Learn how to make apple cider vinegar, even if you’ve never fermented anything before. It is really easy and affordable. All you need is apple juice, raw ACV, and time!
There are several ways to make 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 isn’t the most reliable option.
- The traditional way to make vinegar is to ferment juice with champagne yeast into hard apple cider. Then allow the free-range bacteria (or vinegar mother) to convert the hard cider into vinegar.
- Scrap apple vinegar is made using the cores and peels of apple juice, mixed with raw sugar to feed the ferment. It’s not as acidic or flavorful as ACV. But it is a good way to use up apple scraps!
- The EASIEST way to make apple cider vinegar is to inoculate juice with a vinegar mother. Keeping the ferment open to the air allows wild yeasts to help convert the sugars to alcohol, while the vinegar mother converts the alcohol into vinegar.
What is a vinegar mother?
An apple cider vinegar mother is comprised of acetic acid bacteria. It converts ethanol (alcohol) into acetic acid (vinegar).
There are plenty of brands of apple cider vinegar that contain a mother. However, not all store-bought cider vinegar is cultured. Less expensive brands are colored and flavored like ACV, but they’re not actually cultured apple cider vinegar.
How do you know which brands are cultured?
- Cultured apple cider vinegar will have dark floating bits that settle on the bottom of the bottle. This is the mother.
- Look for brands that are labeled raw, unpasteurized, or with mother.
- A few of the brands that I have successfully used are Viva Naturals, Bragg, and Dynamic Health.
What if my vinegar made a rubbery disk?
Discovering a rubbery disk floating on top of your vinegar is totally fine. It is called a vinegar pellicle. And it is a combination of a mother and cellulose.
I actually make quite a bit of vinegar, and I get a pellicle about 1/3 of the time. I usually get a vinegar pellicle with scrap apple or apple cider vinegar. Other fruits seem less inclined to form pellicles.
Save your pellicles! They are perfect for culturing future batches of vinegar.
Can I use other types of juice?
Vinegar can be made with all sorts of different fruit juices! Simply follow the same recipe using your favorite type of juice!
Pear, blueberry, and peach vinegar are all delicious!
Here are a few things to consider when choosing what juice to use for vinegar:
- Avoid acidic juices. There’s a reason why orange juice isn’t used to make wine, cider, or vinegar!
- Don’t use juice that is from concentrate.
- Preservatives will slow or stop the fermentation. So use freshly pressed juice or juice that is labeled preservative-free.
Flavoring vinegar
Homemade vinegar is perfect for flavor infusions. Just don’t add any of the flavors until after it has finished fermenting.
If you aren’t sure how to infuse flavor into vinegar, check out this post on making fire cider. Fire cider is the ultimate flavor infusion! My personal favorite combination is orange rosemary. It’s just divine in salad dressings!
PrintHow 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. It is a deliciously affordable 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
- Diet: Vegan
Ingredients
- 3 cups apple juice (pressed, not from concentrate)
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar (with mother, see notes)
Instructions
- Mix the apple juice with the vinegar in a glass jar. Shake the bottle of vinegar to mix the mother into the vinegar before measuring it out.
- Cover the jar with a breathable cotton cloth firmly attached with a rubber band or a mason jar ring to keep the fruit flies out. It’s important to let the vinegar have access to oxygen to properly ferment, so don’t cap it with an airlock or pickle pipe.
- Leave the vinegar to culture in a dark location for at least 2 months. There’s no need to stir or check on the vinegar.
- After 2 months, taste it. It should taste sour, like vinegar! If it’s not quite there, let it ferment for a bit longer.
- Pour the finished vinegar into a bottle or a clean jar for long-term storage and use. Store at room temperature in a dark location. It will continue to develop the flavor as it ages. And the acidity is a great preservative. So homemade vinegar should last for several years.
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 recipes where acidity levels are important. It’s perfect for salad dressing, sauces, and other culinary uses.
- If you want to filter out the floating bits just pour the vinegar through a coffee filter when botting.
- Simple apple cider vinegar is prone to kahm yeast. Don’t worry about it, as it will die off as the vinegar acidifies. However, if mold grows on top of your juice then you have to throw it away and start again. Honestly, I’ve never had mold grown on vinegar… but if you’re concerned, don’t use raw, unpasteurized apple juice.
, you won’t know the actual acidity of your vinegar. So don’t use homemade vinegar for pickling or recipes where acidity levels are important. It’s perfect for salad dressing, sauces, and other culinary uses.Keywords: probiotic, healthy, anti-candida, paleo, keto, gluten-free, low-fat, 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’m not exactly sure how you would stop the fruit flies from continuously breeding. I don’t think they will hurt the ferment, but it could get overrun with fruit flies.
I know this is a older conversation but I just bought a full gallon of apple cider from a market near I was hiking but when I tried it after we were home it’s tasting a little like vinegar and smells like it. Could I add some ACV and let it turn?
