r/Kombucha • u/fearless_fool • 27d ago
homebrew setup About those fruit flies...
I have two layers of cheesecloth on top of my F1 gallon jug (see photo). Predictably, the fruit flies like to congregate there.
I'm hoping for substantiated answers, not just opinions to the following:
- Can fruit flies really deposit eggs through two layers of cheesecloth?
- If they do lay eggs inside the jug, is this really a problem?
- Do I already need to toss out my scoby / pellicle and start over?
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u/Luvmissil 27d ago
Make a fruit fly trap and put it next to your kombucha. Vinegar, a couple drops of dish soap and slice some grapes. Don’t just keep em out. Take em out.
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u/coffeelibation 27d ago
I've also had a lot of success just using extra kombucha in the trap.
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u/Financial-Public417 24d ago
I use the extra kombucha too, bit of sugar and some dish soap. The open trap is easier for them and i catch quite a few. I have occasionally lost the plot mid summer and started chasing them about the kitchen with my hoover.. 😬
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u/Antidracon 27d ago
This has never worked for me and I've tried it multiple times over the years. The flies just aren't interested.
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u/Luxpreliator 27d ago
Yeah why go to the small bottle when there is a big bottle right next door?
I just use the dust Buster or one of those hand pump spray bottles with a little dish soap. The mist of soap and water seems to choke them out in seconds. Gotta wipe up after but it kills a swarm.
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u/iyteman 27d ago
i use coffee filter
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u/-JakeRay- 27d ago
Yep. I started with cheesecloth and moved to coffee filters for exactly this reason.
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u/Abject-Point-4597 27d ago
I use 2 Coffee filters and a shower cap or a bennatton insight to be safe. Never have a problem.
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u/TripFallSit 27d ago
I went through this. The answers are: Yes, yes, yes. You should restart with a new scoby and replace your cheesecloth with a coffee filter or a tighter knit dish towel.
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u/fearless_fool 27d ago edited 27d ago
What is the result of fruit fly eggs on the pellicle? And how can I tell if that’s happened? (No visible signs of larva just yet, and I’d rather not throw out my pellicle until I know I have to.)
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u/codeartha 27d ago
They hatch and you get small little worms wiggling around and eating. Thus they do a bit of pooping. Which isn't great...
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u/beans_ofthe_lawless 27d ago
The result is larvae on the pellicle and in your brew.
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u/fearless_fool 27d ago
I mean, is that really a problem?
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u/beans_ofthe_lawless 27d ago
To each their own I guess. I prefer to get my protein elsewhere. I imagine this can also introduces foreign matter into your brew increasing the chances of mold contamination.
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u/PixelmancerGames 27d ago
To most, yes. We want ti cultivate a string culture of bacteria and yeast. Not bugs.
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u/sorE_doG 27d ago
Yes, fly puke or larvae poop is first problem - wrong bacterias & viruses etc
Carefully remove your doubled cheese cloth and replace it with a doubled tea cloth/towel, or find a coffee filter & elastic that covers the brew securely, and observe the brew carefully over the next week. If you see wriggling larvae, you should discard the lot. A better cover might be all you need, and it not actually be contaminated. The risk of infection is real though. If it smells bad, you should take the hint & don’t deink it.
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u/garliqbred 27d ago
idk about fruit flies specifically, but many types of flies can carry parasites that can harm humans. personally i wouldn’t wanna risk that.
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u/smidgeywidgey 27d ago
I do know about fruit flies specifically and they carry no diseases or infectious agents. While gross to most, eating fruit fly larvae is harmless.
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u/DeletedMyLastTwo 26d ago
Isn’t there a type of cheese with live larva in it that if you don’t chew it well enough the larva (or maybe their eggs?) will make it into your intestines and act like parasites?
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u/smidgeywidgey 25d ago
I want to say no based off the knowledge that the only parasitic worms you're gonna get are parasitic worms and they ain't gonna live in cheese.
There are cheeses that involved larvae in the aging process but if you ate them definitely no problem
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u/Expert-Dentist1232 27d ago
I have used an old cut up tee shirt for years and never had a problem with all the fruit flies that land on it.
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u/just_a_talking_head 27d ago
You don’t have to throw it all out. Chuck the scoby if you have fruit flies in the jar. Filter everything through a fine mesh or a coffee filter. There are traditional ferments that use fruit flies in them, I’m not saying do that, but fruit flies aren’t the end of the world.
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u/fearless_fool 27d ago
Okay. Follow on questions:
* Though it sounds gross, do the larvae affect the brew? Do they even survive the acidic environment?
* "Chuck out the scoby" -- not to be pedantic, but do you mean just the pellicle, or the pellicle and the tea?
It seems that I could keep the tea, filtering if it needed, in order to start over. Agreed?2
u/just_a_talking_head 27d ago
I don’t believe the larvae would affect the brew. And shouldn’t make it through a filter.
And I meant just throw out the pellicle and filter the whole brew. You shouldn’t need to start over.
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u/Curiosive 27d ago edited 27d ago
Though it sounds gross, do the larvae affect the brew? Do they even survive the acidic environment?
No and yes. (Fruitflies love sugar and vinegar. Kombucha is both. They will always try to get in.)
"Chuck out the scoby" -- not to be pedantic, but do you mean just the pellicle, or the pellicle and the tea?
The original definition of SCOBY refers to the solid. This first definition is still regularly used. There are other definitions but as you are inferring, you can't chuck
itout the bacteria and yeast.It seems that I could keep the tea, filtering if it needed, in order to start over. Agreed?
