How to Make Apple Cider Vinegar at Home Using Apple Cider
How to make apple cider vinegar at home using apple cider. Use organic apples if possible, as you are going to use the apple peels too.
This Fall I tried three different methods for making apple cider vinegar at home.ย All three were equally successful.ย One way took longer than the others, but the final apple cider vinegar was superior and contained more of the apple goodness.ย I will give you the method to make apple cider vinegar at home using apple cider in this article.
If fruit flies show up while preparing the apple cider, this trap can help deal with them. Alternatively, apple cider vinegar does make good fruit fly bait.
Health benefits of Apple Cider Vinegar
Apple cider vinegar has a huge pile of health benefits that include weight loss, stabilizing blood pressure, control of blood sugar levels, help for arthritis and joint pain, and relief of constipation and IBS.ย Those who benefit from apple cider vinegar incorporate it into their diet 2 to 4 times a day.ย That’s amounts to a large 32-ounce bottle every week at the cost of almost $10 per quart including shipping.ย If you use 3 tbsp of apple cider vinegar before each meal, you can save $10 per week or $520 per year, by making your own vinegar from waste apples, apple peelings, and cores, or homemade apple cider.ย And that’s just the savings on the vinegar.ย Imagine the savings on health care costs and pharmaceuticals.
Most healthย food stores carry Braggs brand of apple cider vinegar, which is highly recommended because it is made from organic apples and contains the naturally occurring vinegar mother.
Making Apple Cider Vinegar at home is frugal and self-sufficient
If you have a bottle of Braggs Apple Cider Vinegar, you can make apple cider vinegar at home, and stop forever buying it at the store.ย When you make apple cider vinegar at home, you participate in self-sufficiency at its best.ย Making ACV at home is frugal as well as self-sufficient since one small bottle of Braggs Apple Cider Vinegar can give you ACV for life — just add apples.ย Do you have a wild apple tree in your neighbourhood that the fruit is just falling on the ground?ย Ask if you can pick it.ย Do you have an apple orchard in your community?ย Ask for their cull apples or cider apples.
Making ACV at home uses the smaller, misshapen apples, so you aren’t taking away from the good eating apples in your root cellar.ย It’s also a great way to use up root cellar apples near the end of the season before they go bad.
To make apple cider vinegar at home, you need apples, preferably organically grown apples, as you are going to use the apple peels, too.ย Or you can use apple cider to make ACV at home.
This method uses 1 gallon of raw apple cider.ย You can make the apple cider yourself using a cider press as we did.ย Or you can contact your local organic apple grower and request a 1-gallon jug of raw apple cider.ย Most apple cider sold in the store has been pasteurized by heat processing, to prevent fermentation.ย You can use storebought if it’s all you can find, but you will have to add the correct beneficial bacteria and wine yeasts.ย Pasteurized apple cider will not ferment properly because the yeasts have been killed by heat.
Making apple cider vinegar at home in 2 easy steps
Making apple cider vinegar at home is a two-step process.ย In the first step the naturally occurring yeasts, present on the skins of the apples, turn the raw apple cider into hard cider or apple wine.ย If you are using pasteurized apple cider you will need to add some wine yeast to get the process started — you can use champagne yeast or yeast for white wine.ย Don’t use bread yeast.ย (mix the wine yeast with some water and wait till it bubbles, before adding half to each wide-mouth jar containing apple cider.)
If you are starting with raw apple cider, simply pour the apple cider from the glass jug into a clean, sterilized, wide mouth 2 quart/litre canning jar.ย Two of these jars will hold the apple cider from 1 gallon.ย You don’t need to add wine yeast if you are starting with raw, unpasteurized apple cider.ย The naturally occurring yeasts already present on the skins of the apples will ferment the cider for you.
Cover the jars with a clean cotton handkerchief.ย I secure the tissue on the jars using a metal jar ring.ย You can use a rubber band.ย Some recipes say to use cheesecloth to allow vinegar fruit flies into the mixture.ย They will crawl through the cheesecloth and lay their eggs in your fermenting cider.ย EWWWW!ย No thanks.ย You don’t need the hit and miss additions of fruit fly bacteria for your self-sufficiency efforts.ย Go with the clean handkerchief, and you won’t have any fruit fly dung or larva in your finished ACV.
