# homemade vinegar??



## jconde (Sep 13, 2010)

Does anyone here make apple cider vinegar? I want to try...Thanks for any help!


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## Marilyn (Aug 2, 2006)

I'm curious too.


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## TraderBob (Oct 21, 2010)

I haven't made any yet, but have been researching it. I've found the videos from Eat the Weeds quite interesting, but the method is, hmmm, how shall I say it, not for the squeamish.
I'm sure if I needed to, I would, and I should probably practice before I need to. Anyway, here is the video:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEwOzhyVYyc[/ame]


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## Renae (Jun 28, 2011)

This video is great. There are several parts to it. This is part 1 and when its over it gives you the other parts. 

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vk5KE3jqxYA[/ame]


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## starlady (Sep 9, 2009)

I have an ongoing batch of wine vinegar that I started with a bottle of Bragg apple cider vinegar. I poured some into a quart jar and made sure it had a piece of the "mother" - the sort of stringy stuff in the bottom. You have to start off with a vinegar that contains the mother - standard grocery store ACV won't work. Then I just started adding white wine little by little. Any time I didn't finish a glass, or had some left in a bottle, I dumped it in. It's been a few years now and it's still going. I used to have a red wine batch too, but I dumped it out because my roommate at the time thought it looked too gross. (The vinegar "mother" that red wine generates is pretty icky looking.) You could probably do something similar with apple cider, though you have to let it ferment first as vinegar is made from alcohol. FWIW, I don't use this vinegar for canning because the acidity level fluctuates depending on how recently I've added wine to it.


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## springvalley (Jun 23, 2009)

I have and do make ACV, and you do not have to have the MOTHER to start it. You first need cider, then put into clean glass jars, cover with cheese cloth and put in a cool dark place. You then forget it for awhile, you never want to cover tightly, as the gas from fermentation will explode your jars. You can put balloons over the top of the jars, as that will let the gas expand without breaking the jars. There will be a slime form on the top of the cider, it will then settle to the bottom of the jar cleaning the sides as it goes down. This traps the sluge on the bottom, and then it will form another slime on top. After this happens it usually is ok to put a cap on it, or you can just set the cap on without tightening it. Once you want to start using the vinegar, you take a clear plastic hose and stick it in the jar, inbetween the slime layers. You then take out the vinegar in the middle and run into a clean jar, if you get some of the slime (Mother) that will not hurt anything, but you don`t need much of it. This vinegar is stronger than regular store bought, so you may want to get some ph paper to test it. Store bought runs abround 5% acid, homemade will be stronger, It is much easier to make than you would think. I think I got every step down, ask question if you need to , > Thanks Marc


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## sss3 (Jul 15, 2007)

Tried this last year and got knats. How do you prevent them?


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## PlicketyCat (Jul 14, 2010)

I've unintentionally made both apple and grape/wine vinegar in my old pantry with the "black hole cabinets"... so it definitely isn't that hard 

SpringValley pretty much covers the whole process in a nutshell when you rely on natural "wild" yeast to do your fermenting for you. If you're not comfortable with unknown beasties, you can always purchase a Mother from a wine making supplier, heat pasteurize your cider/juice first, and then inoculate the sterile liquid with the Mother. That way you know the only beasties you have living and growing in your jar/crock/keg are the ones you put in there.

One of my gals at the farmer's market makes her own vinegars from a wild yeast Mother that she started after first moving here (about 25 years ago). After decanting the strained, finished vinegar into new sterile bottles, she starts new kegs of cider/wine or juice by equally dividing the Mother left from the last batch into the new batches. When she starts with juice, it normally takes twice as long since the Mother has to turn the juice into cider or wine before it can turn it into vinegar.

Her vinegar is extremely strong; and since she doesn't run continuous batch, it doesn't fluctuate or get diluted by adding fresh liquids. The concentration, molarity and pH of her vinegars are nearly always double store-bought, so I have to take this into account when canning and pickling (ugh - more math!!)