Legally, I have to warn you that things that ferment when you didn’t expect them to, might not be safe to consume. However, if it was raw apple cider, then there’s a good chance that it is turning to vinegar. 🙂 Probably worth trying! You’ll know if it goes moldy.
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 because the vinegar needs oxygen to properly ferment. I haven’t had fruit flies… but that’s because I use store-bought juice.
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
★★★★★
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. However, because this is an open ferment 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. 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! 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!
I also have a Kombucha Scooby and was wondering if it would work. How did yours turn out?
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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!
Hi Emilie,
What is a good mother?
I have a big mother, which is like a 1cm thick disk which is on the bottom of my vinegar container and then there are several, I guess younger mother disks lying on top of that. The youngest is a thin translucent jelly. Which one should I use to start a new batch?
Any of those will work. My reference of a good mother is more to prevent people from trying to use non-cultured apple cider flavoured vinegar. Not all ACV is actually cultured. If you have all those SCOBY’s, then you definitely have a good mother!
Hey Folks,
A few comments in regards to the questions here.
The Acetic Acid (vinegar) comes from a fermentation of Ethyl Alcohol (ethanol) to Acetic Acid by a bacteria called Acetobacter. The fermentation also creates CO2 gas.
There are two stages to the production. First, the Fermentation of Sugar (from the apple juice) to Ethanol, then the second Fermentation from Ethanol to Acetic Acid.
The first Fermentation is performed by yeast. Yeast requires oxygen to reproduce (O2 is needed for cell membrane production for Daughter Cell production) so that the fermentation can occur.
In the second fermentation, Acetobacter will work much more quickly in the presence of dissolved oxygen. In traditional wooden barrel Vinegar fermentation, O2 slowly flows through the pore structure of the wood barrel staves, and allows the Acetobacter to produce Acetic Acid very effectively. Also consider the traditional Balsamic Vinegar production process: White grape juice is poured over balsa wood plates (porous & laden with yeast & bacteria from previous batches), which oxegenates the juice and adds the correct microflora. The juice is then aged for years in wooden barrels, where the oxygen oxidises the juice further, darkening it, and ensuring the bacteria produces a high level of Acetic Acid. The slow evaporation through the barrel also concentrates the vinegar over time – similar to the “Angel’s Share” that happens with Whisky aging.
Both Fermentations CAN occur simultaneously, but the yeast must first begin converting the sugar to ethanol prior to the Acetobacter producing Acetic Acid.
Folks asked if Ascorbic Acid will prevent the fermentation. No. Ascorbic Acid (vitamin C) is a preservative added to foods to prevent spoilage by Oxidisation. Simply aerate the cider very well to add oxygen.
Using a bung/airlock will make the fermentation of Ethanol to Acetic Acid very slow, especially if you do not have good dissolved oxygen at the beginning of the fermentation. A cloth over a covered vessel will allow gas exchange, and will allow the fermentation to proceed quickly. You can use an airlock, but just make sure to aerate the cider very well at first, to mix oxygen into the liquid.
Absolutely do not close the container/jar during fermentation as CO2 will be produced and will very likely cause the container to explode.
Campden Tablets / Potassium Metabisulphate / Sodium Metabisulphate will prevent the Acetobacter from starting as the Metabisulphate binds the available oxygen. If your juice/cider has Metabisulphate added, pour it back and forth between two jugs for a few minutes, then let it rest for 24h prior to adding your yeast (for Alcoholic Fermentation) or Mother (for Acetic Acid Fermentation).
A Mother is not absolutely required for the fermentation, as Acetobacter is ubiquitous in the environment. Given an opportunity to grow in an alcoholic medium, and the presence of O2, vinegar production is pretty much inevitable, but using a Mother can really speed things up, as you are adding a very large number of viable bacteria, so the time for the bacteria to multiply to a critical level in order to perform the fermentation is greatly reduced. Additionally, the Mother helps to make sure that your Acetobacter out-competes other microorganisms that might cause mould / etc.
Anyways, hope this helps folks.
Wow! You are very well informed! And I agree with all of this. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you, happy to contribute.
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Hi Emillie,
Would it be ok if I just keep the vinegar in the same jar instead of transferring it to another jar?
What’s your take on juicing the fruits first instead of filtering at the end?
Also I understand that making vinegar takes 2 steps, with the first step making alcohol, which has to be completed in an anaerobic environment instead of aerobic environment. This step has to be completed before moving on to the second step of fermenting vinegar, which must be in an aerobic environment. It seems that most people are using just one step, i.e. using a coffee filter or cheese cloth all way through. Would this affect the quality of the vinegar, and is that why many are not successful and end up with mold?
Thanks, I appreciate your sharing your experience.
Jac
Hi Jac,
This simple vinegar does not follow the same process as turning juice into hard cider then fermenting through to vinegar. It starts with the acetic acid bacteria and yeast culture (ACV mother) right away. This is why it needs to be kept in an aerobic environment. So it’s a bit different from traditional vinegar in this way.
