.  

I tend to do continuous brew rather than messing around with batches and bottling and using fridge space.  Continuous brew is the traditional method of brewing kombucha, it worked for generations of people, it works for me, it never goes wrong, it's cheap, and it takes very little time and effort.  

Other people prefer batch brewing.  This usually works for them, and they are often happy with the result.

They are both good methods, they both work, it is mostly personal preference.  

Continuous brew чайный гриб

You can see in the photo above I have a large jar that has a tap.  It is simple, and can never fail unless the jar gets smashed or the tap falls out.  

I don't put the lid on the jar as the scoby needs some air.  I tend to keep a cloth on top of the jar, this keeps out insects and dust.  I used to hold the cloth on with a rubber band, but stopped bothering with that a few years ago and it still does the trick.  

You can see there are a bunch of pellicles in my jar.  Once or twice a year I remove most to free up jar space for more liquid.  Leaving the extras causes no problems, it helps things brew a little faster, and it ensures the diversity of microorganisms isn't slowly being reduced. 

This blog post is getting a little long.  Rather than make this post even longer, I wrote another blog post with the kombucha recipe I use. 

Milk Kefir Bottle Strainer

Years ago I got some milk kefir grains, and we made milk kefir regularly.  

Milk kefir is kind of like a thin drinking yogurt, it has been around virtually forever, and is very good for health.  Kefir contains vastly more probiotics than yogurt, it is simpler to make than yogurt, and once you have it you can keep it going for ever as long as you have access to milk.  

Back when I was first making kefir there was very little information on kefir on the internet.  From memory there was a web page by Dom Anfiteatro (which seems to no longer exist) and basically no other internet sites mentioned kefir at all.  Things have changed a lot since then. 

At that stage lots of people made kefir at home, but no one really spoke about it.  There was no kefir (or kefir flavoured milk) available at supermarkets back then, and it seemed like no one had thought of selling those dreadful starter satchels.  

Kefir bottle strainer

I drank our milk kefir most days, and it was good.  We then moved house and bought the kefir grains with us.  Back then we had access to raw milk from a dairy, so making kefir was very cheap.  

Years later we moved house again, once again we brought the kefir grains with us.  As we no longer have access to a local dairy, milk kefir started to cost a lot more as store bought milk is expensive.  

I used to use a kitchen strainer to separate the grains from the milk.  When the kefir was thicker than normal or had a lot of curds I found it difficult to strain through the fine mesh.  I started to find that cleanup was bothersome and my strainer was starting to fall apart from old age. 

The cost of milk, combined with the hassle of clean up, plus being busy in general, meant I eventually let my kefir grains die.  I regret that, it was a mistake.  Don't ever let your kefir grains die.

Our kefir from years ago: Milk Kefir on left, Water Kefir on right

I missed kefir, so not too long ago I decided to get milk kefir grains again.  Milk kefir is very simple to make, you can't really do it wrong.  

To help with clean up, I got a cheap can strainer.  I figured this would be fast to use and simple to clean.  

Kefir can strainer

I won't be making a lot of kefir to begin with.  Perhaps a few cups or so for now.  This amount fit easily in a small jar.  

This strainer is made of silicon (or silicone, I can never remember how to spell this), and fits neatly on the end of a jar.  The holes are large enough that I thought it should strain thicker kefir much faster than the fine mesh strainers.  The holes also seemed small enough that I thought they should be able to retain most of the larger kefir grains.  

The bottle strainer was very cheap, and the jar was free.  Making kefir is simple, I don't know why people try to make it more difficult than it needs to be.  Kefir was made by generations of nomads using bags made of goat skin or horse skin, there is not need for much expense or high tech equipment when making kefir.  

Milk kefir doing its thing

I found a solid lid to keep out dust and insects

The other day I saw a kefir kit for sale at the supermarket.  This kit sells for $35 (plus postage if you cannot pick up in store).  This seemed overly expensive for what it is.  

That price only includes a jar, a strainer, some instructions, and a weird wooden spoon.  Even at this high price it does not come with any kefir grains.  My can strainer on the end of a jar should work much the same as the pre made expensive kit.  

