Make your own Apple Cider Vinegar at home! It is a great way to use or preserve excess apples, or a zero-waste solution to use unwanted apple scraps like skins or cores! Apple cider vinegar is easy to make, and is healthy, delicious, fermented, and packed with probiotics.
Prep time: PT20M
Rating
4.88 stars (155 reviews)
Keywords
ACV, Apple Cider Vinegar, Fermented
Ingredients
Diced apple chunks, or apple scraps (skins, cores). Enough to fill half of your chosen fermenting vessel (e.g. quart jar, half-gallon jar, 1 gallon crock)
1 tbsp sugar, per 1 cup filtered water OR
1 cup sugar, per 1 gallon of filtered water
Categories
Natural Medicine Beverage
Preserved Food
Salad Dressing
Sauce
Steps
Wash and chop the apples into chunks, or gather collected apple scraps (which can be saved in the freezer over time) and add them to your jar or other large fermenting vessel until it filled about halfway full.
Pour lukewarm filtered water over the apples into the container until it is almost full, but measure/note the total amount of water added.
Stir in sugar in ratios of 1 tablespoon of sugar per cup of water added, or for larger batches, 1 cup of sugar per gallon of water added.
Optional: Add a splash of finished organic apple cider vinegar (e.g. store-bought) to inoculate the culture and encourage fermenting.
Stir combined ingredients until thoroughly mixed, and cover with breathable material.
Store in a dark location around 70 to 75 degrees F for two weeks to ferment, and stir everyday to prevent mold from forming on top. If needed, add another layer of material like a dark towel on top of the container to block light.
After two weeks, strain and reserve the liquid into a similar sized container and cover again. Compost the spent fruit.
Move the covered container of liquid to a location that is out of the way to continue long term fermentation. Maintain dark. A cooler "room temperature" at this stage is okay, but do not refrigerate yet.
After one month, sample the vinegar to see if it is finished fermenting and tart to your liking. If needed, allow it to continue to ferment for a total of two to three months.
Once it is fermented to your desired flavor, transfer the apple cider vinegar into bottles with lids (or swing top bottles). Store at room temperature or in the refrigerator, and enjoy!
Properly fermented apple cider vinegar should "stay good" for over a year - as long as it does not have visible mold, or a strong and unusual flavor or appearance.
Reviews
Kelsey on 2026-07-20 (5 stars): Hello! First time ACV maker here. About to strain the apples and noticed a mother has formed! Is it beneficial to keep some of it?
Sam on 2026-05-25 (5 stars): you know that thing of when life gets away from you and you forget your cloth covered acv in the bottom corner of the pantry for 5 months and then it's got a substantial amount of sediment on the bottom, that sort of scummy layer on top, and has evaporated about ½ inch? is it still okay to bottle??
Paula Edgar on 2026-04-24 (5 stars): This is my second year making ACV using our homegrown apples and your recipe. Love this recipe, so easy and works perfectly! I used a 5.6L (1.5Gl) jar. Last year after I removed the apples, (the chooks enjoyed) I popped into a large sterilised jar covered with a cloth and left in a dark cupboard for 6mths before bottling with the mother. It made the most amazing SCOBY! It's so delicious (I use daily) and way better than any store bought ACV. Thank you 🙏 I'm now going to try your fermented beet recipe 😊
susan horst on 2025-12-08 (5 stars): came out great!!! will def be making this again. question though - why don't you use the scoby from making ACV to make kombucha? Super newbie here
