When Good Cider Goes Bad

2 weeks before Halloween, I purchased 5 gallons of unpasteurized cider for a friend having a party. With no room for the gallons in my fridge, I set them on the then-cool cement floor of my garage and forgot about them. Then we had a bit of a warm spell right before October 31, and when I remembered to check on the cider a few days before the party, they had gone a little 'sparkling'.

Fast forward another 2 weeks and another really warm spell, and the cider was still sitting in the garage, now actively bubbling and smelling a little vinegar-like. It was then that my husband and a friend from work decided to try a little home science experiment and brew the cider into hard cider, using no real experience with brewing save for their consumption of the end product. I was skeptical, but because their experiment clearly fell into a Wild Fermentation category, I had no choice but to be supportive, and I reluctantly turned over my kitchen.

Now, the transformed cider is gurgling away in our upstairs spare bedroom. Not unlike a baby, it has been swaddled in a blanket to prevent it from getting too cold lest the yeast stops its fermentation, and it requires several daily check-ups. A plastic air-lock 'burps' Baby Hard Cider for us, as we count down the 30+ days before we can taste-test our homebrew. The best part? A toss-up between using up something that would otherwise get thrown out, and getting a cool DIY lesson that opens up all kinds of new homebrewing adventures.