I did make some batches of kombucha with honey and sugar as the fermentable maybe a year ago. My motivation then was just to make a non-alcoholic soda kind of drink.
The recipes I used then were diffuse and I did not measure the gravity(maybe around 1.040) etc, but the results was decent.
The kombucha-culture eventually got contaminated and started producing some nasty/ill tasting off-flavours and the "fungus" stopped covering the surface so I threw it on the compost ...
Now I gotten hold of a new culture and are motivated to do a few experiments. I have so far followed the "manual" I got with this culture that was : add 2 teaspoons/bags of black tea and 60-100g(2.1-3.5 oz) refined white sugar pr Liter(1.1 quart). From my calculation that would give a gravity of about 1.040 and a potensial of about 5% ABV when using 100g/liter.
I have now(in the last 30 days) made/cultivated ready for usage about 1.2 US gallon of kombucha liquid.
The point :
First: my motivation is to make a good and interesting tasting kombucha wine that containins "substansional" amounts of alcohol(6%+).
I was wondering about what to expect from higher gravity kombucha-mead/wine making.
-What quantities of alcohol and sugar gravities can I expect the culture to produce and tollerate?
-Can I just increase gravity with adding honey and flavors(tea,fruits,etc) to pre-fermented kombucha liquid and let it do a secondary ferment in an sealed carboy and expect it to produce extra alcohol or will it just become sweet because the culture cannot tollerate gravities above 1.080(or whatever limit)?
*If so should I add wine yeast or just mix it with a high alcohol mead and let the mix age?
I would love to hear about your experiences to learn, clear up confusions and to not "reinvent the wheel" with combinatorial testing.
Jens183
The recipes I used then were diffuse and I did not measure the gravity(maybe around 1.040) etc, but the results was decent.
The kombucha-culture eventually got contaminated and started producing some nasty/ill tasting off-flavours and the "fungus" stopped covering the surface so I threw it on the compost ...
Now I gotten hold of a new culture and are motivated to do a few experiments. I have so far followed the "manual" I got with this culture that was : add 2 teaspoons/bags of black tea and 60-100g(2.1-3.5 oz) refined white sugar pr Liter(1.1 quart). From my calculation that would give a gravity of about 1.040 and a potensial of about 5% ABV when using 100g/liter.
I have now(in the last 30 days) made/cultivated ready for usage about 1.2 US gallon of kombucha liquid.
The point :
First: my motivation is to make a good and interesting tasting kombucha wine that containins "substansional" amounts of alcohol(6%+).
I was wondering about what to expect from higher gravity kombucha-mead/wine making.
-What quantities of alcohol and sugar gravities can I expect the culture to produce and tollerate?
-Can I just increase gravity with adding honey and flavors(tea,fruits,etc) to pre-fermented kombucha liquid and let it do a secondary ferment in an sealed carboy and expect it to produce extra alcohol or will it just become sweet because the culture cannot tollerate gravities above 1.080(or whatever limit)?
*If so should I add wine yeast or just mix it with a high alcohol mead and let the mix age?
I would love to hear about your experiences to learn, clear up confusions and to not "reinvent the wheel" with combinatorial testing.
Jens183