What is a continuous brew kombucha, and how to make a concentrate for it?
How do I know if a continuous brewing kombucha system is right for me?
Do you find yourself brewing multiple gallons of single brew kombucha at a time to stay on top of your kombucha drinking?
Are you needing the most simple, least complicated way to do things?
Are you looking for quick and easy?
If you answered yes to any of these than a continuous brewing kombucha system is right for you! If you didn't say yes to any of the questions that doesn't mean it isn't right for you, but you may want to check out my previous post about small batch brewing.
I've already written a post that explains everything you need to begin a continuous brew. If you haven't looked at it yet, be sure to check it out so you can begin.
What is a continuous brew kombucha?
Simply put, it's a large vessel full of kombucha that you are filling as needed. It ferments more quickly, so you can generally always drink it instead of waiting a week. It also has more yeast in it which makes it great for doing a second fermentation (F2) because it helps add extra fizz. If you are bottling it for a F2 you will want to stir the kombucha to get the yeast off the bottom and more evenly distributed throughout.
For a continuous brew vessel it should be between 2-5 gallons. Many will have a spigot on it for ease of dispensing. (I have this one because I wanted it on a stand to make it easier to dispense)
Many people will wait until it gets about half empty, and then they will make a batch of sweet tea (just like the single brew method) then add it to the vessel. I need things as easy as possible, so I decided to make a concentrate to easily fill it as needed.
Before you start doing a continuous brew you need to have a batch of kombucha you've already brewed ready. (If you don't know how to do this refer back to this blog post) Preferably enough to fill half of your vessel. Then you can fill it with the kombucha concentrate, but wait until the scoby has grown over the entire top of the vessel before drinking.
How to make a kombucha concentrate?
I like to make one big batch that will last me at least a month. We keep it in a gallon container in the fridge. You can use any gallon container, but I would stay away from gallon pickle jars. If you want to buy a jar this is the one we use.
Ingredients
12 cups of water
3/4 cup black tea leaves (this is my favorite tea for kombucha)
6 cups sugar (I like to use organic cane sugar)
Instructions
Step 1: Bring all 12 cups of water to a boil and then remove from heat.
Step 2: Add the tea leaves and let it steep for 20 minutes
Step 3: While the tea is steeping add all the sugar into your gallon jar. I know it looks like a ton of sugar,but try to remember that we're making a concentrate. So you will only use a small amount of this each time.
Step 4: When the tea is done steeping you will want to strain it into the gallon jar. I find the easiest way to do this is with a reusable coffee filter. It works much better than a paper coffee filter in a funnel.
Step 5: Stir the jar until all the sugar has dissolved. This goes quickly if the tea is still warm.
Step 6: Store the jar in the fridge until it's time to refill your brewing vessel.
How do I use my kombucha concentrate?
It's up to you how to you choose to refill your brewing vessel. You may choose to refill it a quart at a time, or you may wait until it's almost half full. Either way works! When you want to refill the kombucha here's what you need to do:
Step 1: add 3/4 cup concentrate to a quart jar
Step 2: Fill the rest of the quart jar with warm water (this prevents the scoby from getting to cold). Add it to your brewing vessel. Do this as many times as you need until your vessel is full.
If you don't have a quart jar than you would add 3/4 cup of concentrate to your vessel, and then 3 1/4 cup warm water to the vessel.
What maintenance does continuous brewed kombucha require?
Periodically your spigot may get clogged with some yeasty bits (looks like boogers). You will want to clear that out. Usually all I need to do is pull it out.
Once a month I usually need to go in and maintain my scobys. This is because the scobys are getting to big/to strong and it's fermenting too fast. I know it's time to do this when I can see bubbles in the brew, or there's bubbles in my kombucha without a F2 fermentation.
When I need to do this I wait for the vessel to be half full. I'll pour the contents into a clean pot/jar. Then I will remove the spigot so I can clean that really well. Then I'll replace the spigot. Next I will split my scobys. I'll put the scobys I don't want to use into my scoby hotel (talked about at the bottom of this post) and then I'll add the scoby I'm going to use back into the brewing vessel.
I like to strain the brewed kombucha through a fine mesh strainer when I add it back into the brewing vessel. This helps get the big yeasty bits out, so hopefully the spigot doesn't clog.
Then you just need to fill it with concentrate and keep on going!