10-10-2005, 05:17 AM
False alarm! I moved the cider last night to a different bottle toremove it from the dregs. Of course I took the opportuity to(cautiously) sample the beverage. It's great! Much dryer than Iwould have thought possible using this method, but still a hint ofsweetness behind it. No acrid scent to be found. My only guess isthat when I smelled it before, the yeast culture was super active andextra smelly. The lesson learned here: Patience pays off!--- "Willum" 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 anexperiment> (first mistake!)>> I started by siphoning the finished (cleared) cider from one 2liter> bottle to another. I do this to transfer the "good" cider at thetop> 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 thecider> 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 and1> 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 wasa> 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 onmy> 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 dieoff> from the alcohol content. That way I could bottle it up withregular> 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 bottleslowly> 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 thoughtsare> most welcome!ORGINAL POSTER: willum