Uht- Ohhh....

[yahoo]

I think I just made a batch of vinegar!

When I finished brewing my 3rd batch or so of cider, I knew I was
going to be pitching a new batch that night, so I tried an experiment
(first mistake!)

I started by siphoning the finished (cleared) cider from one 2 liter
bottle to another. I do this to transfer the "good" cider at the top
of the bottle to it own container so I don't have to worry about
stirring up the "dregs" or "leeds" when I pours a glass. I avoid
getting an off taste this way. When that was done I sealed the cider
and put it back in the 'fridge. I took the left over cider (about
the bottom 1 inch in a standard 2 liter plastic bottle) with the
leeds and added 1 teaspoon of table sugar and about 3/4 cup (or
so...) of warm tap water, about 90 degrees F. I put the EZ cap on
and set this "starter mix" aside for about 8 hours or so. Hindsight
tells me I should point out that this bottle is 80-90% air at this
time.

That night I mixed my apple juice concentrate (Wal-Mart generic, no
sulfites or preservatives, Vitamin C added), 3 AJ cans of water and 1
cup of table sugar at about 90-95 degrees F. I opened the bottle
that had my "started mix" in it, and much to my delight, there was a
little pressure in the bottle! I added my freshly made juice mix,
shook it all up, wrote the date on the bottle (good habit!) and set
it aside to brew.

My intent was to let this batch brew for 10-14 days, depending on my
patience, re-sweeten, and see if I could get this batch to "brew-out"
meaning have the yeast consume as much sugar as possible and die off
from the alcohol content. That way I could bottle it up with regular
press on caps or corks without the cider continuing to ferment,
creating pressure and making a glass-grenade. I noticed however on
day 2 or 3 that there was a "head" in the brewing bottle. I shook
the bottle up to make it go away, and set it back. I checked it
again the next day, same thing. This time I opened the bottle slowly
and was unpleasantly greeted with an acrid "vinegary" smelling
aroma. It appears to have plenty of carbonation.

I sealed it all up and here in a day or 2 i will be moving it to
the 'fridge to clear. I am full confident that when I open the
bottle this weekend, I will have 1.75 liters of apple cider vinegar.

Was the re-using the yeasty dregs THAT bad of an idea? Did I miss
something else along the way? Your ideas, questions and thoughts are
most welcome!



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ORGINAL POSTER: willum
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