Homemade apple cider vinegar is really easy to make. It’s just apple juice that’s fermented through the hard cider stage into vinegar. All you need is: apple juice, an apple cider vinegar mother, and time.
What is a apple cider vinegar mother?
An apple cider vinegar mother is a combination of bacteria and yeasts that convert the sugars in apple juice into acetic acid (vinegar).
There are several ways of getting a mother to make homemade apple cider vinegar:
- If you are using raw, unfiltered apple juice, then you could let it spontaneously ferment from the free range bacteria and yeasts in your home. However, this is isn’t the most reliable way of making ACV, so it doesn’t always work.
- A traditional way to make vinegar is to ferment juice with champagne yeast
through the hard cider stage. Then allow the free range bacteria to culture the juice as it converts from hard cider into vinegar. - The EASIEST way of getting a mother is to buy raw cider vinegar and inoculate your juice with a bit of the finished vinegar. However, not all cider vinegar is cultured. Cultured apple cider vinegar is dark coloured and will have dark floating bits that settle on the bottom of the bottle. There are several brands of cider vinegar with mother available on the market, including: Viva Naturals, Bragg and Dynamic Health (affiliate links.)
through the hard cider stage. Then allow the free range bacteria to culture the juice as it converts from hard cider into vinegar.
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and 
(affiliate links.)Regardless, of the method you use, eventually the apple juice will be colonized by the natural flora in your home for your own cider vinegar culture. I always end up with a scoby-like thing on the top of my vinegar… even though I don’t brew kombucha at home.
The picture below shows fresh juice with the mother at the bottom (on the left). The jar on the right is finished vinegar. I like to cycle through my cider vinegar by continuously culturing one jar at a time. Though in the fall, I always make a few batches of scrap apple vinegar.
How to Make Apple Cider Vinegar
Learn how to turn apple juice into delicious and probiotic apple cider vinegar. It’s really easy to make apple cider vinegar with a mother for an affordable and healthy alternative to store-bought ACV.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 3 1/4 cups 1x
- Category: Condiment
- Method: Fermented
- Cuisine: Probiotic
Ingredients
- 3 cups apple juice (pressed, not from concentrate)
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar (with mother) or 1 piece of mother
Instructions
- Combine the apple juice and mother in a glass jar.
- Cover with a breathable cotton cloth, firmly attached with a rubber band or a mason jar ring to keep the fruit flies out.
- Leave it to culture in a dark cool location for at least 2 months or until ready for use. No need to stir or check on the vinegar.
Notes
- Unless you test for pH
, you won’t know the actual acidity of your vinegar. So don’t use homemade vinegar for pickling or other recipes where acidity levels are important. Otherwise, it’s perfect for salad dressing and sauces, etc.
- If you want to filter out the floating bits just pour the vinegar through a coffee filter.
- If mold grows on top of your juice then you have to throw it away and start again. To avoid this, don’t use heavily processed apple juice (e.g. most brands that ship across the country) and culture in a cool (18C / 64F) and dark location.
, you won’t know the actual acidity of your vinegar. So don’t use homemade vinegar for pickling or other recipes where acidity levels are important. Otherwise, it’s perfect for salad dressing and sauces, etc.Keywords: probiotic, healthy, anti-candida, paleo, keto, vegan, whole 30, ACV, how to make, homemade, raw
I couldn’t resist commenting. Perfectly written!
Hi
I just had a quick question. I got organic apple juice but it is from concentrate. Can I still use it? If I can’t use it, is there a reason? And any other options?
Thanks
Farah
★★★★★
It is probably fine, however, it needs to be preservative free. Not everything is required to be on an ingredients list and natural/organic approved preservatives are one of those things.
Thank you Emilie.
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Hi Emillie,
I just wanted to clarify that you can use either 1/4 cup ACV with mother OR a piece of mother from your previous batch of ACV added to the juice and you are on your way to making your ACV. Correct?
Thank you
Farah
★★★★★
Yes, either will work!
