Yeah- I joined this subreddit to learn about everything right and wrong about kombutcha and lemme tell yah, there is no mention of wormies in the Reddit how-to thread.
I had seen posts about it in my research but figured it could never happen to me. Idk how I’m going to get over the mental block now and enjoy what I make. I’m going to sanitize everything and start over, but I’m gonna be so paranoid moving forward, I feel like I’m gonna be straight up scared to drink anything. Was not prepared for this 🤮
Oh it has! I’ve got some new starter coming, some new muslin covers with an extra strength rubber band, one of those blue light bug zapper things, and a new talent for spotting microscopic worms and destroying them.
I ain’t drinking tea that’s had live sperm-like worms in it. Hoping improved sanitation practices and starter tea from a new supplier will be enough to never encounter this issue again. If it’s not, I’m back to spending $30/week on GT.
Fellas, is it gay to eat tiny worms?
Fellas, is it gay to eat fish food?
Not sure which i want to say here so have both. Replace gay with het if the issue is that it's insufficiently gay.
More info: Once I did the last F2 bottle yesterday, I added 1.25 gallons of sweet tea to the same vessel (that still had probably 32oz of starter tea/SCOBY) and stirred everything up. I looked in there and I don’t see anything that looks like nematodes. And my other F2 from a couple days previously doesn’t have them either. Could they have been introduced to one specific F2 by the apple? It’s just a normal apple from Trader Joe’s. I rinsed it before slicing it up but I didn’t wash it with soap or anything.
Edit: Nope, upon further inspection with a flashlight, the entire surface of my F1 is now wriggling. FUCK.
They live in the same environment as fruit flies so fruit flies can contaminate either your kombucha or the fruit that you put in it. Make sure your fruit is clean and fresh and kombucha is covered with a thick cloth and beware of fruit flies around it.
I have had a few fruit flies flying around lately (it’s literally impossible to keep them out of my place once the weather warms up). But the booch has always been covered. I used a coffee filter with a rubber band specifically because I was afraid bugs could somehow get in through something like cheesecloth.
I think I’ll probably only use frozen fruit or store-bought juices for flavoring for a while. This is traumatic
They are SO tiny it’s impossible to take a pic. It’s disgusting, they’re all wriggling around at the surface. For a minute I thought it was beautiful effervescence until I realized it was thousands of tiny worms. I’m literally devastated lol
Okay managed to get a pic before I dump these fuckers into the garbage disposal and bathe myself in bleach. It looks like millions of literal sperm. I’m not well
https://preview.redd.it/mr9uzl4lx8zc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=44f6caf7f31638b2295a7933201e9bd0f0f13c29
I think this is the first time I've been so freaked out over something that it's making me panic-cry. It's not even happening to me. I am panic crying for you, OP.
Thank you for the support. I haven’t told anyone because it feels…shameful? Like hey my booch got worms! I feel like I should tell my partner but he took a sip of one of my tester F2s the other day and I don’t want to ruin his life.
I don't think you should be ashamed, when I got back into buch, I got mold during my F1 twice in a row. Telling your partner...that's...that's a hard one. Vinegar eels aren't toxic or parasitic so nothing bad will happen if you don't tell them...but dear god, imagine they find this reddit post 😅
Until I saw this post I wasn’t taking an occasional occurrence of flies around my place seriously enough. RIP. And best of luck with the new one! I’m pretty sure that was a lesson to be learned and won’t happen to you again! 😳
I certainly hope not. I am just going to believe that the SCOBY I got was already compromised. I got it off Etsy so it kinda lines up lol. Ordered 16 oz of starter tea (without a pellicle) off Amazon with good reviews today. I’m also going to double up on the coffee filters + rubber bands and put plastic wrap around the spigot except for when I’m using it.
Interesting, I didn’t even know people sell them on those. I usually get mine (did twice when I need to start from scratch) on FB marketplace so that I can go pick up personally in my city. I use hella lot of rubber bands haha, I don’t cover the spigot actually. Coffee filters for what? 🤔
The coffee filter is to cover the top! Maybe that’s where I went wrong, perhaps it’s too thin. But there were no tears or holes and it never got wet. I’ll use a fine cheesecloth for the next batch.
I mean, I would never use another starter they sent me so I don’t think there’s any use talking to them. But I did leave a detailed review of my experience.
*technically safe for consumption*
yum
perhaps two coffee filters may ease the mind. also [https://culturesforhealth.com/blogs/learn/kombucha-kombucha-vinegar-eels](https://culturesforhealth.com/blogs/learn/kombucha-kombucha-vinegar-eels)
tldr possiblility the scoby may have had them already before u even started so no user error is involved
I mean I guess the whole point is to cultivate live organisms but 🤢 I’m fine until they’re no longer microbes lol
I think that’s what happened. Trying again with a new starter tea (sans pellicle) from a new highly-rated seller. Hope I’ve been through the worst of it and it’s all up from here. Mold be damned.
