Cider or poison, I brew, you decide!

About 4 months ago, I poured 23 litres of apple juice into a bucket, added some yeast (it was a wine yeast, I forget which one), and put the lid on. My mother-in-law works at a juice processing plant, so we get free juice, but it's a very mild-flavoured commercial variety.

6 weeks later, I siphoned it into a different bucket in preparation for bottling, from which I siphoned two growlers full (about 4 liters). I was not very happy with the taste, which was mostly just unsweetened and mildly alcoholic apple juice.

So I put the lid back on that bucket.

We receive a weekly vegetable delivery from a local farm, which at times includes unpasteurized apple juice, which I find to be delicious (but pricey if I buy in quantity).

In the past two months, I have added about 5 litres of this unpasteurized juice to my bucket. A couple of the juice containers had begun to swell due to fermentation.

So, I'm welcoming votes and opinions on the topic of what this will have become when I decide to drink it again. Cider, or poison?

No whammy no whammy no whammy no whammy!!!!

What? Why would you think it's poison? Nothing pathogenic can grow in fermented beverages, that's why beers and ciders were consumed in the past when water and even milk could make you sick.

Bucket began to swell , no airlock?

My vote:

Cider or Vinegar

Instead of adding more juice, add a kilo of brown sugar to the original 23l vat. Super alcohol, and after, sweeten with some jice, splenda etc.

Many apples (if not most or all) have naturally occurring yeast living on them. For centuries, this was the only yeast used to make cider. If you have a spontaneous fermentation of unpasteurized apple juice going on, I'd try to encourage it by adding a little yeast nutrient/energizer and maybe a little added sugar. I've never done a "wild fermentation" before, but I've heard some good things about the results. You might find this useful too:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f32/results-juice-yeast-sugar-experiments-83060/
Regards, GF.

No votes for poison? Apparently my wife doesn't have an account

I was pretty sure nothing significantly bad could happen, but my wife is convinced otherwise, so I thought taking a poll would be a good way to gather some information.

Thanks everybody, I'll give it a few more weeks (need to free up some bottles) and let you know.

gratus fermentatio said:

Many apples (if not most or all) have naturally occurring yeast living on them. For centuries, this was the only yeast used to make cider. If you have a spontaneous fermentation of unpasteurized apple juice going on, I'd try to encourage it by adding a little yeast nutrient/energizer and maybe a little added sugar. I've never done a "wild fermentation" before, but I've heard some good things about the results.

Click to expand...

I do wild fermentations frequently, but only in gallon sizes. Never had one I didn't like. Caveat being I didn't let them ferment dry before they were gone.

All I do is take some of my fall's fresh pressed cider (1 gallon frozen jug) and thaw it and put in the fridge. I slightly squeeze the jug so it has a depression and watch it over several weeks/months. Eventually, it takes off and ferments with the wild yeast it in. I loosen the cap and vent periodically and drink it. It tastes like it is carbonated, has low alcohol and very tasty full fruit flavor. Basically I am drinking a live fermentation. Hello yeasty nutrients!

i have been making one or two 5L wild yeast batches each autumn for the past few years, i treat it the same as my other dry ciders, ferment all the way, bulk age, bottle condition, dry tart and fizzy. they have so far always come out great, tangy and always different. never had any noticeable acetic acid. but they haven't aged well past about 1 year, the dropoff in quality was sharp from 12 to 15 months. but i have only had 2 of these wild ciders that i have managed to keep that long so the sample size is small. but they both started to get a bit cooked vegetabley tasting. that's with zero sulfite additions. i have lost the plot, is this on topic or am i rambling

oh yeah- no chance of poison. and no oxygen = no vinegar.

I gave you a poison vote since you seemed to want one, and let's be honest - if you drink enough of it fast enough, then it is.

I vote for either Vinegar or Cider... Your nose will tell you right off!

Cheers!

Well, it's time for bottling...

I drew a cup, and drank it, a bit hesitantly. It tastes substantially better than it did after my first round of tasting. It's actually something I wouldn't mind drinking.

However, there is a thin (greasy?) film on the top, along with some bits of something growing. From what I've read here, I'm assuming this is just a byproduct of the wild yeast, but if anyone wants to give me any warnings based on the attached picture, now is the time.

Well, I did some reading, and it looks like I've probably got a Brett. Not previously familiar with such a strain, but it doesn't seem to have negatively impacted the taste.
I mixed it with about half a cup of brown sugar (as you may have noticed, I'm not being overly exacting in my process for this batch), and bottled it.
Should I expect that I'll get some of this film in each bottle?