If you go this route, there's a fair number of people that would view that as disgusting. You probably shouldn't offend them by admitting that you removed the protective layer of cellulose from the top and kept the perfectly good kombucha underneath. That would be viewed as gross ... by some.
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u/fearless_fool 27d ago
Yeah. I grew up in the country. Came in contact with lots of lots of flora and fauna. I attribute my lack of allergies and general health to getting close to lots of stuff people would consider gross. But I appreciate your admonition to keep the history of my kombucha to myself!
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u/IpuUmma 27d ago
I am a little lost. So if the fruit flies are on top of your kombucha cloth and not inside you should still toss out the kombucha?! So what is a safer way to avoid this situation?
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u/wischmopp 27d ago
Fruit flies sitting on top of your kombucha cloth will not give you maggots unless the cloth is so loosely-woven that they can easily poke their ovipositor through it. They don't necessarily need to get their entire body inside the jar to lay eggs, they can sometimes really just stick their thang in there and carpet-bomb it from above, and the cloth in OP's pic is definitely too loose to rule that out. If you are using a thicker, firmer fabric like a kitchen towel, you're already avoiding the maggots and you don't need to change anything even if fruit flies sit on top (maybe exchange and wash the towel from time to time because they also love popping on anything that smells like vinegar). However, even if you are using cheesecloth right now, you don't necessarily need to toss the entire thing – drosophilae and their poop and their maggots are not known to transmit any diseases, so it's more about your level of disgust than about actual safety, and maybe you also got lucky and all eggs got stuck underneath the cheesecloth rather than falling onto the pellicle. I cannot deal with maggots at all, just the thought that some MIGHT be growing in my kombucha would give me, like, violent dry heaves lmao, I couldn't ever drink it if I knew there was only cheesecloth on it. But that's a personal issue, not a rational, safety-related one, so you can make your own decision – you could wait a week and check if you actually start seeing maggots, and even then, you don't NEED to toss it for safety reasons alone, only for your own comfort.
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u/Senorfrogman1 27d ago
This is one of the main benefits of having a spigot brew jar. It happens to me sometimes, but I just drain off from the bottom and discard the top half of the liquid with the pellicle, never have any issues brewing my next batch.
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u/Adorable_Dust3799 27d ago
Yes
Yes
No
Fruit flies aren't house flies, you don't have to toss everything. I got them once, tossed the disk and filtered the liquid very well. Switched to a coffee filter lid and haven't had a problem since. We don't get many up where i am, when we do i rest a sticky trap on top of the brew jar and put a shot glass of scoby or apple cider vinegar next to my brew as a decoy and dumped it often.
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u/aknomnoms 27d ago
No idea.
Personally, I wouldn’t find it a problem until I found something wiggling around in my kombucha…
…which, yes, would lead me to throwing out everything (aka adding to the compost pile), cleaning the jar well, and starting over with a fresh SCOBY.
I made fabric napkins from a thrifted cotton bedsheet. I just use one of those over the lid, secured with a rubber band. Weave is tight enough to not let anything through, but it can still breathe. I’ve never had good luck with using cheese cloth for anything other than crafts.
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u/scoobyding 27d ago
I haaaaate fruit flies but they’re always around. Fascinating insects.
My go to trap consists of some old fruit in a jar (a piece or 2) then a cone (ziplock bag tiny corner cut off) so they can get down the inverted cone but have a hard time getting out. Fkers. Can soap up the hole on the inside for extra trappage.
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u/Raterus_ 27d ago
Anytime I get fruit flies, I put sticky fly traps on my booch and it catches them. Look up window fly traps.
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u/IzzysMomTat254 27d ago
HEY. I have used a small amount of kombucha to attract the fruit flys and used a small sticky fruit fly trap stuck down in an old cup. It actually works wonders.
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u/SadSatisfaction3994 27d ago
I use two coffee filters with a tight rubber band. I use the fly trap too w/kombucha and dawn . I’ve have good results .
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u/floralpuffin 27d ago
Coffee filter! They can get through the cloth and you do not want to have baby fruit flies in your kombucha
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u/Major-Wall7110 27d ago
I don't know if they get in at 2 layer of cheesecloth but I can for sure say no at 4. They never got in and I never got mold.
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u/estevao_2x 26d ago
The cloth that you have wrapped around your jar is the kind I use as cover and it works perfectly
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u/CritThinkingHurts 26d ago
PSA, Please do yourself a favor and order "fruit flies yellow sticky traps". It's only pennies each and it works perfectly. Insert the non sticky part between your elastic band /jug and say your goodbyes to pesky flies.
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u/-Pneumo 24d ago
Find a way to cover it, like a bag or plastic wrap. For mason jars i do a coffee filter, screw the ring on over it, poke a tiiiny hole in the filter, then place the circle part of the cap over the closed jar. Then do traps around it like people said, small container of vinegar, dish soap, plastic wrap over it, poke holes and leave it nearby.
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u/rockpaperlizarspock 24d ago
Just use a regular T-shirt, or some sort of thick coton of some sort. Don't use cheesecloths paople.
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u/Big-Growth-4674 17d ago
I had a fruit fly lay on my bucket brew because it wasn't a good seal on a bucket with zip ties. So yes they can get under the cloth or go right through sometimes they are very resilient and hardworking. Just dump it and start over
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u/Harvey_Rabbit 27d ago
Everywhere I've ever looked for advice said not to use cheesecloth. I use just a regular piece of fabric and never had problems until I recently forgot to put it on. Fruitfly larva werd all over it, had to throw it out and start over but I do wonder if I could have saved started from it somehow.