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## PlicketyCat (Jul 14, 2010)

Sandra Spiess said:


> Tried this last year and got knats. How do you prevent them?


I didn't get gnats with my volunteer vinegar, but I have a gnat problem once with sauerkraut (similar fermentation issues). I solved the problem by covering my crock with muslin (finer weave than cheese cloth), and securing it with a rubber band. The muslin still let the crock vent gases, but the gnats couldn't get in and eventually went away.


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## Paquebot (May 10, 2002)

Sandra Spiess said:


> Tried this last year and got knats. How do you prevent them?


I'll bet that they were vinegar flies rather than gnats. They are attracted to fermenting juices. A fine cheese cloth is sufficient to allow air and yeast spores to get in but keep the flies out.

Martin


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## Mountain Mick (Sep 10, 2005)

Hi,

I make 25lts vinegar at a time , I use Certified Bragg Organic Raw Apple Cider Vinegar is unfiltered, unheated, unpasteurized and 5% acidity. which contains the amazing Mother of Vinegar which occurs naturally as strand-like enzymes of connected protein molecules. to 25lts of apple cider and store in the dark for 3 to 6 months with no sun light until the Mother of Vinegar has eaten up the alcohol and covent it into vinegar. which Change all of the alcohol to acetic acid. This is called "acetic acid fermentation

When the vinegar is fully fermented, filter the liquid through several layers of fine cheesecloth or filter paper like a coffee filter works well for this. This removes the mother of vinegar, preventing further fermentation or spoilage of the product. 

The vinegar is now ready for storage in separate, capped containers. Stored vinegar will stay in excellent condition almost indefinitely if it is pasteurized. *To pasteurize,* heat the vinegar before pouring it into sterilized bottles, or bottle, then place in a hot water bath. In both cases, the temperature of the vinegar must reach at least 140 degrees F to sterilize the product, and should not exceed 160 degrees F. Use a cooking thermometer to ensure the correct temperature is met. Cool the containers and store at room temperature out of direct sunlight.


MM


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## Catalytic (Sep 15, 2010)

I want to try making vinegar soon. I shop at the commissary for groceries, and the other day I noticed they have an organic ACV with the mother in it for about $4/qt.


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## Leister Square (Feb 7, 2010)

SpringValley, how do you get the vinegar out of between the slime layers--with a hose? Further explanation is needed if you could. Thanks!


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## ajaxlucy (Jul 18, 2004)

I keep a jar each of white wine vinegar and red wine vinegar going on one of the back shelves in my cupboard. Any leftover wine goes into one or the other. Both are covered with a coffee filter secured with an elastic band to keep out flies. Vinegar that's done gets poured off and kept in the fridge. I don't pasteurize, but I use it quickly enough. It's so much better than store bought. 

From time to time the mothers build up in the working jars and I have to throw them out/give them away, keeping only a bit more to start the whole process over.

Cider vinegar I get from a friend's family in Ohio. They have an old-fashioned press that they crank up every fall. Their ACV is so delicious.


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## rancher1913 (Dec 5, 2008)

I have some homemade vinegar that I want to can. I've noticed that Braggs has the mother in it - will canning kill the mother?


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## Forerunner (Mar 23, 2007)

Don't heat/can your vinegar....no need. 

Glass jar and plastic lid (or a cork) will take you all the way.
The stuff keeps forever.

My vinegar operation couldn't be simpler.

All "leftover" and odd batches of cider go into 5 gallon glass carboys, a patch of cloth and a rubber band take care of bugs, dust and gas exchange.
Invariably, from a few weeks to a year later, I have premium stout vinegar.


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## alpacaspinner (Feb 5, 2012)

Forerunner said:


> Don't heat/can your vinegar....no need.
> 
> Glass jar and plastic lid (or a cork) will take you all the way.
> The stuff keeps forever.
> ...


I agree with this. Vinegar is an end product; there is no need to can it, and doing so will kill all the good fermentation beasties, which are good for your digestion.


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