SC - Flavored Vinegars

[Ceridwen]

> Valoise said:
>
> >
> > Has anyone ever tried to make vinegar from wine or beer? I've seen several
> > recipes that call for hanging a cloth bag of sourdough in the wine or beer
> > and letting it ferment, but I don't have any sour dough starter right now
> > so I haven't given it a try.

Done both, with better success with wines than beers. I got a "vinegar mother"
from a local brew supply store.  They are available in red, white, and malt
varieties.  You can also use a bit of "natural" (meaning not distilled) vinegar
to start a batch from  either wine or beer. Try finding those at a health food
store. The truly natural way is to let the wine or beer sit in the open,
uncovered for a couple days until it starts to have a vinegary odor, then cover
it with cloth and let it mature. The vinegar-producing bacteria need air to live
and reproduce so don't cap it air-tight. Keeping it warm speeds the process. It
is not a fast process, taking weeks to months to produce a satisfactory product.

    I made a blackberry wine a couple years agos that came out *waaaaayyyy* to
dry for a drinkable or even a cooking wine, and decided to try to make a vinegar
from it. After the addition of the "mother" I let it sit at room temp in a
gallon jug with cheesecloth over the top. In about 6 months it had become a very
smooth, fruity, red wine vinegar, that is just excellent in salads. I use it in
cooking also, and have made a couple of herbal/spice versions from it.  It is
nearly gone, and I'm wondering if I'll ever be able to reproduce it (I really
need to keep a notebook).
    Now I have a question... does anyone on the list remember their chemistry
well enough to tell me the process for determining the % acidity in a vinegar?
Using pH paper isn't close enough for me to tell if I have the 5% recommended
for pickling. Or the formula to convert pH to % acetic acid???

Ceridwen
ceridwen at ccgnv.net

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