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.)
(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
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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
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Yes, either will work!
Hi I just went to use my store bought bottle of ACV and realized the lid was barely on. There is whitish round flat disk in there. Is that a mother? If so I just add that to apple juice and let it sit for a while to make homemade ACV?
THANK YOU
That is surprising! Do you make kombucha or kefir at home? Usually, SCOBY’s like that (white disk) form when you have other ferments in your house. Typical ACV mothers are more of a dark stringy substance at the bottom of the bottle. However, your disk will probably turn apple juice into more ACV. Enjoy!
The only other thing have is a sourdough started that’s several years old. I keep it in the fridge and take it out for a few days to feed occasionally. Maybe from that? Are there other things to do with an ACV scooby?
It might have just come from the way it was cultured. I use ACV to culture a lot of other vegetables and pickles. But I haven’t tried using the SCOBY for anything other than ACV. You could always experiment with other types of juice? Enjoy!
The only other thing I have is a sourdough starter I take out of fridge and leave on counter to feed occasionally. Could it be from that? Also, should I put the whole disk in a batch or just cut a piece off? Thank you for all the great info.
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Working my way through my comments… and answered your earlier question first! You probably only need part of the disk, but you could use the whole thing if you only plan on making one batch of vinegar.
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
Hi,
I just put 9 cups of apple juice with a peice of mother in a jar. When do i start seeing bubbles or other signs that fermentation has started? when I made my previous batch of ACV with actual apples and sugar, I started to see the bubbles after 24 hrs. This is my first time making it with apple juice that’s why I was wondering when I would start seeing the first signs. Are there signs I should be watching for if the fermentation is not working at all? Or there maybe other issues?
Thanks
Farah
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As long as the mother is healthy, it should start fermenting right away. It sound like you had a nice piece of mother, so it’s probably fine. If it’s a sealed ferment (fido or airlock) you may notice bubbling. If you just have it covered in cloth, then all the gasses will escape and you might not see the bubbling.
Happy fermenting!
Thank you for your response. I had the mother stored in vinegar for the past six months and I just started this batch with apple juice and the mother sank to the bottom of the jar, I am not sure if thats ok. I have it covered with cloth.I guess I will be patient and hopefully it turns out good.
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It sounds like it’s fine. It won’t bubble as much because it doesn’t have the extra added sugar, and not being capped means that the carbonation just escapes. Good luck!
Thank you for your help Emillie.
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Hello,
I noticed a layer of kahms yeast developed on my ferment. It’s all white, it has texture and it’s a thin layer on the top. I dont think its mold because it would be blue/green color and hairy textire and inside the ferment.Should I scrape it off and continue or discard the entire ferment in your opinion?
I was thinking of waiting a week to see how it progresses? Any suggestions would be helpful?
Thanks
Hi Farah, If it’s slightly rubbery, it could also be a ACV mother. I have a photo of that on this post: https://www.fermentingforfoodies.com/scrappy-apple-cider-vinegar/
And here’s a good post on the difference between mold and kham yeast with some photos: https://www.fermentingforfoodies.com/kahm-yeast-mold/
Hopefully you can figure it out! If it’s kahm yeast, then I would use the vinegar for cooking and cleaning, but I wouldn’t drink it raw.
Thanks Emillie. I will read your recommended post and figure it out.
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I made 6 32oz Jars with just a mother then regular apple juice and put the lid on 3 days ago. Should I remove lid and put cheese cloth on now or is it already ruined?
Never fear, it will be fine! The biggest risk is a bit of pressure in the jars, which might cause them to break. Good luck!
Hi,
Last Fall I used a steamer/juicer and then canned the apple juice. Will this juice work for ACV?
Yes! Just add in a good quality ACV with a mother.
Thank you!!
Hello Emillie
do you think I could use kombucha scoby instead of the mother? Thank you
Kombucha is very similar to an ACV mother, but not exactly the same. I certainly think it would work. It won’t be as happy as a mother, but it will acidify the apple juice. The resulting vinegar will be perfect for salads. Just don’t use it for canning pickles as it might not be the necessary 5% acidity. Good luck!
Apple cider vinegar can cure or help with a myriad of diseases and health problems such as arthritis, osteoporosis, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, cancer, infection, indigestion, memory and aging.
Thank you for the recipe, I am going to make this.
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Could you please reference your sources and books. Thanks!
Hum… I’ve been making ACV since before I owned fermenting books and before fermenting was even a thing. I started this website wayback when because there really wasn’t other good fermenting advice available on the web. 🙂 I’ve been slowly updating my older posts (this is one of them), but I don’t really have any sources beyond traditional knowledge for this particular post. Cheers!
Thank you for the insightful information. I have cultivated kombucha for over 50 years and will be making ACV as my husband requested. Fermented foods have amazing health benefits and in this world of pastuerization, we loose the benefits from bacterial gut floras. The new research into gut flora is confirming that Crohn’s disease and gastric issues are a result of poor gut flora. Keep up the good work on educating the public of the benefits of fermented foods.
Thanks! I love this ACV recipe. Really easy and delicious. Enjoy!
I made fresh juice and it had a bit of foam on the top. A bit of mold started to grow on top, but it looked as though the mother protected the juice below. I took her out and removed the foam scum from the edge. It doesn’t smell like mold. Do you think it might be okay? Is there a way to tell? Like if it actually turns to vinegar then all is well, or can the mold still exist either way?
Apple cider vinegar is a bit prone to kahm yeast, so that might be what you have. That is completely harmless and will die off as the vinegar becomes more acidic. Take a look at some pictures of kahm yeast to confirm. If the mold was growing on a SCOBY-like mother (floating on top), then you can throw it away and the ACV should be fine to keep fermenting. The acidity of the vinegar should prevent any deep contamination with mold.
If you are still concerned, then use it for cooking rather than raw. Good luck!
Loved your recipes for making apple cider vinegar. Can’t wait to try both. Got to thinking, yeah, I know it’s dangerous but I like to do it once in a while. What if you wanted to make other fruit vinegars? Could you use the same method of “inoculating” other fruit juices, let’s say raspberry with some of the mother from the ACV? Thanks
Experimenting is what fermenting is all about! And a good ACV mother will turn any fruit juice into vinegar, so it’s a good way to play around with fermenting. Enjoy!