As for your other questions: I think it’s fine to keep the vinegar in the same jar. I usually bottle it before using it as there’s a lot of spent yeast at the bottom of the fermenting jar. Also, I like a smaller mouth for more control while pouring. I’m not sure exactly what you mean by juicing the fruits first… but the juice doesn’t have to filtered for this recipe to work. Enjoy! Emillie
Thank you
I’ve never fermented, but have some cider that has started to ferment. Can I make ACV by following your recipe? Also, we just finished canning apple pie filling and have apple juice from cooking the apples. Can I use that for ACV?
Hum… in general, I have to warn people against consuming something that spontaneously started to ferment. However, if it was raw juice, then it quite likely is turning into vinegar. And the apple pie filling juice is fine to use for vinegar. (I’m assuming it’s just apple juice? Or juice mixed with sugar?) I recommend keeping them in separate jars, then you’ll have a better test of whether the ferment is working.
If either of them starts to mold, then you’ll have to throw it out. Also, watch for brown/tan sediment. That is actually a sign that the ferment is working. Good luck!
I canned fresh apple slices in a very light syrup. Even though I followed the recipe they are not firm enough for fried apples so I would like to use them for apple cider vinegar. Would this work?
Hum… this particular recipe uses apple juice. However, your apples in syrup sound like it might work for my scrap apple vinegar: https://www.fermentingforfoodies.com/scrappy-apple-cider-vinegar/
You may need to adjust the sugar/water to fit with the recipe. But it should work as long as you have a good quality apple cider vinegar with a mother for the culture. I recommend trying just one jar first to see how it goes. You should know if it’s working within a month. It might not be vinegar at that point, but it should be a lot less sweet.
Good luck!
Thank you so much. I enjoy reading your comments and recipes.
I have a gallon of filtered acv. Is it possible to use that instead of apple juice?
Hi Kellie, are you wanting to culture your filtered ACV? I’m not sure how that would work, because I imagine the sugars have already been fermented. Cheers!
Makes sense. I just have this gallon of filtered and didn’t want to pour it down the drain. 🙂 Thanks so much for the reply!
Hi there,
What would be the benefit of making acv if you still have to buy apple juice? I mean if I had my own trees, it would be obviously a no brainer. I thought making it with apple peels was interesting, but after reading your article, it seems that’s not the best method. Which means you need to have apple juice. Either store bought or store bought apples that you make into juice. It seems equal to buying store bought acv if you compare apples to….apples! ha ha…So in your experience what is the difference or benefit between buying store bought apple juice to make acv vs just buying acv?
Thank you!
Hi Lisa,
I always make scrap apple vinegar. It’s not the same as real ACV… but it’s very affordable (nearly free) and perfect for anything that needs a bit of acidity. I use it for mixing in homemade sauces, cooking bone broth, and flavoring ferments. Making real ACV will depend on the cost of ACV versus apple juice where you live. In the fall, there is lots of cheap, locally made apple juice in the PNW (where I live). There isn’t really a difference between high-quality (raw, with mother) ACV and homemade ACV. However, cheap ACV is very different.
Cheers, Emillie
made fresh raw cider 3 weeks ago. Froze a bunch. Can it still be used for vinegar? i will ferment with airlock first 2 weeks to create hard cider. Then I will add raw ACV for 6-10 weeks. Just curious if the wild yeasts survived the freeze or should I add champagne yeast.
Hi, The wild yeast should survive 3 weeks of freezing. I often freeze cultures to keep them live and active. However, it will ferment quicker if you add either champagne yeast or a bit of ACV with a mother. Cheers, Emillie
The bottle of apple cider that I have contains potassium sorbate. Can that be used to make ACV?
Hi Julie, Unfortunately, potassium sorbate is a preservative, so it may prevent fermentation. I can’t say for certain, as I usually make ACV from preservative-free juice. If you are really motivated, you could try testing a small amount of juice first? Cheers, Emillie
Thank you for your reply. I may try a small amount just for fun.
Hi Emilie
I have in my fridge an amount of what I think is ACV mother left from about 4years ago when I turned some home made cider that was too sour into vinegar. I also have a bumper crop of the same eating apples this year! Do you think I could use this to make more ACV? It’s brown and stringy and smells very vinegary! Still in some liquid too and stored in a lidded plastic container, so not completely air tight, I would think. Also, if I use a steam extractor for the juice, will this stop the fermentation? Thank you!. Kate
Hi Kate, It does sound like your previous batch turned into cider. However, I can’t really say whether you should use it to make more ACV. Likely you can, but without smelling and tasting the previous batch myself, it’s hard to be certain. The liquid vinegar itself is the mother, so it doesn’t need to be thick. If you’re really keen, live cultured ACV is readily available in most grocery stores. Then you would have a guaranteed culture.
A steam extractor will pasteurize the apples, so they won’t naturally ferment. But they will still ferment if you add culture after the juice has cooled to room temperature. Cheers!