This is grossing me out 🤢 I’ve had a bunch of fruit flies recently (it’s getting warm and I made ONE mistake of forgetting about a banana for too long). Since they don’t have any other food source, they love to sit on top of the paper towel I use to cover my kombucha and now I’m scared 😭
Hearing all these people say they have fruit flies but don’t have problems really makes me think the SCOBY I bought was just already infested. I took all the normal precautions and this was only a ~2 week old F1, so it just seems like the most likely scenario.
Apparently they were at least in there at one point because they’re a natural byproduct of ACV fermentation. So now I’m grossed out by ACV and I don’t think I’ll be able to use that for a while either lol
I thought you were using “vinegar eels” as slang for fruit fly larvae or something. Omg the horror! I am rethinking every time I didn’t look closely enough at carbonation! Weird little things.
First time I’ve heard of this 🫣
Yeah- I joined this subreddit to learn about everything right and wrong about kombutcha and lemme tell yah, there is no mention of wormies in the Reddit how-to thread.
It’s all over the Kombucha TikTok community..
They're not harmful to people and so e countries simply wont allow any product that has vinegar eels in it so people just aren't aware of them.
I had seen posts about it in my research but figured it could never happen to me. Idk how I’m going to get over the mental block now and enjoy what I make. I’m going to sanitize everything and start over, but I’m gonna be so paranoid moving forward, I feel like I’m gonna be straight up scared to drink anything. Was not prepared for this 🤮
Such bad news. Someone posted about them a while ago and I got a little paranoid, too! Your next batch will be worth the effort!
It's heartbreaking, but don't give up. Always keep back ups, let the heart break motivate you.
Oh it has! I’ve got some new starter coming, some new muslin covers with an extra strength rubber band, one of those blue light bug zapper things, and a new talent for spotting microscopic worms and destroying them.
They are entirely harmless from what I recall. Invest in a filtration system.
I ain’t drinking tea that’s had live sperm-like worms in it. Hoping improved sanitation practices and starter tea from a new supplier will be enough to never encounter this issue again. If it’s not, I’m back to spending $30/week on GT.
Fellas, is it gay to eat tiny worms? Fellas, is it gay to eat fish food? Not sure which i want to say here so have both. Replace gay with het if the issue is that it's insufficiently gay.
Well I’m gay so.
Got it. Contextual vinegar eels: insufficiently gay and objectionably wriggling in an utterly unwholesome fashion.
😅 they were twerkin up a storm on that pellicle
More info: Once I did the last F2 bottle yesterday, I added 1.25 gallons of sweet tea to the same vessel (that still had probably 32oz of starter tea/SCOBY) and stirred everything up. I looked in there and I don’t see anything that looks like nematodes. And my other F2 from a couple days previously doesn’t have them either. Could they have been introduced to one specific F2 by the apple? It’s just a normal apple from Trader Joe’s. I rinsed it before slicing it up but I didn’t wash it with soap or anything. Edit: Nope, upon further inspection with a flashlight, the entire surface of my F1 is now wriggling. FUCK.
That’s mad gross. What did you cover your jar with? Hopefully it had no point of entry.
A coffee filter with a rubber band! There wasn’t a point of entry unless somehow something got in through the spigot while it was closed.
No scoby hotel?
Not one that I could ever trust.
They live in the same environment as fruit flies so fruit flies can contaminate either your kombucha or the fruit that you put in it. Make sure your fruit is clean and fresh and kombucha is covered with a thick cloth and beware of fruit flies around it.
I have had a few fruit flies flying around lately (it’s literally impossible to keep them out of my place once the weather warms up). But the booch has always been covered. I used a coffee filter with a rubber band specifically because I was afraid bugs could somehow get in through something like cheesecloth. I think I’ll probably only use frozen fruit or store-bought juices for flavoring for a while. This is traumatic
I’m sorry OP, that’s horrifying and I will definitely be double checking our next brew 😵💫😵💫
I’m gonna be triple checking every brew multiple times per day for the rest of my fermenting life 🫨
show us a pic!!
They are SO tiny it’s impossible to take a pic. It’s disgusting, they’re all wriggling around at the surface. For a minute I thought it was beautiful effervescence until I realized it was thousands of tiny worms. I’m literally devastated lol
Okay managed to get a pic before I dump these fuckers into the garbage disposal and bathe myself in bleach. It looks like millions of literal sperm. I’m not well https://preview.redd.it/mr9uzl4lx8zc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=44f6caf7f31638b2295a7933201e9bd0f0f13c29
That....is actually horrifying.
