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Vancouver Washington

I added a tablespoon of fish emulsion to my tea last night. Then this morning I realized that the earthy smell was going to be hard to judge with the fish emulsion. Anyone who has used fish emulsion for fertilizer know the smell. So...now what. My tea smells like fish emulsion. The tea was brewing for two days prior to adding the fish. Anyone think this is a problem?

4/28/2008 12:30:59 AM

Seattle, WA

Hmmm....can you give us more info. about your brewer, what your starting material was, brewing temp., and elevation?

2 days put you at around 48 hours? This is already on the long end for brewing times and you may have less diversity than if you had stopped the brew at 24-36 hours.

As for the fish emulsion, the microbes should have used up the nutrients in the fish and the smell should have gone away. Same for adding molasses or anything else with an odor.

~Tad

4/28/2008 9:05:55 PM

Seattle, WA

Just heard from a few sources that you want to avoid adding fish products AFTER you've finished brewing. It's okay as a food source at the beginning of a brew, but a few different sources have confirmed drastically reduced microbial populations when they've added fish during or after the brewing cycle.

5/9/2008 3:39:55 AM

Science Hill, KY

Fish emulsion added at the begining of the brewing cycle is a good food source for bacteria. My experience is that the odor will go away at the end of the cycle. Now, temperature will effect the length of the cycle. Quantity of foam and smell are good indicators as to the end of the cycle.

5/12/2008 8:53:09 PM

Seattle, WA

Fish products work great as a food substrate at the beginning of the brewing cycle. Some of the best teas I've seen in regards to fungi were with fish products. I've just recently heard that adding it after you've finished the tea can cause problems. It sounds like it needs to be applied in a separate application. Smell is a good indicator that the organisms used up the fish during the brewing cycle. I have seen good and bad teas that foam and from talking with others it is not a reliable indicator as to the quality of your tea.

~Tad

5/15/2008 2:15:03 PM