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Continuous Brew - yep, the ones with a tap. £18 is a decent enough price for an 8ltr one - I think that's about what I paid on Amazon for Kilner ones. The idea with the CB jars is that you can bottle as much or as little as you want & just keep topping up with sweet tea. Personally I use mine like the DJs and bottle all of it bar a bit at the bottom every time. I've a much better idea of when it's reached the fermentation level I like that way, and I'm sure that all the sugar has gone... And yep, I've just passed on a pair of premium cross country trainers to my youngest son that sound a bit like your astroturf ones!!

When I first started I was using DJs too and I just made sure my hands were clean and sort of pushed the SCOBY down the jar a bit & decanted through a sieve and into a large jug which I used for pouring the booch into my bottles. I left a little of the brew in the bottom each time & topped up with fresh tea. Once you see if you're going to keep it up you can invest in a CB jar or two which make bottling a lot easier.

Just fill it up as far as the widest part allows.... What you've got right now may not taste great so don't let it put you off - the 2nd ferment gives it a little fizz (& flavour depending on what you add to the bottles), although sometimes it takes a while even for that to build up as the bacteria builds up as the SCOBY matures.

That's it fermenting. The longer you leave it the more acidic it will get. If you're still trying to grow the SCOBY then add more sweet tea. Or you could taste test & bottle what you've got for the 2nd fermentation process (to which you can add fresh fruit, ginger, hibiscus flowers etc) & top up your jar with a fresh batch of sweet tea.

Yay!! Make sure you're adding enough sugar into your tea - I use about 80-85g per ltr of water which I make with x4 tea bags. My 5ltr CB jars have a pretty thick layer of SCOBYs - maybe 3-4inches thick, and they fill the neck of the widest part of the jar... You'll be able to start brewing with the little ones you've got, it's just gonna take a whole lot longer. I never drink my Booch with water.

There is definitely caffeine in it, but the amount of it seems to vary depending on what you read. Lots of sites seem to say that it has 1/3 of the amount of caffeine that regular tea would have, but this is probably more to do with the quantity of tea used to brew your Booch compared to what you'd use for ordinary tea. I usually mix black/white/green teas with other varieties to reduce the caffeine content further.

Not so much misled, but maybe just a little bit behind.... There hasn't really been a full scale war in Ireland since the Fenians Rising in the 19th Century, although there have been various uprisings & the much publicised 'Troubles' The North & South have been two separate countries since 1921 with the North being part of the UK whilst the South is independant. They are separated by a 'soft border', meaning there is no passport control or Police presence. The trains don't stop, and the only indication you've passed from North to South (or vice versa) in a bus/car is the change from miles to kilometres on the road signs. The Good Friday Peace Agreement was signed in the North by the Government & the Paramilitaries back in 1998 bringing an end to 'The Troubles' and there has pretty much been peace since then with the odd dissident trying - but failing - to ruin things for those looking to build a better future. As part of the agreement all paramilitary weapons were handed over or verified as destroyed. As such you'd be much safer travelling anywhere in Ireland than you would be in many parts of the US. So no, nowhere is off limits

You need to let it ferment a little longer to reduce the sweetness. The fizz will come.....

Sorry, only seeing this now that all the recent bugs & glitches appear to have been ironed out. Erm, no.... what makes you think there might be anywhere off limits? And running ragged definitely counts for activity - most of Ireland is best seen on foot

There's very little of it I don't know! And yep, those double servings of black & white pudding will not be wasted on me...!! The more active you are the more protein you need, right...?

My first few batches didn't really have any fizz until after the 2nd ferment, and every so often I'll get a batch even now that's a little on the flat side. If you're using one large SCOBY from Happy Kombucha in a large CB jar then it could take 3wks or so to get past the sweet stage - the more SCOBYs you have the quicker they ferment. I started off with two large SCOBYs - one each in a 2Ltr jar and then as I grew more SCOBYs I moved onto bigger jars. What quantity are you brewing? I can't say my home brewed Booch has ever tasted the same as the commercial stuff - but that's not necessarily a bad thing! It's got a less processed taste, and the fizz is 'smoother'. Apologies for the delayed reply - the site is really acting up lately and I'm not necessarily getting notifications for threads I follow, or seeing new posts....

