Continuous Kombucha brewing

6 reasons I love continuous kombucha brewing

What is continuous kombucha brewing?
Continuous kombucha, as the name suggests, is kombucha that is brewing continually. You never have to restart the brew once you have bottled your kombucha, but rather, you just draw off part of the brew (generally between 10-20% of it) and then replenish that amount. When you are only making single batches, you restart the process after every bottling of your kombucha, whereas with continuous kombucha, you never have to.
Here are some of the benefits.
Continuous kombucha tastes more like professional brewed
While kombucha is very simple to make at home, many don’t realize that professional kombucha brewers control the variables (like temperature) much more then we home brewers generally do. This is why homemade kombucha can be a little inconsistent. However, with my continuous kombucha, my kombucha is much more consistent. It is significantly more effervescent, properly sour (at a low ph), and tasty.
Continuous kombucha is safer
You have to wait until the kombucha reaches the proper low ph levels of 2.5 to 3.0 to make sure that any adverse bacteria in your kombucha brew is killed. With continuous kombucha, you are keeping your brew at a low ph the whole time, only slightly raising it when you add your 10-20%. This makes it safer.

You are much less likely to have  mold issues.
Mold most often happens during the beginning stages of the kombucha process when the ph levels are still high. It is always discouraging to have this happen. You arer unlikely to have mold issues with the continuous method once you have gotten it properly started.
It is easier to maintain
Using the method outlined in the Weston A Price Journal, I have found it much easier to maintain my kombucha. In these instructions, you brew a large amount of concentrated tea and sugar solution. With this in the refrigerator, you simply have to add a bit of it with some water each time you replenish your kombucha. I have really enjoyed the simplicity of it.
 It could have more health benefits
According to the Happy Herbalist, “Only Continuous Brewing of the kombucha allows the formation of the vast array of the many nutrients and  acids that are constantly being produced  and broken down throughout the active ferment time.  Kombucha Researcher Mike Roussin indicated that at 80^o F and 7 days the ferment has the greatest variety of health benefits. (vitamins, oxylic acid, etc) However, he also noted that the longer the ferment was allowed to proceed the more beneficial acids will have a chance to form. Some of these acids don’t even appear until 14-21 days in the typical process.  These acids are largely responsible for the detoxifying nature of Kombucha Tea and are  the catalysts we seek in kombucha mushroom tea. Glucose content maximizes around the 8th or 9th day. This implies that gluconic acid production could not peak until after that point. Gluconic acid is the biggest single contributor to the detox effect. Where the typical Single Stage Method, in the hands of a brew master, may be able to develop a high level of a single nutrient or two, the Continuous Brew will always produce the widest  range of all the nutrients possible.”
It brews quickly
In warm weather (or if you are using some sort of heating pad), after you have feed your brew, it can be ready in 24 hours! No long waits required anymore! With our still cold house, it takes 2-3 days, sometimes. But that is still fast!
How to get started:

• You will need a kombucha mushroom. Sometimes a local friend may have an extra to get you started. I have been happy with the ones I have gotten from my affiliate, Cultures for Health, as well.

• Instructions for the method I used are found here.

• Happy Herbalist has a huge amount of information on how to make kombucha, how to make sure you are using best practices, and problem solving as well.

• You will also need a container (lead-free!) to brew with a plastic spigot. I bought one from Infused Vodka off of ebay (they sell their seconds there). They were glad to exchange the metal spigot for a plastic one for me.

Now that I have finally found a brewing method I like, I am seeing more kombucha in my near future. Like Kombucha Jello and kombucha centered beverages for the summer!