How to Make Homemade Kombucha Recipe 1 Gallon

Learn how to make 1 gallon homemade kombucha easily at home.

It is really not too hard to master the art of kombucha making.

Just a few ingredients along with a little patience and time to make the perfect kombucha every time. Last week I taught you how to grow a kombucha scoby from a bottle. Once you have a scoby, you can then start making homemade kombucha for very little cost.

How to Make Homemade Kombucha

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Ingredients for 1 gallon kombucha recipe

1 Scoby purchased from here or grow komucha scoby from a bottle
1 Cup sugar
3.5 Quarts of water
5 Organic black tea bags (can use green tea, but not the first batch)
1 Gallon Jar to store kombucha
Glass bottles for storage
2 Cups brewed Kombucha

Directions How to Make Kombucha Recipe 1 Gallon

Making homemade kombucha is really easy if you follow these simple steps. First everything must be sanitized. I cannot stress this enough. When dealing with fermenting anything it is crucial every piece is clean and sanitized. Wash your hands and all equipment used before you begin. I like to run everything through my dishwasher before I make and bottle. My husband and I brew our own beer and make our own wine. So we are very familiar with making sure everything is super clean and sanitized.

Now on to making the lovely kombucha. First measure out 3.5 quarts of water and place in a pot on the stove. Heat the water until boiling. Some people insist on using distilled water. Boiling filtered water from our fridge has worked perfect for me, and I have been making this for nearly a year. So need to add to the cost of making your own brew.

Next turn off the heat and add 1 cup of sugar. Stir the sugar until it is completely dissolved. Then add 5 organic black tea bags. This is the brand I use and for the first fermentation from your homemade scoby you should use black tea for a strong brew. Cover the pot so not much water escapes. After you have brewed the kombucha you can then use a combination of black and green tea. But you should have at least a 3 black tea and 2 green for later brews.

This is one of the most difficult parts, waiting for the tea to cool. It must cool to room temperature before adding the scoby. If not you risk damaging your precious scoby you grew from scratch.  Once it is completely cooled, pour the tea into the clean 1 gallon jar and add 2 cups of your previous brew. Then add the homemade scoby to the top. It is OK if it sinks to the bottom. It will still work its magic.

Store in the 1 gallon glass jar with a cloth covered lid with a rubber band. This allows the kombucha to breathe without getting any additional bacteria or fruit flies in your brew. Store in a dark closet that remains cool through out the day and someplace no one will touch it. It needs to remain still to grow the scoby and create the bubbles. I use my closet under the stairs, since no one ever goes in there.

Allow to brew for at least 7 days. It may take 10-12 depending on the temperature in your home. During the winter months, I allow a little longer brew. Right now 8 days is the perfect time for the flavor and creating the carbonation . With the first batch you may need to let it go a little longer too.

Here you can see all three scobys. The little baby one from the bottle is on the top, then the one from the jar and lastly the large one  is from the gallon jar we just made. So you can grow a scoby from a bottle, to start your homemade kombucha process. The entire process takes a little over three weeks to have a viable scoby and make your first  kombucha recipe 1 gallon batch.

Make Homemade Kombucha 1 gallon

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How to Make Homemade Kombucha Recipe 1 Gallon

This kombucha recipe has easy instructions for kombucha recipe 1 gallon. Learn how grow your own scoby to make 2 cups starter for a gallon recipe.

Course Drinks

Cuisine Drink

Keyword kombucha recipe, kombucha recipe 1 gallon

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 40 minutes

Servings 1 gallon

Author Amy Greene

Ingredients

• 1 Scoby purchased or grow komucha scoby from a bottle
• 1 Cup sugar
• 3.5 Quarts of water
• 5 Organic black tea bags can use green tea, but not the first batch
• 1 Gallon Jar to store kombucha
• Glass bottles for storage
• 2 Cups brewed Kombucha

Instructions

1. Making homemade kombucha is really easy if you follow these steps. First everything must be sanitized. I cannot stress this enough. When dealing with fermenting anything it is crucial every piece is clean and sanitized. Wash your hands and all equipment used before you begin. I like to run everything through my dishwasher before I make and bottle. My husband and I brew our own beer and make our own wine. So we are very familiar with making sure everything is super clean and sanitized.
2. Now on to making the lovely kombucha. First measure out 3.5 quarts of water and place in a pot on the stove. Heat the water until boiling. Some people insist on using distilled water. Boiling filtered water from our fridge has worked perfect for me, and I have been making this for nearly a year. So need to add to the cost of making your own brew.
3. Next turn off the heat and add 1 cup of sugar. Stir the sugar until it is completely dissolved. Then add 5 organic black tea bags. This is the brand I use and for the first fermentation from your homemade scoby you should use black tea for a strong brew. After you have brewed the kombucha you can then use a combination of black and green tea. But you should have at least a 3 black tea and 2 green for later brews.
4. This is one of the most difficult parts, waiting for the tea to cool. It must cool to room temperature before adding the scoby. If not you risk damaging your precious scoby you grew from scratch or possibly purchased. Once it is completely cooled, pour the tea into the clean 1 gallon jar and add 2 cups of your previous brew. Then add the scoby to the top.
5. Store in the 1 gallon glass jar with a cloth covered lid with a rubber band. This allows the kombucha to breathe without getting any additional bacteria or fruit flies in your brew. Store in a dark closet that remains cool through out the day and someplace no one will touch it. It needs to remain still to grow the scoby and create the bubbles. I use my closet under the stairs, since no one ever goes in there.
6. Allow to brew for at least 7 days. It may take 10-12 depending on the temperature in your home. During the winter months, I allow a little longer brew. Right now 8 days is the perfect time for the flavor and creating the carbonation. With the first batch you may need to let it go a little longer too.

Troubleshooting making kombucha

If you ever see green or gray spots, your scoby has developed a mold. Discard it all and start over. You can tell it is mold, since it will not be glossy. The mold is dull and fuzzy. Once you have established several healthy batches we can talk about making a scoby hotel for them to hang out in, in case you have a contaminated batch. Then you will not have to start from scratch.

When working and measuring out ingredients, make sure all your cups and funnels are also sterile. I use a glass measuring cup for measuring the two cups of fermented kombucha to add to the freshly brewed tea. It is recommended to use plastic funnel rather than a metal one. Be sure to check out the final chapter of this series learning bottling and flavoring your homemade kombucha.

I can’t wait to hear your successes with making homemade kombucha.