The short answer: The list exists to make money for lawyers. Lots of drugs on it are effective for a variety of indications, but may have side effects that can be exploited in lawsuits (which mostly benefit attorneys). Of course, this is an herbalism forum and neither I nor anyone else has suggested that posters take prescription drugs for bladder infections. What's been pointed out is that ACV has no demonstrated effectiveness (or any mechanism by which one could imagine it being effective) against such infections. Cranberry juice, on the other hand, does have some evidence in its corner. "I have noted that tests for natural medicines printed in the peer reviewed journals use doses clearly below the theraputic dose recognized by the majority of herbalists for their studies. I noted this in tests printed in the New England Journal of Medicine, no less. This crap must stop. That it goes on at all is WHY there is a growing number of people using herbal methods. I have also noted that herbs that are usually used in a mixture with other herbs are tested alone, in a way they are not used. This happens with tests of Chinese herbs." This would be an interesting subject for a separate discussion, to include any examples of studies supposedly using suboptimal doses of herbal drugs. As to mixtures, there are in fact numerous studies looking at them. What can be problematic is when a mixture contains one herb believed to be the effective agent and the rest may or may not be filler. The only way to know if the purported effective component works is to test it separately (it could be, for example, that one or more other components of the mixture actually interfere with the active herb which might work better on its own). One old-time example is the folk remedy for heart failure that an 18th century British physician, William Withering studied, and discovered that while multiple elements in the herbal mix were unrelated to its actions on the heart, one herb (digitalis) was responsible for increasing heart contractility. That discovery paved the way for digitalis' use in general medicine (at a standardized, safer and more effective dose than one could count on in a home remedy). Chinese herbal mixtures are notorious for containing elements not listed on the label. "Contamination" (apparently deliberate) has included powerful prescription drugs (such as indomethacin and steroids) or toxic herbs like aristolochia, so that would be a major reason for being careful about using such mixtures. To get back to the cry of "They don't want you to know" (about supposedly cheap and effective home remedies): this hits close to home for me and many other health professionals who have experienced serious illness in ourselves or close family and friends. My mother (a physician) died of colon cancer. Does anyone doubt that she would have been willing to use a cheap home cure and enthusiastically promoted it to others if one existed?

I have been making hard cider for a couple of years now. First year I started fermentation in the carboy - and was getting the explosions. This year, I started fermentation in a large mouth 5 gallon tub. It came with a lid and a hole in which you put the bung and air lock. Use the champagne yeast, not brewer's yeast or baker's yeast as this will increase the alcohol content. Cider only takes about 2 weeks to get done - some people keep wine for 30 or 60 days. In the first few days, you'll see "head" and bubbles, you will also see the yeast in suspension. After a week, the bubbles will disappear but the yeast is still there. I tried drinking it - and it gave me a pretty bad hang over - the reason is that the organic products in suspension give off trace quantities of methanol. After a week more, the yeast will die and fall to bottom and the cider will clarify. You won't see the yeast in suspension. Now it's done and ready for bottling. I tried drinking it again - and no hangover. The taste is not quite cider - more like white wine. --- Regarding your question - you can add the sugar and the yeast. If the vinegar is not "strong" enough as a pickling agent - then the yeast will continue to ferment. If it is strong enough - then the yeast will not - which means it is a strong enough pickling agent. However, be sure to add champagne yeast - as that can tolerate the highest alcohol content and acidity - I believe around 18%. Also, you can just taste the vinegar and compare it to another product with a published acetic acid content of 5%. Is it more or less sour - if it is more sour - it should have higher vinegar concentration. It sounds to me like you vinegar is still oxidizing. You have to stir the vinegar and keep it open to air to allow oxygen to interact with the alcohol. If it is unstirred, in a large barrel it can take six months, with an automatic stirrer it could take a two or three weeks. The more surface area that is exposed to air and the frequent agitation will reduce the time to complete the process.

