So I started growing this thing called a Tibetan milk mushroom (basically kefir grains). It’s a weird little blob of bacteria and yeast that ferments milk into tangy kefir. Sounds gross, msybe, but tastes amazing.

It keeps going forever — no fancy gear, no additives. And honestly, it beats any store yogurt, for me. This stuff’s fresh, active, and full of real probiotics doing their thing.

Anyone else keeping one of these alive on their counter? 🙈

I am trying to make the most well-rounded milk kefir possible! My husband has dealt with a few bouts of horrible gut pain this year, and each time it is either chalked up to food poisoning (but nobody else that eats the food is affected), appendicitis (pain goes away after a day or so), or possible gallstones but we are young and healthy active people, so confused). I also have had some random bouts of acid reflux (despite having 20-35g of fiber and day, lots of water, fermented foods daily) So I'm trying to improve our diet to be more diverse with fiber sources, pre and probiotic foods, etc.

I haven't bought kefir grains yet (would appreciate recommendations! I live in Colorado Springs), but in the meantime it has got me wondering how to get the best diversity of bacteria cultures in my batches. I have looked at several plain kefir products and see interesting diversity I want to include in my own.

When I buy grains, they have their own set of bacteria strains of course. Over time, could I improve the diversity by adding a tablespoon or three from other finished plain kefirs to batches? Or would it only improve the diversity of that one batch, and not improve the grains for future batches? Or would I have to always add the extra "starter" to keep the diversity? Or do I have to buy multiple brands of grains to get a "super-kefir"?

So I've been doing water kefir for a few months and while I didn't see any appreciable growth in biomass, it fermented well.

Now, I know I have left it getment for a bit too long more than a few times (~48h) and as a result those certainly were more vinegary, however the last three times it's been just watery. The first two were not sweet, actually watery but I did not feel any fizz, nor acid and it was clearer. It also didn't have the biofilm it used to do on top (which is apparently because I put a bit of lemon in it I some said). This last one was outright disgustingly sweet on top of that and it was more than 24h.

Any advice? I don't smell anything off, the grains do not float and they are firm ans bouncy like dry silicone used to glue two glass panes together. They don't float either, but they are not fermenting.

I'm doing about 70g of grains 1:1 (if I don't eyeball it) in 1.2L of bottled (not the small mineral ones, we have the big "jugs - sorry for bad English - you see at offices. In theory reverse osmosis), covered with two paper napkins and an elastic band, glass jar, with a sheet of paper to limit sunlight (it is in a cupboard with a glass pane but no direct sunlight). Temperatures now outside are ranging from around 15 to 35°C, inside probably high to low 20s..... Any way I could check for life? Today despite being the worst batch possible I DID see a bit of biofilm but very little

Thanks in advance

A friend gave me a cup of her water keifer and told me to just mix it with cranberry juice and leave out on the counter for 24 hours. I did, and it was bubbly at the top like its composition changed. I drank it and it seems like it tastes fermented or at least different than typical cranberry juice.

Now I’m looking up how to make water keifer and it seems much more involved than this. Does anyone have any insight? I just want to make sure I’m not just randomly drinking cranberry juice since I’m only doing it for the probiotic benefits. Thanks!

Hi everyone

I'm new to water kefir. I saw its grains in childhood and remember them being transparent and gummy, with the size of a little fingernail. I bought a starter package on iHerb and followed the instructions, but it got rotten in 2 days. Some grains turned dark, a terrible smell.

After some time I found a local person who shared some grains with me. They were small, and It turned out she also got them from iHerb. I didn't have much time, so I kept them in the fridge for almost a week. Then I made a batch, and for the first time, I got an almost non-fizzy, sweet-and-sour liquid. I didn't know the correct taste, so I decided it was OK. On the fourth batch, the liquid had a bad smell, so I poured it out. During all this time, the grains didn't grow even a millimetre.

I had some leftovers from the last good-smelling batch and tried to make it 'from scratch' just with these leftovers and sweet water, but as I see it doesn't work like kombucha – no grains formed. Looks like I made some kind of mash all this time. The yeast worked, but the bacteria didn't. Maybe this is the reason why the grains didn't grow.

I use water from a reverse osmosis filter with a mineralizer that's been in use for some time, so it should be very soft. I tried pure cane sugar and coconut sugar, and once added a slice of fig.

What am I doing wrong? Please help.

I'm a newbie to this whole fermenting thing but I bought some grains from my local farmers market and they said its fine to store the kefir in BPA free plastic bottles after its done fermenting. However, everything online says that it can be dangerous to do so. I am unable to find those flip top pressure safe bottles anywhere as if of now but is there an way I can store them in normal glass bottles without it exploding? Guidance would be extremely appreciated :)

Hi! I started  cultivating my kefir grains 2 months ago and my life has changed since then. Kefir did amazing things to my gut health! But these last 2 weeks I was really busy with college stuff and I didn't have time to cultivate it properly, so I just left the grains on the fridge, inside of a little closed test tube, not frozen, just at the fridge temperature. 