The first step in making apple cider vinegar at home is the fermentation stage, where wine yeasts turn the apple cider into hard apple cider or apple wine.ย Your apple cider will bubble during this stage, and you will see the formation of fine bubbles on the side of the jar.ย If you jostle the jar, the bubbles will rise to the top.ย The apple cider will smell like unfinished, harsh wine.ย Leave it to work until the bubbling stops.ย That indicates that most of the natural sugars (fructose) that are present in the cider have been converted to alcohol.
During this stage the jar may overflow, so keep it on a towel in your cupboard or on your windowsill.ย You don’t want to be cleaning up sticky juice off your cabinets and counters.
Step 2: Converting the hard cider to apple cider vinegar
For this second stage, you will need some vinegar mother.ย You can use the SCOBY (the translucent, rubbery disc from another batch of vinegar) or you can add 1/4 cup of unpasteurized vinegar that contains live vinegar mother, like Braggs brand ACV.ย I used 1/4 cup of Braggs brand vinegar.ย If you don’t have either, you can replace the handkerchief with cheesecloth and take your chances with the fruit flies, you might get good tasting apple cider vinegar, or you might get something else.ย Once you have a good-tasting apple cider vinegar, save the SCOBY in a glass jar, moistened with vinegar, in the fridge for your next batch.
Once the 1st stage has stopped its fermentation, add your vinegar mother to the apple cider/apple wine.ย Cover again with a clean handkerchief and leave it exposed to air, in a dark cupboard.ย It will not overflow at this stage.ย Leave it undisturbed for about a month.ย It will form a new baby SCOBYย Once the SCOBY has dropped to the bottom of the jar and a new baby SCOBY has formed to completely cover the jar; your ACV is ready.
Save the SCOBY!
Taste your DIY apple cider vinegar.ย Does it taste as you expect?ย It will mellow with age, but it should taste sour, but not metallic or bitter.ย If you like the taste, save your SCOBY in a glass jar, covered with 1/2 inch of the vinegar.ย Keep it in the fridge for your next batch.
Now pour off the vinegar from your jars into glass bottles.ย I just washed and reused my empty Braggs bottles.ย They are already labelled.ย I left the sludge at the bottom of the jars, along with any poorly formed scobies.ย Wash the jars later.ย I poured the vinegar off into clean glass bottles and capped it.ย The vinegar will improve in flavour if you let it age a few months like wine it develops over time.ย Some of the harshness will be removed in the aging process, and the flavour will get smoother.ย But you can use it right away, without aging if you want to.
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My apple cider vinegar has a nice scoby on top and smells like vinegar. It has been about 3 -4 weeks since I started the fermentation process. I have not had the courage to taste the vinegar , although the scoby looks like all the pictures in your post. The vinegar itself is cloudy. Is it safe? Should I remove the scoby and filter the vinegar into a bottle to get a clear final product? I feel like the process has progressed nicely but am unsure how to finish it off. I was thinking of putting it into smaller bottles to give as gifts, but I don’t want to get anyone sick! Thanks for your advice, time and post!
Debbie, do you have a pH test strip. It should read 3.0 to 3.5. If it isn’t that acidic you can leave it a little longer. If its more acidic, or lower pH than its still fine. I don’t normally filter my vinegar. The cloudiness is goodness. It has enzymes, yeast, and acetobacter bacteria (good bacteria). It is safe. Save the scoby to start your next batch. It will ferment faster.
Braggs ACV has been hijacked by celebrities and there is speculation that the recipe has changed to a lesser quality.
Great article. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
My question; Is it possible to add some acv mother directly to pasteurized and filtered acv to turn it โrawโ?
Sure. You’d need to give it a few weeks to ferment after adding it.
I have a half gallon unpastuerized apple cider that was in the fridge and forgotten and it seems as it has naturally turned into hard cider – the container expanded and when I shook it a little, it was fizzy. I tried it and it actually tastes kind of good so I’m guessing it is okay to drink. Next question, could I turn this into vinegar by putting into a couple jars, adding a bit of raw ACV (not sure how much) and covering with paper towel?
Yes. That’s exactly how you make vinegar.
Okay great! Going to try it and see how it turns out. I’ll be so excited with this much ACV around!
