It all started when my husband got a new job this December. His new boss very kindly sent us a fruit box with fancy fancy apples and pears. Well, she accidentally sent us TWO fruit boxes. I went into frugal mode and made a batch of apple pear butter so as not to waste this windfall. As I was looking at the bucket of cores and peels destined for the compost pile, I remember reading an article about making vinegar from the scraps. Something like this one: http://www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com/2014/04/make-your-own-apple-cider-vinegar-from-scraps.html
Now I love fermenting things. The very idea of an army of microbes doing all the work while I sit around on my butt and take all the credit is my idea of a great craft! Today I just decanted off my first batch of homemade apple cider vinegar that was started in mid December, and it tastes FABULOUS! (the pretty clear jar with the chicken scribble chalk label).
When I brew beer we often re-use the yeast "cake" at the bottom. Any why not? its a large active culture of beasties raring to go, especially adapted for your home-brew environment. I had an epiphany that the gunk at the bottom of the jar I just decanted the vinegar off of was probably the same - or as some call it the vinegar "mother". Now every picture Ive ever seen of a vinegar mother looks like a slimey gooey blob, and my stuff looks more like a yeast cake from a beer batch, but never mind - what could possibly go wrong? So I dug out a half gallon of apple juice I had lying around and combined it with the tiny army of microbes from the previous batch, aerated well to oxygenate and poured into new sanitized jars. They need to be in the dark, so the soaping cabinet is the obvious choice - you can see the cheesecloth coverings they get so they can breathe.
Im sure this is old news to some of you. But Ive only ever fermented juices to make alcohol and avoid vinegar. Im excited about having some fancy fancy vinegars at WAY cheaper than retail, for almost no effort. And Im interested to see the differences between these two batches. The first one had the benefit of the wild yeasts and critters in the skin to start the fermentation, but the second one is relying on the colony carrying on. It's like having pets
Now I love fermenting things. The very idea of an army of microbes doing all the work while I sit around on my butt and take all the credit is my idea of a great craft! Today I just decanted off my first batch of homemade apple cider vinegar that was started in mid December, and it tastes FABULOUS! (the pretty clear jar with the chicken scribble chalk label).
When I brew beer we often re-use the yeast "cake" at the bottom. Any why not? its a large active culture of beasties raring to go, especially adapted for your home-brew environment. I had an epiphany that the gunk at the bottom of the jar I just decanted the vinegar off of was probably the same - or as some call it the vinegar "mother". Now every picture Ive ever seen of a vinegar mother looks like a slimey gooey blob, and my stuff looks more like a yeast cake from a beer batch, but never mind - what could possibly go wrong? So I dug out a half gallon of apple juice I had lying around and combined it with the tiny army of microbes from the previous batch, aerated well to oxygenate and poured into new sanitized jars. They need to be in the dark, so the soaping cabinet is the obvious choice - you can see the cheesecloth coverings they get so they can breathe.
Im sure this is old news to some of you. But Ive only ever fermented juices to make alcohol and avoid vinegar. Im excited about having some fancy fancy vinegars at WAY cheaper than retail, for almost no effort. And Im interested to see the differences between these two batches. The first one had the benefit of the wild yeasts and critters in the skin to start the fermentation, but the second one is relying on the colony carrying on. It's like having pets