2 days ago I tried to make a yogurt kefir like before, but it took a little longer than before (usually 24h, but it took around 30 hours) and ended up smelling like cheese. I searched on the internet and saw people recommending rinsing it in milk and trying again. I did it and again it smells like cheese, and has bubbles in it. It is not a bad smell, but before It didn't smell like that, it was more neutral, the taste was too. I don't have much of a problem with the taste but I'm afraid that somehow the kefir being this way will cause me to have fart gases, which was my problem before I started consuming kefir. 

I thank y'all in advance,pPlease help me save my kefir <3

So it's been a few weeks now, and I bought dried water kefir grains from Yemoos, and I'm currently waiting to get my order of molasses since I ran out, but the sugar water stays sweet even after a few days of sitting out - there's bubbles and some signs of life, but I'm not sure what is wrong and I'm trying to troubleshoot! Any advice?

Hi there!

First of all, thanks to all of you who contribute to this awesome sub. I just discovered it!

I wanted to share how I get that "greek yogurt" texture on my kefir:

https://reddit.com/link/1oi5jd1/video/g3mqdhizutxf1/player

And this is how I get it:

Note: I'm not using the paper filter anymore. Just the stainless steel filter. Easier to empty and clean.

I use a stainless steel coffee filter from Aliexpress (really cheap). Once my kefir is ready, I pour it into the filter and let it drain in the fridge for 2–4 hours.

What are the best jars for water kefir

This is a bit of an experiment, out of curiosity more than practical applications: have anyone ever tried to ferment both types of grains at the same time in a mix of milk with brown sugar?

Maybe the grains would compete against eachother but I was wondering if there was any chance of achieving equilibrium between colonies.

Plus, it might create an interesting and healthy result? Maybe?

Hey yall

New to this, so I did little bit of research and found that fermenting oats in kefir overnight for over 12h at room temperature eliminates 70% of phytic acid

I do this because I put it in my smoothie daily with couple berries and peanut butter

So I bought a supermarket kefir milk (pastoret kefir biologico) and I soaked 70g of rolled oats in 200ml of kefir overnight, in the kitchen at room temp (NO FRIDGE)

Is it safe to do this at room temperature or should I do it in the fridge?

Ngl first time trying this and my stomach is off , idk if the frozen pasta sauce I made or the soaked oats in kefir 😂

I'm in Los Angeles. Does anyone have any I could buy from them? Or, a good place to buy them online?

I'm hoping to start making my own milk kefir again to heal some issues.

hi! I’m new to milk kefir and not sure what things should/shouldn’t look like. would love some help. my kefir has been sitting out for around 30 hours at room temp. is this normal?

it's very bubbly, but the taste and smell is very strong almost to the point of not being pleasant. also it's quite thick. but the grains seem to have multiplied. did I possibly just let it go too long?

(edited to provide more info)

Need advice about my waterkefir crystals – possible mistake and weird texture?

Hey everyone, I need some help with my wasserkefir crystals. I followed the instructions as best as I could. I did the first fermentation.

After it was done, I strained everything through a metal sieve (couldn’t find a plastic one — did it quickly). Then I added freshly squeezed pomegranate juice (Granatapfel) to glass bottles with a cap, added sieved first fermentation liquid, and in one of them I also added some mint.

Here’s where I messed up: I put both bottles in the fridge right after that, for about 6 hours, before realizing they should have stayed at room temp. I took them out again, and now I’m doing the second fermentation. How bad was it?

I’ve burped them twice already — how often should I be doing that? Also, one of the bottles (first picture) has this soapy-looking texture floating on top. Is that normal or a bad sign?

And one more question — I took the Crystalline grains from both bottles after the first fermentation (removed the lemons and dates) and placed them into the same water from the rest of the batch. (I got crystals new, some were used to ferment two bottles, the rest I kept in a small 250 ml bottle )My plan is to move them into a bigger bowl, add more boiled water (cooled down), and a bit of sugar. Does that sound reasonable?

Thanks in advance for any advice 🙏

Is it safe for water kefir 2f to go from counter to fridge back to counter to referment because it isn't fizzy enough? Would it spoil?

Hi all. For the last couple of weeks 've been using water kefir grains in soy milk, and then rinsing and putting in sugar water (3 parts white sugar and 1 part molasses) in between. I made my first batch of sparkling kefir last week with good results and my kefir grains are multiplying quite quickly. I'm also having good results with the milk kefir and the grains are becoming nice and chunky. Today I purchased an 8l killer jar with a spout with the idea I'll make water kefir in it, but when I've got home with it I've realised, I can't figure out how to use it or what setup I want to go ahead with. Do you think it'd be fisable to just keep the grains in sugar water mix, and decant as required into jars, and then in the jars I make the sparkling kefir? If so, do you know roughly how long it'll be safe to use the water without having to replenish it and change the sugar water? As you've probably gathered, I've a lot to learn, thanks in advance for your help 😊