We are asked by people on a daily basis, what to do with a kombucha mushroom culture that may not be working as great as it did when the culture starter was new. The common problems are no fizz, culture not reproducing, or off smells. This is one of the main reasons for keeping a back-up of your culture. You will want to have a replacement on hand if something happens to your main brewing Kombucha culture or also known as a ‘mother’. If a replacement is needed, keeping a backup also allows a new batch to get going without having to find or wait for a replacement culture to be shipped.

Through Neglect, a Kombucha Mushroom Culture can Become Unusable Under These Conditions:

– Leaving the tea for a long time with adding fresh tea/sugar solution.

– Contamination with mold.  These happens when the pH is not acidic enough.  Note: Mold will always grow on top of the tea culture.

– Contamination via insects, gnats, or fruit flies Can happen if jar is not covered and secured properly

– Replacement needed due to miss-handling Jar drops, handling with unclean hands or utensils, broken jar/glass.

  By keeping a back-up on hand or several containers brewing at once the need to pay for or search for a replacement will not be needed.  With each brewing cycle, the kombucha mushroom will reproduce itself so there will be plenty of fresh back-ups to keep.  You may keep a replacement culture in some fresh tea solution stored covered in the refrigerator or again keep several jars going at once.

Other sources say that the kombucha culture can be frozen or dried in a dehydrator and still stay active.

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