Does anyone have any tricks to brew up a large(r) quantity of ayahuasca from the above mentioned starting materials, using vitamin C crystals as buffer, and fresh lemon juice to obtain pH 4 from the start?

How do you make it last longer? Freeze it in an ice cube tray?

I let a brew sit in the fridge for 3 days, later to find it seemed very weak. I understand it's brewed fresh in traditional ceremonies, but I don't always have 6+ hours free to begin the day with. I'm looking for practical methods for extending shelf life.

I know one practical way to extend shelf life is to do a full extraction and purification of crystals, and go the pharmahuasca route, but I'm not ready to go that route yet. Simplicity is key right now.

If freezing is considered a safe way to preserve the brew, I might make ice cubes of known quantity, and after frozen solid, pull them out and vacuum seal the cubes quickly, and return them to the freezer to minimize oxidation and minimize freezer humidity issues.

Any thoughts?

I just realized my question left some ambiguity again.... When I said large(r) quantity, what I meant was making enough for several personal, solo journeys over the time course of a few weeks (so I don't have to brew so often).

My apologies if that was misinterpreted in any other way.

I'm trying to get an idea about shelf life in the fridge and freezer, independent of quantity.

Thank you. =)

I haven't brewed acacia but i can't see any reason why it should loose potency after only three days. Are you sure? Perhaps you ate something heavy before the trip and it slowed it down? I've had rue and mimosa last in the fridge for a month or two before and never loose potency. Each trip at the same dose can be so different, so there is that as well. But maybe you drank some of the sediment the first time? It can be pretty active, and after a few days can really drop out to the bottom of the brew.

You can freeze it if you want. I guess it depends on how long you want it to last. I used to brew up kilos of caapi vine and a few hundred grams of rue and just drink it when I wanted for a month or two...I would then re-boil it for a few minutes every couple weeks just to make sure it stays good, and to evap off any alcohol from fermentation. Eventually I run out of caapi and end up extracting harmalas from what is left of the rue. You can freeze it if you want, and it would probably last years if you did, but if its only a couple weeks then I wouldn't bother.

side note: Technically what your doing is not "ayahuasca"... it has to have the amazonian vine to be considered that. But thats not to say it isn't an awesome alternative! ;]

UC: Thanks for the reply. It's been a busy few days for me. I apologize for the tardiness of this message.

Thanks for the info. I think I know how to interpret what happened now. It was a combination of things. First, I used less syrian rue tea with the leftover acacia 'blood'. Second, some of the red dye-like sediment was left behind in the flask. Third, total quantity/dose was lower. These things led me to believe the shelf life might be very short. I am happy to be wrong about that!

Thanks again.