Water Kefir Potential Overbrewing or Contamination Question

[MrBoard]

Hello, I have some experience with milk kefir, but am trying water kefir fermenting for the first time.

I just got my grains in the mail not too long ago... I put them in a mixture of spring water, molasses, and organic palm sugar.

Unfortunately for me, I had to take off for a bit longer than I was planning and my kefir brewed for 4-5 days, rather than 2... Now it looks a little funky...

I took a picture, could anyone tell me if this looks normal, or if I have to throw everything out and get new grains? I am mostly talking about the weird looking ring of funk on the inside of the jar at the top of the liquid.

[MrBoard]

Nobody knows???

[Tibor]

It's hard to tell how screwed up it is. I would strain out the grains and start over and see what happens after 2 days. Remove the grains after 2 days.Then add whatever flavor you want and leave for 2 more days and finally transfer that into tight snap lock bottles for about one day. If it builds pressure, then I think your grains are still good.While you are doing this,make sure you have added sugar and water to your grains and refrigerate until you see if the grains are still fine as you finish your first batch. I have refrigerated kefir grains for up to 10 days in the fridge before bringing it out to start another round. Hope that helps.