A friend and I buy ACV in gallon containers and share it. The ACV formed a SCOBY in my glass jug. Can I use this SCOBY and UV treated fresh pressed apple cider to make my own ACV? I read in your article that pasteurized vinegar should be avoided. Is the same true for UV treated ACV?
Thank you for any clarification you can give.
Yes. If you are adding a scoby to your AV treated apple juice you should be fine to make your own.
I made ACV using your method with wine yeast. As i didnโt have a mother, i used Braggs ACV as you suggested. Itโs been 2 months now, so i have bottled it. It tastes fine, but there was no mother formed. Shouldnโt there have been a mother formed?
It takes time for the mother to form. It is probably too soon.
I am not the creator of this recipe, but I have been making apple cider vinegar for several years now and sometimes I get a Scoby mother form on the top and other times I donโt. The batches I make with apples have never had a mother form on top, but the batches I made with raw apple cider (with no apple chunks added) formed a Scoby. Either way, if your vinegar tastes right, it will be good for you.
I made a batch of homemade ACV a while back using apple scraps; now I’m coming to the end of my batch and need (want) to make some more. What can I do to just increase the amount that I have?
Hi, Kyle
I’d start a new batch by tossing in either organic apples (chopped up) or fill the container with pasteurized apple juice. The fresh kind not apple juice concentrate. Then add a cup or two of your liquid scrap vinegar and transfer your vinegar mother over to the new vat. Cover with a cloth like a handkerchief that keeps bugs out but allows air in. Then wait. Test your vinegar after 2 or 3 months with pH test strips. You’ve got vinegar when the pH drops to 2 or 2 1/2.
Iโm in the second stage and have added Kombacha Scooby-Doo thinking it would be good but upon reading the comments, Iโm finding it will change the compound bacteria. Can you explain what I will end up with if I continue to let it ferment?
Hi, Carrie, You should still end up with vinegar. Kombucha is a type of vinegar. I haven’t tried adding komnbucha scoby to apple cider though. So I can’t advise. You’ll have an experiment.
I am in the same boat I have a kombucha scoby that I would like to turn into an apple cider vinegar scoby but I could not find a recipe to do that
You can’t. They use different symbiotic bacteria. However, you can make vinegar with kombucha. Apple cider will naturally ferment into apple cider vinegar given time and oxygen. Add a little apple cider vinegar with live mother to protect it from bad bacteria.
I have a mother from another organic ACV w/mother, can I just use that as a starter and if so what do I feed it? I’m used to making kombucha and red wine vinegar so I get the concept of a mother/scoby. Is there a way to just do a continuous brew of AVC by feeding the mother and if so what do you feed? I consume a lot of ACV and would love to just make my own. I’d prefer to not start from zero though if possible since I have a mother.
I haven’t done this but my guess is starting with unpasteurized apple cider would work the best. It would naturally ferment and once the bubbling has stopped introducing your vinegar mother and waiting should do the trick.
Does the in home temperature make a difference? My kitchen is approx . 60 degrees.
I have step 1 completed,
Yes, it might take longer at lower temperatures.
Hi,great article. I tried making acv a while ago but ended up with hard cider. I do not have wine yeast, but I was wondering,could I use pepper stems instead (it’s what i use for my yogurt starter)? Also,should I blend the apples or cut into small pieces to start?
Thank you
Start with small pieces of apple. If you blend them you’ll have too much pectin in the wine. You can use hard cider to make AVC. It’s the first step. There are yeast organisms on the outside of the apple skins. Adding wine yeast simply helps the juice colonize quicker.
I have some acv I made 5 years ago. It has a bunch of scobies in it. Can I use the scobies and make new batches using store bought apple cider?? I don’t have access to apples now like I did when I made it but would like to keep the process going.
Yes, but you’ll need to begin with some wine yeast. Once the yeast ferment is done, then add your scobies and leave the apple juice exposed to air rather than using a wine lock.
Ok Great! I will give it a shot.
Thank you!
I have added the white wine yeast to the apple cider. How do I know when it’s ready to add my acv scoby?
I love your site! I have been making Kombucha and Kefir a few years now,,,,so my new adventure is making vinager from my own pressed raw apple cider!
MY Italian grandmother used to make red wine vinegar in a barrel by adding more wine when the vinegar got low. Can i get a small oak barrel and add Braggs and just start adding cider to it?
