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How to Make Your Own Vinegar

Vinegar Recipes

Vinegar #33 - Cider Vinegar

August 28, 2001

Ingredients:

• 1/2 gallon all natural, unfiltered Gravenstein apple cider (Trader Joe's brand)

Procedure:

Pour 1/2 gallon of unfiltered apple cider into a clean glass container. Place a paper towel of the mouth of the glass container. Secure the paper towel with a rubber band. Let the wild yeasts in the air and the cider start fermenting the sugars into alcohol. You should see the cider start bubbling in a few days. Wait until the fermentation is done, leaving you with hard cider. This could take anywhere from two to four weeks. Let the hard cider sit and become acidic, as the vinegar bacteria start converting the alcohol to acetic acid. This could take four to six weeks.

A layer of gelatinous material should form on top of the vinegar. This 'mother-of-vinegar' is a natural product of the vinegar-making process.

Taste the vinegar to see if it is too sharp or to acidic. Let the vinegar age for at least three months before using.

Notes:

• August 28, 2001: I realized that I have made only one cider vinegar and I did not keep any notes for that batch. So I am trying again to see how long the apple juice will take to ferment and turn into vinegar.
• August 30, 2001: Aerated the apple juice.
• August 31, 2001: The apple juice is fermenting away, with a nice little foamy head about 1/2 inch thick. I swirled the apple juice to aerate.
• September 28, 2001: Fermentation is done. Now we wait for the vinegar bacteria to start doing their job.
• October 10, 2001: The hard cider tastes a little sharp today. I think the vinegaring process has begun.
• October 26, 2001: Shook off the first layer of mother, which fell to the bottom of the vinegar.
• October 31, 2001: Another thin layer of mother has already formed. The cider vinegar is very, very sharp and will need to age at least three more months before being used.

Vinegar #35 - Cabernet Sauvignon Vinegar

November 23, 2001

Ingredients:

• 1.5 liter of Cabernet Sauvignon (Corbette Canyon, 12.0% alcohol by volume, contains sulfites)
• 1.5 liter water
• mother of vinegar

Procedure:

Combine the cabernet sauvignon and water into a clean one-gallon glass jar. Secure a layer of paper towel of the mouth of the jar with a rubber band. Set aside for 24 hours. Add the mother of vinegar to the glass jar. Replace the paper towel cover and set aside.

Notes:

• November 23, 2001: I wanted to see if the presence of sulfites in the wine makes a difference in how fast a vinegar is made. I combined the wine and water together and let it sit for 24 hours to let any sulfites evaporate away.
• December 8, 2001: Waiting to add the mother of vinegar seems to make a difference. I shook off the first mother developed in this vinegar! I did not let my first few vinegars sit to let the sulfites dissipate before adding the mother of vinegar. Sometimes it would take weeks before the first mother would form. Sulfites are added to kill the vinegar bacteria, so adding an active mother of vinegar to a wine with sulfites would guarantee a long initial start up.
• December 19, 2001: A very nice mother is on top of the vinegar, the second since I started this batch. There is a nice acidic smell from the glass jar. The vinegar is sweet, tasting of the wine. The vinegar still has a few weeks to go before it is finished. I used the mother from this batch to start another vinegar.
• February 9, 2002: A mother grew 3/4 inch thick on top of the vinegar. I used this mother to start another vinegar. The cabernet sauvignon vinegar is slightly sweet and very tasty.

Vinegar #41 - ForestVille Chardonnay Vinegar

December 13, 2001

Ingredients:

• 750 ml (about 3 1/2 cups) of Chardonnay (ForestVille Vineyards, 1999, 12.5% alcohol by volume, contains sulfites)
• 750 ml water
• mother of vinegar

Procedure:

Pour the bottle wine into a 2 quart pitcher. Fill the wine bottle with water and pour the water into the pitcher. Secure a single layer of paper towel to the mouth of the pitcher with a rubber band. Set aside for 6 days.

Pour the diluted wine into a 2 quart glass jar. Add the mother of vinegar. Secure a single layer of paper towel to the mouth of the jar with a rubber band. Set aside.

Notes:

• December 13, 2001: I am doing further investigation to see if letting wine known to have sulfites site for a number of hours will speed up the initial production of vinegar. Sulfites are used in winemaking to kill of unwanted yeasts and bacteria, including acetobacter. If the sulfites evaporate into the atmosphere then they won't be there to inhibit the acetobacter introduced with the mother of vinegar.
• December 19, 2001: I let the diluted wine sit for six days just to make sure all of the sulfites have evaporated away. Added an active mother from Vinegar #35 to start.
• December 30, 2001: I have pretty much ignored this vinegar for a week and a half. I have not moved it or swirled the diluted wine to aerate. This morning I discovered a nice new layer of mother on top. I swirled the vinegar to loosen the mother, which fell to the bottom.
• January 26, 2002: I filtered out the mother of vinegar to start another vinegar.
• February 12, 2002: A new mother has formed on top of the vinegar.

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