Stinky tea

When I went to use my tea last night I noticed a new scent to it. It smelled sour and yeasty. I discarded that tea, soaked my stones in a bit of h202 and scrubbed then. I then set them in a new batch of tea. Once plugged in there were zero bubbles coming from the stones.

1. Was the first tea bad?
2. Did the lack of bubbles make it go anaerobic?
3. Did I not clean the bucket and airstones enough?
4. Should airstones be soaked overnight before using again?
5. Have you medicated yet this morning?

Thanks

Sounds like maybe something is clogging the lines or stones. You definitely need air bubbles flowing from the stones. No air flowing will make your tea anaerobic with the quickness & a very clogged air stone may not ever be 100% again no matter how hard you scrub. If your stones get clogged and only half work which happened to me about a year ago consider tossing those stones out and instead using a bubble ring or air diffuser. A bubble ring is basically a rubber hose poked with lotsa holes; it cannot get easily clogged; great for teas but not for fish tanks. I use an air diffuser from Red Frog which is made from recycled tires. Pushes a lot more volume of air than my old air stones did and the holes are much bigger to prevent clogs. I just rinse it out with plain water after each use to clean it. Medicated with some strawberry sour deez on this fine fall morning and it was deliciously dank...hey hey heyayaay smoke weed everyday

Tyleb173rd said:

When I went to use my tea last night I noticed a new scent to it. It smelled sour and yeasty. I discarded that tea, soaked my stones in a bit of h202 and scrubbed then. I then set them in a new batch of tea. Once plugged in there were zero bubbles coming from the stones.

1. Was the first tea bad?
2. Did the lack of bubbles make it go anaerobic?
3. Did I not clean the bucket and airstones enough?
4. Should airstones be soaked overnight before using again?
5. Have you medicated yet this morning?

Thanks

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1) Most likely, yes it was bad. Unless it has a sweet earthy smell reminiscent of soil and/or the molasses you added then it is likely bad. When in doubt, throw it out.
2) Definitely, yes. If your tea container (5 gallon bucket I'm guessing) didn't have oxygen bubbling in it then the only bacteria that would be able to survive in those conditions are in fact anaerobic bacteria.
3) The problem is more than likely in your airstones than anything else. H202 isn't nearly enough to do the job of cleaning your airstones, but it does help for sure. After every tea I would make, I'd rinse what I could out of the bucket in the shower. Anything that was too sticky to remove was then soaked in soapy water with a tiny bit of 91% ISO alcohol to remove the residue. As for cleaning my airstones after every tea, this is what I would do. Get yourself a tupperware container/bowl/etc and fill it with a mixture of water, H202, and 91%+ ISO alcohol. Keep the stones attached to your air pump and keep it on for 24-48 hours. This way your airstones will not only soak in this solution, but they'll be attached to your air pump making it that much easier for them to get clean. I'd leave my airstones running in that tupperware container full of water/h202/91% ISO for a good 24-48 hours and they'd be damn near good as new. After about a half a dozen to a dozen brews, you will in fact need to replace these again. I recall spending $7 for 4 tiny airstones for my pump, so even if you have to replace them monthly it isn't the biggest deal.
4) See above. I definitely recommend letting the airstones bubble in the solution I outlined above for at least 24 hours. You can get away with this for a good 1-3 months (depends on how much tea you're making) until you have to purchase new ones. Personally, I wouldn't recommend the long rectangular stones. When I would make teas, I'd go to Petsmart in the fish section and spend $7 for 4 tiny airstones in a package. I'd replace these every 1-2 months depending on the amount of tea I was brewing.
5) Naturally

Thanks for the responses.

Where are y'all getting these decent smelling teas??? I brew 5 gallons in the garage and when I check on it in the morning. I dry gag till my stomach cramps. Serious dry heave. Bat crap isn't too bad. Fish is the Damn worse. The smell of neither can I stomach first thing in the morning. The foam is the down right ultra-super nasty of the nastiest.

Black Strap molasses gives a sweet smell to the vile funk. Really making it putrid. I'm brewing 5 gallons on the for the porch. It stinks the garage up.

Before you say anything. I run a huge air pump with a 3/8" line to a 4" stone. The water never stays still. Churned extra with a mixer rod chucked in a drill. Healthy or not it'll make you puke.

Damn plants love it.

