water kefir question

[elizawill]

i'm sure this has been answered several times, but i can't find any info with an advanced search. i've been drinking water kefir for several months now and it's doing fabulous. i'm wondering if i can stop buying spring water though and just boil (or aeration) the tap water. it seems so wasteful to have this huge jug of plastic thrown away every couple of weeks. anyway. thoughts? experience? i just don't want to kill my kefir! thanks.

[my_baby_love]

For a while I made mine with boiled tap water and it was fine. My grains are still alive . I just boiled it for ten minutes to get the chlorine out (I read somewhere that's what you needed to do) and it worked great.

[dogmom327]

Boiling tap water is normally just fine

[Sayward]

How do you know if you killed them? I was just using tap water and *not* boiling it (oops) and now I'm afraid they're dead. It still has that sort of kombucha-y odor, but . . . no bubbles at all. Did I eff it up?

[blessedwithboys]

OP, put half of your grains to sleep in the fridge so you have a back-up just in case the tap water doesn't work out.

[elizawill]

thanks everyone. i will put half in the fridge - great idea!! i'm going to try it today, so hopefully it will be fine. sayward, it is very hard to kill kefir grains (aside from heat) or at least that's been my experience. you will know if they're dead because the sugar water won't ferment. the taste will not change, ykwim? my kefir becomes carbonated, but i've read that not all grains do this successfully, so i wouldn't let that be deciding factor alone.

[Sayward]

Originally Posted by elizawill

thanks everyone. i will put half in the fridge - great idea!! i'm going to try it today, so hopefully it will be fine. sayward, it is very hard to kill kefir grains (aside from heat) or at least that's been my experience. you will know if they're dead because the sugar water won't ferment. the taste will not change, ykwim? my kefir becomes carbonated, but i've read that not all grains do this successfully, so i wouldn't let that be deciding factor alone.

What exactly should a successful ferment taste like? And thanks for the help!

[elizawill]

well, mine is carbonated and loses the sweet flavor the longer it sets (it can taste more like alcohol as it stays out). when i make grape soda, it's just taste carbonated & somewhat sweet (but i ferment it twice, adding the grape juice the second time without the grains)... but if i make it with just lemon and molasses & raisins...it taste more like a long island iced tea kind of (best thing i can think to compare it too??). you will know if it's fermenting if the flavor just isn't changing whatsoever. taste it when you start to make it & then taste it again in 24 hours. is it different?

wait...actually, a better idea is to take the grains and put them in a jar of spring water and add molasses and grade b (or c) syrup. my grains will triple in a few days when i do this. i only do this to grow them though, i don't drink the stuff- but they will grow like mad. just mark the glass with a marker and see if they've grown within 48 hours....that should tell you for sure. i hope this helps.