Yemoos Nourishing Cultures Forum

No, you don't need to warm up the milk. I just use milk straight out of the fridge. They are hardy and it won't hurt them. And when you use milk straight from the fridge you don't have to worry about an increase of spoilage bacteria or further pasteurization if you accidentally heat it up too much. ...

I drink about 2 cups a day and it feels about right for me. Like Gabrielle said, trust your body to know how much it can handle.

The basic ratio is about 1 tablespoon of grains to 1 tablespoon of sugar to 1 cup of water. It can vary and 4 tablespoons can usually ferment 1 to 2 quarts (1/2 gallon) or so if desired. Larger quantities of water and sugar tend to make the ferment and grains a little more yeasty. For 1 gallon the r...

I would recommend doing about only 1/4 cup of sugar starting out. Once it gets going, you can add a couple more tablespoons of sugar if desired. There's so many different types and brands of brown sugar, but many times brown sugar does okay. If not, you may want to try another mineral rich sugar suc...

Generally, most water kefir ferments are suppose to very similar to water thickness. It's possible it may actually be slightly thicker, but visually it still looks like water to me. Sometimes when there's excess minerals, it can get a little thicker. It's happened with excess dried fruit or extra mi...

Here's an article about milk kefir that lists a few studies on listeria and other harmful pathogens. http://waterkefir.ca/is-kefir-safe/ There seems to be somewhat of a mixed opinion with listeria as some studies show that it does inhibit listeria while one study shows it did not. Most everyone agre...

Milk kefir can certainly work in cold temperatures. Some people even ferment out of the fridge where it takes about a week. You mention outside temperature, but what about room temperature where the grains are? If the temperature inside is quite cold and fluctuates a lot, it may be why you are getti...

A couple thoughts. What you are describing sounds like kefir that is over fermented (All the whey at the bottom and tons of curds on the surface). It's unlikely that any kind of contamination could cause that. You mention that you used a different brand. When you use raw milk or milk that has a lot ...

I believe cultures for health only sells dehydrated grains, so it may need more time to get going. Water Kefir is fairly mild compared to milk kefir or kombucha, but it should be a little bit tangy / sour and once the yeast gets going, you can usually detect some kind of bubbly or fizzy taste. Howev...

No problem at all. When it does separate quickly and it over ferments like that it tends to give off a strong yeasty smell and if its goats milk, it can contribute to some even stronger smells. I'm not sure if I would say that its typical to smell like spoilage or rotten milk though. Sometimes if th...