worries about maturation

I recently brewed several gallons of cider. I do not yet have a carboy so I put it in mason jars to try to get it off the yeast. These jars have no airlock and are no sealed. It has been sitting for about two weeks, and I am worried it may be turning to vinigar. I was wondering if these fears are justified and how to avoid this in the future.

How long has it been on the yeast? I regularly leave cider in the primary for up to two months with no side effects.

it had been on the primary for about a month. And so far it has spent two weeks in the non airlocked jars.

Mason jars? Didja put lids on them loosely? If so, you're probably OK. Otherwise, chances are pretty good you've got an acetobacter colony going to some degree. If it still tastes OK, you can probably salvage a drinkable cider by pasteurizing 'em and sealing 'em up. (Put a lid on really tight, stick jar in canner, bring to boil for 60 seconds, pull jars out and put on towels. Don't forget the "really tight" part -- alcohol boils off at 170 degrees if you let it.)

I've never tried it but I can't see why you couldn't use a not-too-tightly-screwed-down two-piece mason jar lid as an airlock for cider. It wouldn't be a hermetic seal, but pretty close to it, letting gas out and nothing back in. Anybody ever tried this?

--Finn

Thanks. Are these acetobacters dangerous. And yeah I put the lids on pretty tight. Also I maybe should have mentioned there were no camden tablets in this brew.

Good news. Opened them up today so I could bottle them, and they tasted fine.