This simple way to make cider vinegar needs few tools. A large bucket, hose, then bottles or demijohns (one gallon glass jars).
We used a combination of cooking and cider apples. I show you the different colours.
Adam (ads_wood on Instagram) and I crushed the apples 12th November, since when they have been in the 30 litre/7 gallon containers for 32 days, in the warmth of my conservatory.
Fermentation was rapid but now has almost stopped, so I show one way of extracting the liquid, by siphoning.
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Next I leave the cider without a sealed top or cap, exposed to the vinegar bacteria present in air.
A vinegar mother will form – or we could add some from any unpasteurised cider vinegar, where they are often present.
Filmed by Adam on the phone, 14th December 2021.
For the first stage of how we crushed the apples, I uploaded a video on my Instagram account https://www.instagram.com/charles_dowding/, scroll to 12th November.
Timestamps:
[00:01]🍎 Introduction to cider and vinegar fermentation process
- Making vinegar from apples with intermediate cider phase,
- Initial fermentation of apples in the house for about a month,
- Difference between this process and traditional cider making using just apple juice.
[00:59]🍹 Siphoning the fermented mixture
- Siphoning method to extract cider from fermentation,
- Appearance and feel of siphoned cider,
- Idea to let cider in jars turn into vinegar using a soft seal to prevent flies but allow air.
[01:25]🤔 Vinegar mother: Need and purpose
- Vinegar mother can speed up vinegar-making process,
- Mother is the gloopy substance on top when cider turns into vinegar,
- Comparison of vinegar mother to kombucha.
[02:12]🥤 Monitoring siphoning process and explaining cider colors
- Importance of monitoring fermentation level during siphoning,
- Color difference between cider made from cider apples and cooking apples,
- Description of cider flavors and tannic properties.
[03:22]🚰 Siphoning challenges and gravity’s role
- The role of gravity in ensuring siphoning efficiency,
- Challenges faced due to blockage and adjustments made during siphoning.
[04:10] 📸 Referral to past cider-making visuals and closing remarks
- Reference to Instagram feed for details on cider-making process,
- Emphasis on method’s efficiency and not juice extraction quantity,
- Acknowledgment of multiple methods for making vinegar from apples.
Here are some useful information, tips, or advice found in the comments of this video:
- Capping the bottle way too early during the fermenting process for apple cider vinegar (ACV) might be incorrect.
- Apple cores, peels, old bramble berries, dubious pears, and more can be open fermented for making vinegar. Leftovers can go straight to the compost pile.
- It’s a recommendation to keep the mother in when making ACV because it has many health benefits.
- One can make vinegar just from apple scraps like skins and cores without necessarily needing a mother.
- Clear food preparation hosing is better for siphoning than garden hoses since the latter might release plastic residues.
- Siphoning something that’s not drinkable can be started by blowing into the tube before sucking.
- For health benefits, including the “Mother” in ACV is essential. ACV can help with lowering blood sugars, burning body fats quicker, and reducing “Bad cholesterol.”
- Vinegar can be made from various fruits and grains. Using honey instead of sugar for fermentation is also possible.
- When making vinegar from fruits, ensure it reaches the right pH level for it to be considered proper vinegar.
Questions and their answers:
- Q: Is Charles secretly making apple moonshine? A: (No clear answer given in the comments.)
- Q: How do crab apples work with making vinegar? A: One user mentions they usually make vinegar with crab apples.
- Q: American Question – what do you mean by cider? Alcohol or Juice? A: (No clear answer given in the comments.)
- Q: I wonder if Vinegar “mothers” can be transferred between vinegar types? A: One user suggests they have taken a small piece from some organic vinegar they bought and developed a good mother from it. Another user mentions adding a bit of Apple Cider Vinegar with Mother to kickstart the fermentation process.
- Q: Does anyone know if there’s anything I can grow in my greenhouse successfully if I plant it now? Zone 5/6. A: (No clear answer given in the comments.)
- Q: Any ideas on a better way to ferment in 5l glass jars? A: (No clear answer given in the comments.)
- Q: Cider vinegar has alcohol? A: Some users are surprised to learn cider vinegar might have alcohol, but no definitive answer is provided.
