09-21-2005, 06:41 AM
I've had something similar happen before. It's not that you havemade vinegar (that would take longer) but if it actually tastes sour whathas happened is that the yeast consumed all the sugar much more quicklythan what your expected. The alcohol content didn't get high enough tokill the yeast but the lack of sugar did (or will). Take all the sugar outof apple juice and it is one hell of a nasty sour drink. Think offermenting a green sour apple... yuck.At 06:33 PM 9/21/2005 +0000, you wrote:>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!>>>>>>>>>Yahoo! Groups Links>>>>ORGINAL POSTER: steve