I made apple cider vinegar, but it didn't turn brown?
My first batch DID turn brown.
The first batch I let apples rise to top of fluid, left 2" o f air and used cheese cloth. The second batch I kept apples submerged, and left no air in jar and covered with coffee filter.
Was the issue not enough air left in jar.
Recipe here: https://sites.google.com/site/pstorli/home/permaculture
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I've had all colors, from pale yellow to pinkish, to brown. The color of your final product will depend some on the color of the apple skins themselves. However, you do not want to exclude all the air from the fermenting jar. The vinegar mother is an air breather, and if you exclude too much air from her she will suffocate and die, and the bacteria she supports will go inactive. Then you don't get vinegar. Vinegar is made by the mother converting alcohol to acetic acid. So the first step in making vinegar is to have yeast to convert the sugars in your apples to an alcoholic cider. Then the mother goes to work to make that into vinegar. Both the yeast and the mother need air, though. Take a look at your jar, and see if you can find the slimy looking gel that is your mother. It should be near the top of the liquid. If it's not, then give it a taste and see if it tastes like sour apple juice. If that is the case, and there isn't a mother visible, you might want to introduce one. You can use an organic, non-pasteurized vinegar like Braggs to get that. You only need to exclude air after the fermentation is finished, to put the bacteria to sleep, as it were, until you use some of it to jump start a new batch. During fermentation, you have to have it to make the vinegar.