BoochBot is testing this tool with home brewers. Results stay advisory.
Open research tool
SCOBY photo check
BoochBot is testing this SCOBY photo check with real home brewers. Upload a photo of your brew surface and get a conservative, advisory second opinion. Your upload helps improve the model.
The result is not a lab test or food-safety clearance.
If growth is fuzzy, raised, dry, or colored, treat it conservatively and, when in doubt, discard the batch.
Model benchmark
Mold recall matters most: it measures how often the model catches mold examples in a source-separated test. This photo check is still advisory and cannot guarantee a batch is safe.
- Images reviewed
- 1,077
- Latest evaluation
- 2026-07-08
- Grouped test images
- 1,077 across 602 sources
- Overall accuracy
- 77%
- Mold precision
- 34%
- Mold recall
- 48% (67% at mold-sensitive setting)
mold-like
This photo has mold-like signals
Do not drink or taste this batch just to check. When kombucha has fuzzy, raised, dry, or colored growth, the conservative action is to discard it.
kahm-like
This looks more like kahm yeast than mold
Kahm is usually flat, dry-looking, wrinkled, or film-like, and mostly affects flavor. Inspect it manually and discard if anything is fuzzy, raised, colored, or smells wrong.
healthy-looking
No obvious mold-like signals
No obvious mold-like visual signals were detected in this photo. This is not a food-safety clearance — keep using normal hygiene, smell, and pH/taste checks, and conservative judgment.
unsure
Not clear enough to call
The photo isn't clear enough, or the model isn't confident enough, to give a useful answer. Try a better-lit, top-down photo, or inspect manually. If you suspect mold, discard the batch.
not a SCOBY?
This doesn't look like a kombucha SCOBY
The second-opinion check couldn't find a clear kombucha brew surface in this photo — it may be a bottle, packaging, a hand, or a side-on shot. For a useful result, try a top-down photo of the pellicle on the surface of your brew.
Extra insight (experimental second opinion)
Suggestions
An AI model looked at your photo to add context. It is experimental and advisory — it does not change the result above or judge whether your batch is safe.
We couldn't finish analyzing this photo automatically, so we've stored it for a closer look. Treat the result as unsure and inspect the batch yourself.
This photo check is a research pilot and stays advisory. It is not a food-safety clearance for the batch.
Did this match what you saw in your brew?
Thanks — that helps us improve the model.
Help improve this tool
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