We squeezed apple juice last fall and I have some of that juice in the freezer. Could I thaw some and use it to follow your directions or would that freezing have changed anything in the juice? Thanks!
Fresh apple juice would ferment better. However, I don’t see why freezing would stop the fermentation. Just make sure you have a really good ACV mother.
Thank you! Will give it a try.
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Hi! I still have my raw organic apple juice from the freezer – do you think it will do vinegar since it is from a few years ago, defrosted from frozen? And could I mix it with green apples that have fallen from the tree this year?
Thanks!
It should work, especially if you added a few fresh apples. I’m actually making a batch myself right now! Though I’m using store-bought juice. Wish I had an apple tree. 🙂
Is apple juice with antioxidant: ascorbic acid ok to use?
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I haven’t tried using apple juice with ascorbic acid, however, in general ascorbic acid doesn’t prevent fermentation, so it should be fine. If you try it, let me know how it goes. Thanks!
Thank you for the recipe!
Do you know the difference between using pasteurized apple cider vs. raw juice? (Would this be the difference between ACV & Raw ACV??)
Either will work for ACV. With pasteurized juice it’s MORE important to start with a good culture, where as raw juice might have some of its own natural culture. I’m guessing store bought raw ACV is cultured, where as no name brand ACV wouldn’t have a culture.
do fruit flies and their eggs spoil the acv while fermenting
It always sucks to discover fruit flies in a ferment. I usually use airlocks, so occasionally I’ll see fruit flies in the airlocks, which I know came from the fermenting liquid. However, they usually die off pretty quick. (I guess because they leave the liquid and get caught in the airlock.) They don’t seem to affect the final product.
HOWEVER, if you are fermenting in a jar with a cloth on it, I’m not exactly sure how you would stop the fruit flies from not continuously breeding. I don’t think they will hurt the ferment, but it could get overrun with fruit flies.
I have apples from my trees, What is the best way Get them ready for vinegar? I have a juicer, a blender, a chopper, but no press. If I justice them, do you put the pulp back in to ferment it all? I usually brew wine, we use Camden tablets to stop natural molds from growing . Is this something I should use in making vinegar?
Hi Lacy, This version of ACV is made with apple juice, so you could use the juicer. However, you could also make scrap apple vinegar (which isn’t as rich as trad ACV, but also good: https://www.fermentingforfoodies.com/scrappy-apple-cider-vinegar/
Either way, don’t add Camden tablets (other than perhaps for sterilizing the jar) because the natural yeasts and bacteria aren’t as tolerant as winemaking yeasts. I’ve never had mold issues with either type of vinegar. However, don’t use moldy or bad apples.
Great Blog! I found this very informative. I have some questions I was hoping you can help answer.
1. I noticed in your comments that you use an airlock. From my understanding, an airlock allows carbon dioxide produced from the fermentation process to escape while not allowing oxygen and contaminants to go in. On your instructions, you said to put a cloth with a rubber band or ring lid to keep the fruit flies out. However, does this allow oxygen to go in? Does the Cloth method aerobic fermentation vs Air Lock anaerobic fermentation have a difference?
2. I am using a cold press juicer at home with my apples to get my apple juice. Can I add water diluting the juice so that I get more liquid end product or do I have to use 100% apple juice? Or can I use sugar + water?
Thank you so much! Keep up the great work,
Hi Jimmy, I actually haven’t used airlocks for ACV, and I haven’t had fruit flies… but that’s because I use store-bought juice. I have had fruit flies when I make wine from whole fruits. I think it’s fine to use an airlock or fido jar as long as you have a really good ACV mother. Otherwise, just using a cloth allows free range yeasts and bacteria to help with the culture.
I have never diluted my juice with sugar water, but you certainly could. The flavour won’t be quite as strong and rich. However, it will ferment. Perhaps use a ratio similar to my scrap-apple vinegar recipe: https://www.fermentingforfoodies.com/scrappy-apple-cider-vinegar/
Cheers, Emillie