Help! What did i do wrong with my ACV?

[ORChick]

three WEEKS?! i thought it was three MONTHS!!!

If you started with fresh juice only than 3 months is not unusual. If you had a mother or some starter vinegar in there then you might have got vinegar in 3 weeks. Most likely evaporation is what happened for you. I would think that a Texas summer might have been too hot for it. I'd try again now that Autumn is starting.

I just tossed out a batch that had been sitting on my counter for several months. It was in a stoneware crock, and I think that it wasn't as clean as it should have been (though it was as clean as I could get it ), and it molded pretty badly. In future I'll only use glass.

Oh Thank you!!!

ORChick, i'm planning to do it just to see, but what do you think will come of it if i put it in a sealed bottle now? Will it grow a mother that i can use to make vinegar more quickly? Mine doesn't appear to have any mold on it or anything, but i don't see a mother either.
[url]http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_AGdToJv-I1M/TK5qnbmzUWI/AAAAAAAADEg/Pt-DbK2N_bw/s320/S6309395.JPG[/url]


Oh, yes, i started with just a bag of apples to make this stuff. I didn't have any starter.

I think that if you don't have a mother now that you won't get one from this batch. However, if what you have smells and tastes like vinegar then it can be used to kickstart your next batch; it has the proper bacteria, just not the jellied mass that we call a mother. I've been making vinegar for about 2 years now, and have never got a mother; thought I did once, but it was just apple solids that had joined together in a clump.

 

[PunkinPeep]

If you started with fresh juice only than 3 months is not unusual. If you had a mother or some starter vinegar in there then you might have got vinegar in 3 weeks. Most likely evaporation is what happened for you. I would think that a Texas summer might have been too hot for it. I'd try again now that Autumn is starting.

I just tossed out a batch that had been sitting on my counter for several months. It was in a stoneware crock, and I think that it wasn't as clean as it should have been (though it was as clean as I could get it ), and it molded pretty badly. In future I'll only use glass.

Oh Thank you!!!

ORChick, i'm planning to do it just to see, but what do you think will come of it if i put it in a sealed bottle now? Will it grow a mother that i can use to make vinegar more quickly? Mine doesn't appear to have any mold on it or anything, but i don't see a mother either.
[url]http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_AGdToJv-I1M/TK5qnbmzUWI/AAAAAAAADEg/Pt-DbK2N_bw/s320/S6309395.JPG[/url]


Oh, yes, i started with just a bag of apples to make this stuff. I didn't have any starter.

I think that if you don't have a mother now that you won't get one from this batch. However, if what you have smells and tastes like vinegar then it can be used to kickstart your next batch; it has the proper bacteria, just not the jellied mass that we call a mother. I've been making vinegar for about 2 years now, and have never got a mother; thought I did once, but it was just apple solids that had joined together in a clump.

O.k. thank you. At least i should be able to use it to jump start future batches, even if it doesn't develop a big loogie.

 

[PunkinPeep]

Well, dang!

I went to transfer it, and i found some mold in one of the jars. Then i started sniffing again, and i wasn't satisfied that either jar made the real thing, so i tossed it.

I will have to try again.

 

[Boogity]

I hope you have better luck with your next attempt. I'm sure it disappointing to wait that long only to throw it all away.

I started my first batch last week. I used a stainless steel food pan as a matter of convenience. The kind you see on steam table serving lines in cafeterias. Now I'm having a terrible time finding a suitable glass container to pour it into. I would like to have at least two of those big clear glass wide-mouth 1 1/2 gallon jars that pickles come in but they must be rare. Any suggestions on where to find some?

 

[~gd]

May I suggest that if it wasn't checked for that time, a lot of the loss could have been due to a vigorous Yeast fermentation going into the cover as foam and evaporating from there or just plain foaming over. Apple cider has a tendency to foam whille it is working (the first fermentation) and with the cover and no starter for the bacteria it may not have gotten 'seeded' with the bacteria for the second lacto fermertation that converts the alcohol to acetic acid=vinegar. In the north we usually only fill our cider barrels about 2/3 full and store them in cellers where the cool temperature tends to slow that first fermentation. when we get around to vinegar making we transfer it to different wooden barrels (leaving the solids that have settled out behind. The solids consist of the original apple solids and a lot of dead yeast) If the barrels have been used to make vinegar before the bacteria are present in the wood and no starter is needed.With new barrels or glass or plastic containers either old vinegar or some 'mother' is used as starter for the alcohol to acid fermentation. Three months would be fast for our cool style ferment, what would happen with Texas heat I couldn't even guess.

 

[Emerald]

I hope you have better luck with your next attempt. I'm sure it disappointing to wait that long only to throw it all away.

I started my first batch last week. I used a stainless steel food pan as a matter of convenience. The kind you see on steam table serving lines in cafeterias. Now I'm having a terrible time finding a suitable glass container to pour it into. I would like to have at least two of those big clear glass wide-mouth 1 1/2 gallon jars that pickles come in but they must be rare. Any suggestions on where to find some?

Try looking for the one gallon relish and olive and pickle jugs at local schools and/or restaurants- they usually give them away for free or very cheaply. Lucky me I can get them from the Bro in law that works in a big summer camp / convention center.
Also look into deli places they might have big glass containers that will work.