- Q: I can’t go to Instagram as I don’t have it and I’m not sure I’d be able to follow – are captions available on Instagram? A: (No clear answer given in the comments.)
- Q: Will you be using the vinegar for growing vegetables, or is it for regular consumption? A: (No clear answer given in the comments.)
Nice to have a drink when you siphon! But if you're siphoning something you don't want to drink first, blow into the tube before sucking. It works incredibly well and starts a lot easier. I use this method when siphoning water from my fish tank 🙂
Hi Charles I see from some of the comments that people do not think the inclusion of the "Mother" is necessary. If you are making ACV and are looking for real health benefits then the inclusion of Mother is essential. There are benefits such as lowering blood sugars and burning body fats quicker. It also helps with helping to rid the body of "Bad cholesterol" A man I knew took ACV daily to help his arthritis.
A little bit of real history, my Grandfather retired from GWR at 65 took on the tenancy of a pub, put chrome taps on everything, in a year the tap on the cider barrel dropped off. In later years he broke his hip and used to sit by a cider barrel pouring pints for the locals, the splashings used to eat through his leather boots in 6 months. Scrumpy is real potent stuff.
Not to complicate things here… but you did say "force of gravity". Just to be clear, gravity is not a force. There is no force. Newton (force) was superseded 107 years ago by Einstein. (Not a force) If you are curious why it works if its not a force, look into "relative density".
A little Cristmas cheer when taste testing the product to start the flow is allowed. Can see you're still standing. Blessings from Oregon.
Love your ideas Charles. Thanks for sharing!
so to make cider out of anything you just need to smash a bunch of stuff together, use sugar to bring it to the proper brix, bulk ferment it, then proceed with vinegar making technique? Where can i find specific info like how sweet the bulk mix needs to be to ferment, how long to ferment, and what PH the vinegar needs to reach to be proper vinegar?
i started a little apple seed earlier this year.
so im practically HALFWAY there to making my own cider!! …. right?
you can make a great vinegar, from apples and elderberries, as well as a quince and pear vinegar. most years i do a fruit cider vinegar, that includes apples, oranges, elderberries, and quince, and instead of using sugar i use honey. a great winter's tonic esp when sweetened with honey. have even made vinegar from old jam
For Americans that's hard cider.
I usually make mine with my crab apples
It turns red i like it but my blossoms froze this spring so hopefully next summer we will have apples again
The video should be entitled How to Syphon using a piece of garden hose.
You really know your cider! Thanks — much appreciated…
I’ve never seen yellow cider. The cider I press always turns brown.
Great to see this being done, Charles. A lot of people don't realize that cider and vinegar come from apples … both are tremendously healthy foods.
Interesting to see you are still green there yet … here in Alberta it's -25 and white and frozen hard. Oh well… next spring…
Didn’t think apple cider had alcohol in, as silly as that sounds
I can't go to Instagram as I don't have it and I'm not sure I'd be able to follow – are captions available on Instagram?
This is really neat. Your topics have branched out a bit lately, and I like it very much. Will you be using the vinegar for growing vegetables, or is it for regular consumption? Thanks, Charles!
Cider vinegar has alcohol? None of the natural vinegars I’ve bought were alcoholic.
My old friends and I talk about this all the time 🙂 I'm 61 but way back in High School I was the "Hard Cider King." We would go to the roadside market and buy Cider. We would take the lids off and put balloons on the openings and line the floor in my closet with them (yes a little bit of shade from pot plants but they didn't work so well…. hmmm I wonder where I hung my clothes?!) ANY WAY LOL when the balloons deflated it was "party time in the woods!" A very fond memory for all of us 😉
my favorite acv,i even had it fermented.thanks the info.
Parece muy INTERESANTES…Pero olvidaron SUBTITULAR en Español…
DE TODOS MODOS GRACIAS POR EL ESFUERZO.
Is there different seed for cider vs cooking apples? I've heard this but also heard that apple is always a gamble on resulting seed.
We make apple cider vinegar in our school garden with the apple cores & peels from our own apples! The kids love it!
"Pagan and primitive" apple crushing , yes please!
So last fall (around September/October) I attempted to make Cider. I left the 5l jug with the yeast still in it in the back of a cupboard and forgot about it. Now I've just discovered it again and was wondering if it's safe to make vinegar out of it still?