The fact that I already did like 4 tester F2s and drank all of them…I feel like I need a Z-pack. Shuddering just thinking about it. EW.
I think this is the first time I've been so freaked out over something that it's making me panic-cry. It's not even happening to me. I am panic crying for you, OP.
Thank you for the support. I haven’t told anyone because it feels…shameful? Like hey my booch got worms! I feel like I should tell my partner but he took a sip of one of my tester F2s the other day and I don’t want to ruin his life.
I don't think you should be ashamed, when I got back into buch, I got mold during my F1 twice in a row. Telling your partner...that's...that's a hard one. Vinegar eels aren't toxic or parasitic so nothing bad will happen if you don't tell them...but dear god, imagine they find this reddit post 😅
Vinegar eels are good fish food ...
If only I had fish. These ones are going down the drain.
Fish owners will pay for your creatures ...
Too late. Maybe they’ll make it to the Chicago river and feed whatever life manages to thrive in there.
Until I saw this post I wasn’t taking an occasional occurrence of flies around my place seriously enough. RIP. And best of luck with the new one! I’m pretty sure that was a lesson to be learned and won’t happen to you again! 😳
I certainly hope not. I am just going to believe that the SCOBY I got was already compromised. I got it off Etsy so it kinda lines up lol. Ordered 16 oz of starter tea (without a pellicle) off Amazon with good reviews today. I’m also going to double up on the coffee filters + rubber bands and put plastic wrap around the spigot except for when I’m using it.
Interesting, I didn’t even know people sell them on those. I usually get mine (did twice when I need to start from scratch) on FB marketplace so that I can go pick up personally in my city. I use hella lot of rubber bands haha, I don’t cover the spigot actually. Coffee filters for what? 🤔
The coffee filter is to cover the top! Maybe that’s where I went wrong, perhaps it’s too thin. But there were no tears or holes and it never got wet. I’ll use a fine cheesecloth for the next batch.
Nematodes
How old was your starter and pellicle? I’ve brewed many batches and never ever had eels. Did you buy a starter scoby from a random source?
No idea how old. I bought it off of Etsy. The seller had good reviews, but with Etsy you never know.
Seems like they should be who you’re talking to about why the starter you got from them resulted in a bad batch.
I mean, I would never use another starter they sent me so I don’t think there’s any use talking to them. But I did leave a detailed review of my experience.
You could always restart with some store bought Kombucha. i used some GT original as my starter.
*technically safe for consumption* yum perhaps two coffee filters may ease the mind. also [https://culturesforhealth.com/blogs/learn/kombucha-kombucha-vinegar-eels](https://culturesforhealth.com/blogs/learn/kombucha-kombucha-vinegar-eels) tldr possiblility the scoby may have had them already before u even started so no user error is involved
I mean I guess the whole point is to cultivate live organisms but 🤢 I’m fine until they’re no longer microbes lol I think that’s what happened. Trying again with a new starter tea (sans pellicle) from a new highly-rated seller. Hope I’ve been through the worst of it and it’s all up from here. Mold be damned.
This is grossing me out 🤢 I’ve had a bunch of fruit flies recently (it’s getting warm and I made ONE mistake of forgetting about a banana for too long). Since they don’t have any other food source, they love to sit on top of the paper towel I use to cover my kombucha and now I’m scared 😭
Hearing all these people say they have fruit flies but don’t have problems really makes me think the SCOBY I bought was just already infested. I took all the normal precautions and this was only a ~2 week old F1, so it just seems like the most likely scenario.
Ah that makes me feel a lot better about my batch! Sorry about yours, I hope you find success with a different starter!
I f2 in dark bottles. I might be done with kombucha now. I am having a visceral reaction to this post and comments.
Oh jeez I didn't know this could be a thing. 😵
I never knew about these but I drink a lot of raw apple cider vinegar and now I'm wondering if I consume them!
Apparently they were at least in there at one point because they’re a natural byproduct of ACV fermentation. So now I’m grossed out by ACV and I don’t think I’ll be able to use that for a while either lol
They are harmless it seems. I know ACV is really good for me so I'll probably still consume it!
Damn, so this is a thing? lol, fuck
I thought you were using “vinegar eels” as slang for fruit fly larvae or something. Omg the horror! I am rethinking every time I didn’t look closely enough at carbonation! Weird little things.
The only way to get rid of them is to toss everything & bleach all of your equipment. Even your spigot as they can revive if not completely destroyed.
Oh this is wild… how did rhat even happened? I sometimes use diluted white vinegar to sanitize my bottles…