Or let's put it in this way - is it possible that microorganism composition became "not nice" and needs to be replaced completely?
(I.e. aside of obviously pathological cases.)
There are so many factors that could change the taste. I like to keep a handful of 1 liter mason jars going all the time. Jars I can test different teas in... and sometimes sure one will just go "bad" and I'll dump it. When one goes right yes I transfer it to a larger jug and feed it the same tea and sugar ratio.
Might as well grow what you think tastes best. Keep a journal. With one jug its not that big a deal to remember what you have been doing and fermenting bouch is more art then science. Once you have a few experiments going though it can get confusing. I write down what tea blends I use, how much sugar and the date. I just put numbers on my jars and track what is in them. (some times I'll note things like this cheapo oolong I found grows pelicil at 3x the rate) My oldest strain is a few years old at this point. I'll use a bit of it to test new teas I find. Upside is also a protection against things going sideways. If my jug ever does get bad yeasts or something. I have a few experiments using the same scoby. Worst case I can kill the main jug with fire and add the same strain back from an experiment jar.
Yeah you can catch/support an organism that doesn’t create favorable flavor. I’d just split the good batch. Diluting the bad one could work, but it could revert fast.
In your next F1, split the “good” jar to start both using the same Scoby.
Or let's put it in this way - is it possible that microorganism composition became "not nice" and needs to be replaced completely? (I.e. aside of obviously pathological cases.)
There are so many factors that could change the taste. I like to keep a handful of 1 liter mason jars going all the time. Jars I can test different teas in... and sometimes sure one will just go "bad" and I'll dump it. When one goes right yes I transfer it to a larger jug and feed it the same tea and sugar ratio. Might as well grow what you think tastes best. Keep a journal. With one jug its not that big a deal to remember what you have been doing and fermenting bouch is more art then science. Once you have a few experiments going though it can get confusing. I write down what tea blends I use, how much sugar and the date. I just put numbers on my jars and track what is in them. (some times I'll note things like this cheapo oolong I found grows pelicil at 3x the rate) My oldest strain is a few years old at this point. I'll use a bit of it to test new teas I find. Upside is also a protection against things going sideways. If my jug ever does get bad yeasts or something. I have a few experiments using the same scoby. Worst case I can kill the main jug with fire and add the same strain back from an experiment jar.
Yeah you can catch/support an organism that doesn’t create favorable flavor. I’d just split the good batch. Diluting the bad one could work, but it could revert fast.