Spontaneous Fermentation

Well, I posted a little while back about the jug of apple juice that started fermenting on my counter. I poured that stuff out, but I was curious. I ended up making another cider a few weeks later, and decided to try and repeat the experiment.

I left about 1/3 of a gallon of apple juice in its original container open on the counter for about 20 minutes. After that, I put the top back on and left it alone for about 3 days. When I looked at it again, this is what I saw (apologies for the blurryness, camera's broken)



Little bubbles on the top, and when I went to pick it up, I realized that the bottom of the jug was completely pushed out.



I opened the top and the co2 explosion nearly knocked me over. There was a huge bang, my wife thought I shot something. I poured out the juice that was in there after about a week and a half, and replaced it with fresh juice. There is a nice little sediment on the bottom of the jug and I release the pressure everyday.

Anyone done this before? I'm thinking of using it as a starter culture for ciders, but I have no idea what the flavor profile will be like or even if it will attenuate all the way. I'll take a gravity reading of some of the juice in the jug and see where it's at.

SOmeone one here...maybe Edwort, or Orfy has done something similar, but that involved putting the cider in an apple orchard to get the wild yeasts from there..

The trouble I can see with doing it in your home, is that you have no idea just WHAT kinda wild bug is fermenting it...it could be good or nasty...

I guess if you are going to make a starter that way, tasting it before you pitch would be a good thing to do...

You could just be getting cider vinegar. You can't know til it ferments out but HB vinegar is good too. : )

I believe it was landhoney Revvy is thinking of.

i know a friend that did this by accident. after he got a buzz drinking it, he poured a little into several other juice containers and spread the yeast around. i guess it worked and he had many bottles of fermented juice for a couple of weeks.

Since you brew, it's quite likely that it's a beer strain that was in the air.