This smelled sour. Unlike any tea I’ve brewed.

SouthCross said:

Where are y'all getting these decent smelling teas??? I brew 5 gallons in the garage and when I check on it in the morning. I dry gag till my stomach cramps. Serious dry heave. Bat crap isn't too bad. Fish is the Damn worse. The smell of neither can I stomach first thing in the morning. The foam is the down right ultra-super nasty of the nastiest.

Black Strap molasses gives a sweet smell to the vile funk. Really making it putrid. I'm brewing 5 gallons on the for the porch. It stinks the garage up.

Before you say anything. I run a huge air pump with a 3/8" line to a 4" stone. The water never stays still. Churned extra with a mixer rod chucked in a drill. Healthy or not it'll make you puke.

Damn plants love it.

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What kind of fish fertilizer are you using? Some smell worse than others but they will all smell undeniably fishy. I have no experience with guanos .

dubekoms said:

What kind of fish fertilizer are you using? Some smell worse than others but they will all smell undeniably fishy. I have no experience with guanos .

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I use Alaskan brand. 5-1-1. Two teaspoons a gallon around the third week of veg. Bat crap has a higher nitrogen content and I give it starting at week 5. Then another later. The fish works good on small seedlings around 5-6" tall....and it's the nastiest shit.

I've been getting into teas hardcore. It seems the more disgusting, the better the plants like it. They stink themselves for about three days then the smell go's away. I had to put my brewer outside. I can't take the smell in the morning. It's rank. Not rotten....rAnK.

SouthCross said:

I use Alaskan brand. 5-1-1. Two teaspoons a gallon around the third week of veg. Bat crap has a higher nitrogen content and I give it starting at week 5. Then another later. The fish works good on small seedlings around 5-6" tall....and it's the nastiest shit.

I've been getting into teas hardcore. It seems the more disgusting, the better the plants like it. They stink themselves for about three days then the smell go's away. I had to put my brewer outside. I can't take the smell in the morning. It's rank. Not rotten....rAnK.

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Fish hydrolysate is less stinky in my opinion than fish emulsion and it has more benefits. It definitely still smells like fish though..

"If fish hydrolysate is heated, the oils and certain proteins can be more easily removed to be sold in purified forms. The complex protein, carbohydrate and fats in the fish material are denatured, which means they are broken down into less complex foods. Overheating can result in destruction of the material as a food to grow beneficial organisms. Once the oils are removed and proteins denatured and simplified by the heating process, this material is called a fish emulsion. The hydrolysate process has substantially lower capital and production costs compared to fish emulsion production"
Wikipedia

Bat crap isn't as bad. I'm using Dr Earth Flower Girl as the starter. It has all the fungus, bacteria, and some kelp meal for the fungus to attach to. The bat crap brings up the nitrogen for the stretch. It smells but hasn't the gut wrenching twang of the fish.

Current tea brewing is 6 gallons. Per gallon; Two teaspoons flower girl. Two teaspoons bat. One cup worm casings total. 5 teaspoons ashes (ph issue). Pour of Hydrogaurd. 2 tablespoons black strap. One tablespoon pure cane sugar. The sugar was added the next day. It's been brewing for a couple days. I can't express how much I've mixed it up. Even with the pump going. I mix it till the worm casings are suspended. Mixed and busted up as small as possible till the tea looks like espresso with a heavy froth.

It's going to the plants tomorrow.

The dosages are low because I give the bat and flower girl in plain water in between teas.

I brew teas using seed meals and minerals. Alfalfa with Neem, Kelp, Flax meal and soft rock phosphate, azomite, kmag, green sand and powdered limestone. I keep about 4 days with no trouble. Bone meals, fish meal and guano are preferred here for top dressing or in the base mix. Generally my teas smell wonderful. I use weak Alfalfa tea right till harvest. That has worked for years. Dawn and a scrub brush will help your stones last longer.

hillbill said:

I brew teas using seed meals and minerals. Alfalfa with Neem, Kelp, Flax meal and soft rock phosphate, azomite, kmag, green sand and powdered limestone. I keep about 4 days with no trouble. Bone meals, fish meal and guano are preferred here for top dressing or in the base mix. Generally my teas smell wonderful. I use weak Alfalfa tea right till harvest. That has worked for years. Dawn and a scrub brush will help your stones last longer.

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Thank you!!