Massively overpriced kefir making kit (not my photo)

This lid is prettier than mine (not my photo)

To get an idea if my strainer would work I looked at reviews for the kit online, but none seemed to be written by anyone who had used them for any length of time.  Some reviews speak of how their kefir tasted, or how the instructions were simple to follow, but few mentioned how well the kit worked.  How strange.

The jar I use was free, the strainer cost under two dollars including postage, I already own various spoons, and (while I don't need instructions) anyone who sells grains sends instructions or instructions can be found online for free.  My set up is similar to the kit, but cost me a tiny fraction of the price.  

I figured I would give this can strainer a try and see how it works.  Now that I have used this for a while I figured I would write a blog post explaining how it worked for me.   

Bottle strainer should be good for milk kefir

After using the strainer for a few days it was obvious that it doesn't work well enough.  It is a great idea in theory, but doesn't work well in practice.  I pushed on and kept using this to see if it got easier with time, and it didn't.  It looks like it should work a treat, and I really wanted it to work, but it isn't the best tool for the job.  

Over summer my kefir seems to get thick curds within a few hours of adding the grains to the milk.  I could probably have more milk to less grains to make it thinner, but I don't want to do that.  Much more importantly, the kefir grains also clogged up the holes and prevented any liquid from flowing through. 

The liquid would not go through the can strainer without being stirred constantly.  I tried first mixing the curds and grains through the liquid and then immediately tipping the kefir through the strainer, but it still didn't work well.  The grains almost immediately block all the holes, and the kefir would not go through the jar strainer without being stirred constantly.  What a hassle! 

Stirring got the grains off the holes and it made the liquid go through the can strainer easily while I was stirring, and it stopped going through when I stopped.  Stirring kefir while it was in the can strainer is more difficult than just using a kitchen strainer.  It worked, but was not overly practical.  Eventually I got frustrated and looked for something else to use. 

I found it a lot faster and easier to tip the kefir through a tea strainer that we already have.  The mesh is very fine, but I can stir it with my finger or a spoon, which is enough to make the kefir go through quickly.  I sit this tea strainer in a coffee mug which catches the kefir.  The fine mesh means it captures all but the tiniest of grains, retaining tiny grains has meant my grains have divided and increased faster.  

I don't love using metal with kefir, but stainless steel is meant to be ok.  The grains are only in the strainer for under a minute each day, and most of them are not in contact with the metal at any point, so they seem to be coping well and multiplying fast.  

tea strainer with very fine mesh

can strainer vs tea strainer

Cleaning the tea strainer after using it for kefir is simple and fast.  After tipping the kefir through I scoop the grains out, and then run the strainer under the tap for a few seconds.  That seems to be enough to clean it well.  This only takes a few seconds.  

I plan use the tea strainer for now, but my grains quickly multiplied to the point where they no longer fit in it and the jar I am using does not hold enough milk.  I find kefir grains multiply well in the warmer months, and not so well when it is cooler.  

Soon I will use a larger jar, and spend a few dollars and get a plastic kitchen strainer with fine mesh like I used to use.  We don't have one of these at the moment, but they shouldn't be too expensive.  

This is the type of strainer I previously used (not my photo)

I already have some very large jars that used to hold pickles or olives or something, so this won't cost me anything.  Instead of tipping the kefir into a mug I will use a bowl or something that we already have.  Other than a few dollars for the strainer, and buying milk, it won't cost anything to make kefir.  

Making milk kefir at home is very simple, and there is no need for it to cost a lot of money other than a once off purchase of grains, and buying the milk.  

Milk kefir bottle strainer - may work for water kefir

As mentioned, the can strainer seems like a good idea but is not well suited to straining milk kefir.  I also don't think the expensive milk kefir kits would work any better for milk kefir.  Or maybe they do work, but only if you use satchel starter instead of grains, in which case I don't know what you would be straining.  To be honest, I don't understand why you would bother making kefir using stater when grains are so much cheaper and vastly superior to satchel stater, but that is a topic for another time.  

This strainer looks like it might work well when making water kefir.  Water kefir is different to milk kefir, there are no curds or thick liquid to deal with, it is just the grains and the liquid.  Or perhaps the water kefir grains will clog the holes and it won't work, I don't know yet.  I plan to try using this can strainer with water kefir for some time and write another post on how it performs for me.