Grains still fermenting, but not growing

[dckismet]

I have some grains that I got locally, from a woman whose colony was wildly successful.

It has been a few months, however, and I still basically have the same amount of grains (about 1/4 cup). I followed her instructions to a tee, and have also tried varying some things.

Basically, it looks like (2 quart jar): 1/4 cup of grains with filtered water plus trace minerals, 1/2 cup organic cane sugar, a handful of raisins.

Fermenting happens, I do secondary fermenting with a splash of apple juice and get nicely bubbly "scoby water", but am confused that I still have not seen growth of the grains. What am I missing?

[AlexP]

That recipe sounds like its lacking some good minerals and nutrients from the sugar side of things. The cane sugar which is mostly void of minerals and the raisins which is quite low may just be enough for a little fermentation, but not enough for a full ferment that encourages growth. I'm surprised the previous owner had successful growth with that kind of recipe. Try adding some molasses or a nutrient rich sugar and see how it does. You don't need to do molasses or a high mineral sugar every batch, but the occasional boost is very beneficial.

Alex

[Frankie1]

Yeah, I agree, raisins didn't seem to do much with white sugar when I tried it. Also try rinsing and resting them in the fridge for several days. That helped my grains when they were really sluggish.