Oops Should have read this first – I wanted to make ACV and I just put som kombucha into my freshly made cider. – So, should I throw it out and start over? Wah!
how long wil it take to make ACV after adding SCOBY?
I’m sorry, I’m just not understanding how to use the SCOBY. Do you just add sugar and water to the scoby, and if so, how much?
Hi, Skie
If you already have a vinegar starter with vinegar mother(a scoby) you can add it to your apple cider after the initial alcohol ferment. However, don’t add a kombucha scobie only add vinegar mother otherwise you will end up with different symbiotic bacteria than what you are looking for.
How do I understand if my ACV is ready to use? How should it taste? Mine tastes now sour and strong, has pale color and cloudy. It has been 3 weeks since I started preparing it, but I live in a very hot country, so it remains in quite high temperature. How do I understand if it still has some alcohol in it or not?
If it tastes sour and strong it is ready.
Speaking of taste… I made ACV, it was sour and then the color got darker and the flavor sweeter. Is that normal or did something go wrong?
Hmmm. Could you have other ferments going on at the same time? Sometimes the bacteria in the air can work at cross purposes if you are also making other ferments in the same space, for instance cheese making, kombucha making, sourdough, or sauerkraut. If there is no mold and it seems fine, it should still be safe to consume. Did you check the pH with litmus paper? The pH should be below 2.
Is it the vinegar ok if a second SCOBY forms after you’ve already filtered out the previous one?
This is normal. The vinegar is perfect.
Could you not use apple juice (store bought) and add some raw ACV?
Do you use 1/4 cup of ACV with the mother in it per half gallon? So I’m using gallon jars do I put in a 1/2 cup of ACV with the mother in it?
Thanks for your post! Can I use an airlock instead of a handkerchief for the same results?
No in the case of vinegar you actually want air exposure, just like with Kombucha.
What a great article and so many interesting comments and posts. I’m hoping that I can get some advice.
I’ve just made my first ACV and whilst everything seems fine i.e. I now have a nicely formed SCOBY and the vinegar tastes good, I’m just puzzled by the colour. Every photo I see of ACV looks like liquid amber but mine looks rather like lemon cordial… Is this unusual?
Lemon cordial colour is good. The amber colour is because of oxidization. If your vinegar is paler it means it’s oxidized less than other apple cider vinegars.
I can got pasteurized organic AC vinegar for less than $14 a gallon starting a batch now. I plan on using Braggs an some of my pineapple vinegar( BTW simple to make and delicious).
I have a bottle of pasteurized apple cider vinegar. Can I add some organic unpasteurized apple cider vinegar to this and achieve an acceptable product or should I just throw it out?
You certainly can use pasteurized apple cider vinegar. It just won’t have the beneficial gut bacteria that raw apple cider vinegar has.
I am in the process of making 2 gallon mason jars of acv. how ever, in one of my jars the liquid is whitish and it smells sour. has this gone bad?
It could be yeast. If it’s sour though check the pH with litmus paper. If it’s below 3 it’s probably fine. The vinegar mother appears transluscent white as it is first forming.
I use coffee filters to allow airflow and stop the fruit flies!
Great idea SKY!! I am definitely going to try the coffee filter on my next batch!
What a timely post! I just came online to look for info on storing my fruit scrap vinegar. Looking forward to your trilogy of ACV processes!
I’m with you! No fruit fly dung for me! ๐ Thanks for sharing on the blog hop! ๐
My pleasure.
I really wish I’d come across your site a month ago. I followed the directions of making apple cider vinegar from apple cider from another Natural DIY’r that stated to use cheesecloth to cover the wide mouth mason jar during the fermentation process. Even though I used triple layers of thw cheesecloth, after reading about the fruit fly eggs (and I swatted away fruit flies on week 2 of the process) I am ready to toss out my batch and start again. It’s unfortunate though because the “Mother” started forming in the 1st week and I hadn’t even added any “Mother” or SCOBY. Now it’s @Week 4 and it still smeels like strong apple beer but now I fear the fruit fly eggs may be in my mix. Ugh…
One of the commenters SKY made a great suggestion in using a coffee filter. I will definitely try that wirh this next batch. Thanks for the GOOD information!
I bought organic coffee filters, but never got around to using them because i always grab paper towels instead, and rubberband them onto my mason jars. It has worked great in making yogurt, buttermilk, etc., so i think that it probably has enough airflow.