There have been a number of speculations on methods of making your own apple cider vinegar, many of which go from apples to cider to hard cider, finally to apple cider vinegar (ACV), a process that can be simplified. I'm not an expert on this, but did find information, and my small batches are well on their way, and smell wonderful. My first batch, in 2 one-quart canning jars, consisted of approx 3 apples per jar. I removed/trimmed the stem/blossom ends of the fruit, and washed them. These were cut into coarse chunk, skins and all, and packed lightly into cleaned jars, 2/3 or less full. If the jars are too full, you'll have overflow later as the apples ferment. Add enough non-chlorinated water to cover the apples, and add 2/3 tsp of sugar to each jar. Place a double layer of paper towel on each jar, and tie it on with twine or a rubber band. The apples will be obviously fermenting in a few days, and the apples should be pressed down/stirred a little at least daily for the first few weeks. I found it useful to "knock" the jars to get air bubbles to the surface and discourage overflow. The smell should be pleasant. If it's not, consider throwing this out and starting over. The apples, skins and all, will look like tan applesauce after a few weeks. Add more non-chlorinated water to bring the level back up, if necessary. The scent should be distinctly of vinegar. A 2nd batch I made used apples from a neighbor's tree, and these turned to 'mush' much more slowly than the others, but the progress seems the same. I'm half-way through this 12 week process, and stir the jars only once a week, checking to make sure no 'unfriendly' cultures or mold starts. Again, use the sniff test. The first batch of jars have 1/3 clear tan ACV over dense sediment. The 2nd batch only just finished losing its chunkiness, probably because the apples were granny smiths. This jar also has a somewhat solid disc of "mother', whitish and translucent, which I'm told is desirable. I press this down with a clean spoon every few days when stirring the mixtures, just to keep unwanted cultures from taking hold here. I'm guessing that at the 12th week, the jars should be strained through a coarse sieve, and the ACV bottled and saved. The organic ACV from the health food store has substantial mushy mother in it, so that's what I'll aim for. Any suggestions of what to do with the mother 'disc' from the later batch? Some of the solids after filtering will be used to inoculate new batches of ACV, and I guess the rest will go to compost? The organic ACV from the store was ~$5 for less than a pint--hopefully these batches at home will be worth the wait! The next batch will be in a much larger container. Has anyone used a method like this? I'm starting to ferment a lot in my quart jars--sourdough starter, yogurt, sauerkraut, etc. There's a trend here! --Rick in CT first batch, after 11 days:

I have a batch of ACV that I started about 10 weeks ago, and it finally smells like it's ready! It's actually 2 quart jars, started at the same time using organic macintosh, and the clear liquid is ~40% of the total volume: I would like to know the preferred method of draining it, and how to have a good part of the mother in the finished product. Cheesecloth? A sieve? I've used a plastic strainer lined with a coffee filter for draining curds before, but I would probably have to scoop a little of the solid remains into the finished product. Is there a use for the solids besides composting it? I'd love to hear what others do at this last stage of preparation. I have a 3rd jar that I started with apples from my neighbor's neglected yard and tree, and this has formed a solid translucent disc on top, which I understand is another form of 'mother', and desirable. This batch will be ready soon, so, same questions as before, and what to do with this disc, which looks nice and clean. When I first noticed it, I would stir the fermenting solids carefully so as not to damage the disc, and make sure that the surface was wet with the developing vinegar. I'm starting 2 more quarts today, maybe in a larger jar, and have considered transferring the 'disc' to the new batch, probably with a spoonful of the solids from the previous batch. I'm guessing this will help assure that I get the right fermentation/organisms going? (I had 1 batch that failed because it smelled bad.) I've been taking ~a tablespoon of Bragg's ACV almost daily 'just because', and have started fermenting other foods too--sauerkraut, yogurt, sourdough, etc. My kitchen smells great! Comments, please? Thanks! Rick in CT