Something happened to my milk kefir and I'm curious more than anything. I was in the process of starting over with a new batch of grains from Yemoos when I broke my ankle. My attention to the kefir became very spotty. I left it in the fridge for a few days at a time before allowing it to ferment, etc. When I finally got it onto a regular schedule, the product was perfect. The only thing that seemed odd was that the grains never seemed to grow. Previously I would discard or give away grains when I needed to, but these remained at maybe about a tablespoon in 16 oz of milk.
Still, the kefir tasted fine and had a good consistency. Then about ten days ago something changed. The kefir became very thick and sticky. It was very hard to strain the grains out of the product because the kefir was almost jelly-like. The best way to describe it would be to say that it had the consistency of Nickelodeon Slime. If I worked at it with a spoon I could coax it through a strainer. Usually when I pour kefir from a glass jar it leaves a thick coating on the jar - it sticks so well to glass that it's annoying to wash off. This new batch peels away from the glass because it adheres to itself more than to the glass, so the jar is left with just a few traces.
It smells and tastes great. I was nervous about trying it, but I did and it's mild and pleasant, though the slimy consistency makes drinking it as it is a little off-putting. I assumed that there was a problem in the cheap grocery store milk, since it happened after a change (from a different brand of cheap grocery store milk). But now if I go back to the original milk the consistency remains tight and jellylike.
I'm going to start over, if only because the effort of straining this kefir makes it too hard to work with, but what might have caused this? Would there be a way to recover it?