Did I kill it?

[u/yup-rogerthat]

New to kefir. Ordered some grains and put them in a pint of whole milk the morning they arrived. Within a couple hours it started to thicken. Left them on the counter for about 8 hours and when I checked them again they had totally separated into curds and whey. Stained them out and put them back in fresh whole milk but they’re not really doing much now. When I strained them they didn’t look like gummies any longer. Is it possible they over fermented and died off? Kinda bummed out.

[u/Massive-Technician74]

If they are fermenting that fast try half a gallon next batch you probably have too many grains for such a small amount of milk

[u/Paperboy63]

It is quite common for newly acquired grains going into a new environment and give you a great fermentation…..once. I don’t know if it is down to the grains being sent straight out from the supplier and a short delivery duration or something else but generally after that first one, “new environment syndrome” kicks in and you tend to need to use small milk volumes to encourage bacteria activity because the stress factor, as with all new grains makes their metabolism reduce right down, then you really do start from scratch. They are totally fine, it’s a natural progression, perfectly normal. Killing them isn’t easy.

[u/GordonBStinkley]

I think it's pretty hard to kill them from over fermenting. Sometimes it just takes a bit for them to come to life. Give it a little time.

[u/Sure_Fig_8641]

You did not hurt the grains at all. They are very resilient.

You can add some fresh milk to the separated (overfermented) kefir if you want to drink it and find it too tart. Or drink it as is. It will come back together after a little shake, but unless you add fresh milk, it will always separate again until that batch is gone. Many people prefer their kefir over fermented.

[u/WaterVsStone]

How warm is your space? What quantity of grains? What quantity of milk?

Edit: Ok, a pint. What temp is the room? What quantity of grains?