Kefir w/membrane

[SCOBYnut]

Hello all. I am very new to kefir production and I have been disappointed with the flavor of my kefir. It has a very distinct sour milk after taste. Understand that I love butter milk and tangy cheeses. I read that it will mellow (and has a little already) with time.
The more pressing question is about a matted piece of grains in the middle of the colony I just broke up. My friend who shared her grains with me gave instruction to drain everyday and add 1/2 c milk. I have been doing this for 2 wks. Yesterday I decided to split my colony of grains (about 1/2 c after draining). I have been very careful not to jostle things too much but in separating them I found a rather tough membrane in the bunch. It is about 1 1/2" x 1/2" and has perfectly formed grains attached to it. Everything is white (perhaps the membrane is slightly beige) so I dropped the membrane piece into it's own crock w/milk. Is this normal? Also will rinsing grains in water improve taste? Thanks for any help.

[2gentlehands]

New here so not sure if we are allowed to pos links. If so, modrators scold me and I won't do again. Anyways, I found a st of pics of different grain structures at http://users.sa.chariot.net.au/~dna/kef/TM-KG-7mths.jpg

It was helpful to me cuz kefir is a whole new world .

[Christopher Weeks]

(mod note: Links are totally fine! If a user makes it obvious that they are here solely to shill for their product or service, I will straight up delete them and all their posts. If a "real" user starts to approach that point, I'll talk to them privately. Other uses of links, to support our shared mission of learning to ferment are always welcome, even to "competitor" sites, etc.)

(Also, I edited your note above so that the image would display on the page.)