2 year experiment

Question

I put a harvest of green crab apples and water into a brew bucket and left it for 2 years. I heard that there were natural yeasts and of course there is natural sugar so I left it alone. I realized 2 years in that I forgot to add water to the airlock but some people in other forums said that with the pressure etc it should be ok. There were a few fruit flies in the airlock but otherwise, it smells ok. I poured some out and it looks and smells like lemonade. Should I taste it?

Answer 1

Yeah taste it! You've waited 2 years for this. What's it like?

Answer 2

Rule of thumb: if it has gone off, it smells and tastes like it has gone off. So it looks like you're fine!

That said, tasting it won't kill you, and it's the best way by far to find out where you stand. In fact, if it doesn't smell bad tasting is actually the only way. I'm a little surprised that you had to ask... :-) For me it would be a no-brainer. Of course you have a taste!

If your airlock has been standing dry that means that fruit flies and other critters might have gotten in. This (and normal aspiration) might have introduced wild yeasts, which you were using anyway, as well as molds and bacteriathat might have been on your fruit already in any case. (I assume you didn't boil to sterilize because you intended a natural fermentation with whatever yeast was already present.)

A fruit fermentation like this tends to have a certain acidity that is anti-bacterial. That's why wine and cider making require less antimicrobial measures than, say, beer brewing. So a little contamination is rarely a problem since the acidity usually counteracts it. It's only if you have such a contamination that the acidity is not enough to deal with it that a batch goes off.

Which essentially only leaves oxidation as a possible source of spoilage. However, if you left it undisturbed for 2 years you should have a 'blanket' of CO2 on top of the ferment, so that risk is not great.

So taste it! And let us know how it turned out, would you? :-)