Having recently prepared apple cider and frozen apple slices, it occurred to me that I should give brewing cider vinegar a whirl. After all, I’ve brewed plenty of wine and soda pop and both could unintentionally turn into vinegar… why not do it on purpose?
Cider vinegar has been touted for its health benefits. Years ago, I recall my great-uncle consuming it every day to help with his cancer therapy. My father-in-law takes a capful each morning to help with his IBS. It’s claimed that cider vinegar can help with everything from acne to yeast infections. It helps make hair shiny, it can be used as a cleanser, and it adds a great tang to salads.
So I looked into multiple recipes. Some called for adding sugar, others yeast. Wanting to keep my vinegar as organic, natural, and healthful as possible, I avoided those recipes and combined two recipes to suit my needs. The originals can be found at wikibooks.org and at Ultimate Money Blog. So you may ask why did I change the recipes? For simplicity and for eating “nose to tail” so to speak. I’ve had so many apple scraps that are happily going to my compost pile (and in turn into my chickens’ bellies as they scavenge) but I’d rather make a better use of them for immediate consumption. Also, Autumn apples have plenty of sugar to spare. Finally, I want to capture a “wild yeast” instead of using a winemaking or bread baking yeast in order to keep it as beneficial as possible. So this is what I came up with:
Apple Cider Vinegar
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Apple scraps: peels, cores and flesh – cleaned and removed of dirt and bruised areas.
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Chlorine-free water to cover fruit, preferably filtered or boiled.
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Food-grade plastic, stainless steel, or glass containers. Vinegar can corrode some metals.
- Campden tablet (optional)
- Put fruit scraps into your containers and just cover with water. Add a campden tablet if desired to kill any bacteria or yeast that could interfere with your desired wild yeast. Leave plenty of air space to encourage circulation and give room for bubbling. Cover with some cheesecloth or another fine cloth to keep fruit flies out, yet allow fresh oxygen (and wild yeast!) to enter. Keep your container out of sunlight and in room temperature (about 65F to 70F).
- Encourage the fruit to break down and fermentation to work its magic by mixing the solution every day for two weeks. After two weeks, remove the fruit scraps.
- Allow fermentation to continue. Once the bubbling slows down siphon the solution into a clean container, avoiding the sediment and foam. This may need to happen the day after you remove the fruit scraps depending on how quickly the process is working for your individual solution. Don’t do it the same day as removing the fruit scraps will stir up any sediment – give it a day to settle.
- Let this second container do its work for another 2-3 months. It should develop a white film on top – the vinegar mother. You want to keep this mother so you can continue to brew vinegar year round! You can now remove up to two-thirds of your vinegar for use. Refresh your mother with fresh, clear cider and you will have another batch of vinegar ready in about two to three months.
Please note that unless you can verify the acid levels (5% acetic acid) you should not use this vinegar for preservation, especially in canning. Canning goods requires a specific acid level in order to keep out harmful bacteria and keep food fresh.
Over the next couple of months I’ll update my progress with my first batch of vinegar. Have you ever made vinegar before whether intentionally or not?
You can also find Jennifer at Unearthing This Life where she blargs about living in rural Tennessee.
Great post! I’m seeing where I made a few choices that might have been done better when I made vinegar from pineapple scraps. The taste was great but it was milky and not pleasant to look at. I kept it moving everyday including the sediments and foam. Next time I’ll leave that behind, then age it. It’s very simple to do but you have to have faith and patience that’s it’s NOT spoiled. Maybe I’ll try again with apples…it was fun to do and tasty.
Thanks, Susan! I’m really excited to taste the results. I’ll definitely have to try the pineapple scraps sometime soon. Sounds like a great salad dressing base.
That doesn’t sound too hard. I will have to try that next year!
Vinegar is on my to do list. It looks easier that I thought it would be. I’ll have to try it this winter.
My mother is a firm believer in apple cider vinegar’s health benefits. She swears that it kept me healthy when every other kid in school was sick with colds, ear infections, etc. I still remember drinking hot apple cider vinegar with honey and lemon juice. I should try it on my kids this winter!
Sparklee, I’m interested to see the health benefits this winter, especially with the homemade unpasteurized version!
Man, i cannot WAIT to make my own vinegar. One of the items on my very long ‘once we move and have access to more fruits etc) list.
It’s definitely super easy. You could even manage small batches with the scraps from just a few peices of fruit!
I’ve been brewing my own vinegar for quite a while. I have a great local source for unpasteurized cider, so I use that. It’s so easy to make, I usually just put in a wide glass jar, cover with some cheesecloth and put in a dark place for 4-6 months. Each year I make 5-8 gallons of ACV and use this almost exclusively. I also have made pear vinegar from juice leftover from home canned pears.
I’m considering getting a nice oak barrel to age my vinegar in from year to year, this should enhance the flavor quite a bit I think, although mine is already better than store-bought.
Good to know what to expect.
A gardening friend of mine is aging her own whiskey and has a small barrel (big enough for the bottle of whiskey, so 750ml) for aging. Also you can purchase wood chips made from old barrels to steep in wine. They should be just as good in vinegar. I noticed them the last time I purchased wine making supplies.
Hmmm… I’ve had mine brewing for a few days and have mold growing on the surface. Can that be right?
You shouldn’t have any mold, but a white film will develop that is the Mother and will digest the sugars, transforming them into vinegar. If you do have mold I would start over again and look into Campden tablets. You may have some wild spores in the area. You can find the tablets at wine making retailers.
What a great idea! I’ve been collecting apple scraps in a gallon bag in the freezer for a few months now and just made apple pectin stock, but I have half a bag left. I love ideas like this that give you something for nothing.