My first few batches didn't really have any fizz until after the 2nd ferment, and every so often I'll get a batch even now that's a little on the flat side. If you're using one large SCOBY from Happy Kombucha in a large CB jar then it could take 3wks or so to get past the sweet stage - the more SCOBYs you have the quicker they ferment. I started off with two large SCOBYs - one each in a 2Ltr jar and then as I grew more SCOBYs I moved onto bigger jars. What quantity are you brewing? I can't say my home brewed Booch has ever tasted the same as the commercial stuff - but that's not necessarily a bad thing! It's got a less processed taste, and the fizz is 'smoother'. Apologies for the delayed reply - the site is really acting up lately and I'm not necessarily getting notifications for threads I follow, or seeing new posts....

Both Scottish in origin The black and white pudding (not much different to sausage in all honesty - only the black contains blood) you can leave for me though

Such as.....? I'm intrigued....!!

Sorry, yes... wasn't paying much attention to your flavour. They're not that pricey on Happy Kombucha (the large are currently on offer @ £6.50 each), and that will be big enough to brew a few litres in about two weeks - depending on the temperature of your brewing location. Growing your own to that size will take a lot longer then that I'd have thought, or starting to brew with it when it's much smaller will mean waiting a lot longer for the tea to ferment. I guess it depends on how quickly you'd like to have it available on tap...!

Is there any kind of a blob at the bottom of the bottle like you'd get in apple cider vinegar?

Yes. You can mix some of the fruit/herbal teas with black/green/white teas but the SCOBY needs the tannin to survive. Also just make sure none of the teas contain honey as raw honey can kill the SCOBY due it's anti-microbial properties. And you'll also need to look out for teas containing soy lecithin/oils/natural flavouring which may also kill/harm your SCOBY. You can grow your own SCOBY from what's left of your commercial booch - here's how.

What did you use? (Just so any newbies don't make the same mistake...!!)

I'm in the UK (Ireland) and brew with two CB jars of a similar size and and am using a number of my own SCOBYs along with the originals. In summer that quantity takes around 10days to brew IME, and in winter, with the jars wrapped with fleece to keep them warm & the temperature steady it takes at least 14 days. Unless you're using a heat tray (or you're in a little micro-climate, or down south!) I'd doubt your booch would be ready in 3 days. I'd let it brew for at least a week & then start taste testing... Mine will have a good froth/fizz as I'm bottling, and then it'll get really fizzy with the second ferment for which I use mostly fresh ginger or hibiscus flowers. When it comes to bottling and adding more tea it's up to you what to do with the new SCOBYs - you can leave them in and the brewing process should get faster, or take the new ones out (that filmy substance you describe) & start up another brewing jar, or store them in a Hotel for future use.

I'm low FODMAP so don't do garlic, but I do add salt & pepper.

Oh, it's good...... Not for an every day type of thing the way you'd make a pot of chilli to last all week, but every now & then? Perfect.

Your scoby will be fine in a bigger jar, he may just take a little longer to ferment the tea - but he'll soon have company to help him along. Also, other than the starter tea your scoby arrives in you shouldn't need to add anything except more tea - there will be instructions in your starter pack though explaining that. I always wash my bottles in hot water with a little detergent, but am always sure to give them a good rinse afterwards and I've never had a problem. I did some housekeeping with my CB jars last month and did exactly the same and each batch I've brewed since has been fine too.

Where did you get your starter kit from @jenmidge? I got mine from Happy Kombucha but have found for additonal bottles, brewing jars etc that they are cheaper on Amazon (& I've found a few Kilner ones at decent prices in T K Maxx every now & then). I started out with x2 2L jars and x4 bottles but have moved on to x2 5L continuous brew jars and I've about 20 bottles ranging in size from 250ml to 1L - and I find I need them all by the time I bottle, do a second ferment (F2), and then drink... I use the x2 2L jars as Hotels now.

Fellow active brewer here - I've currently got x2 CB jars on the go, plus two hotels, one of which is packed. I'd love some local brewers to pass some SCOBYs on to but there doesn't appear to be a huge market for them here - YET - and in the meantime my youngest son is keeping them as pets I tend to stick with fresh ginger & dried hibiscus flowers for flavour, or I'll use a variety of teas. I didn't feel like I was a bonafide brewer until I had my first bottle explode on me last year!!

@amyearonson - this isn't entirely uncommon, even when on the birth control pill. It's much more common, however, when women go low carb - what have your meals looked like over the last 3-4 days?