[Sca-cooks] Mother of Vinegar

[Terry Decker]

1.  Yes, there are different types of mother of vinegar.  Mother of vinegar 
is formed from cellulose and acetic acid bacteria.  There are thousands of 
different acetic acid bacteria which can be present.  While any of these can 
produce vinegar, using an acetic acid bacteria  that is optimized to the 
medium produces the best results.  A commercial mother should work any 
vinegar making at home, it may or may not produce the best results.

2.  Effective distillation begins around 1000 CE.  Production of high 
alcohol brandies doesn't take off until the 14th Century.  Probably why the 
Celts used rosin to preserve their enemies heads rather than pickling them 
in Irish whiskey.

Alcohol also dissolves sugars, reduces flavors, and softens connective 
tissue, so it might not be an appropriate method of preservation in a given 
instance.  Honey (in a low humidity environment) is actually a better 
preservative.

3.  Honey brandy.

Bear


On  a whim, since they seem to sell lots of things, I checked Amazon. Quite 
a number of both mother of vinegar cultures and various types of vinegar 
that contained the mother, there.

The actual vinegar is much cheaper than the bottles of mother, but larger, 
so it likely costs more to ship.

Also, I can’t tell if you just get one batch for each bottle of mother, or 
not. If so, that would make it a lot more expensive than buying ‘live’ 
vinegar.

1) Are there different types of vinegar mothers? i.e.: Is it better to use a 
apple cider mother if you are going to add it to apple cider?

I did see some “White Wine/Neutral Vinegar Starter”, but the description for 
the red wine vinegar doesn’t seem to be that specific. So does it make that 
big a difference? I do know that many brewers seem to want specific yeasts, 
and almost never bread yeasts.

I did think the instructions on the red wine vinegar description might be of 
use to those making vinegar at home and those who have recently had 
problems:

<<< USING MOTHER OF VINEGAR Directions: Mother of vinegar can be 
successfully used with wine or any other alcohol to produce vinegar. There 
are three main aspects you need to make sure of however: 1. Remove sulfites: 
Sulfites occur naturally in wine but are also added to prevent bacterial 
growth which causes vinegar to form. To remove sulfites there are two 
methods a. Stir the wine for about 30 minutes - can work but is not always 
effective b. Add small amounts of hydrogen peroxide. Get the typical 3% 
hydrogen peroxide sold at most drug stores and add 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 mL) to 
the wine. Stir in and this should remove most sulfites. The hydrogen 
peroxide will not be toxic or harm the taste of the vinegar. The general 
formula is 1 mL of 3% hydrogen peroxide removes 10 ppm of sulfites and red 
wine contains on average 20-40 ppm of sulfites. 2. Make sure the alcohol 
percentage of the mixture you want to turn to vinegar is less than 10% v/v, 
preferably between 6-8% v/v. This is best achieved by diluting the wine. For 
example, to make vinegar from 12-14% alcohol red wine, mix 2 parts of red 
wine with 1 part of water and 1 part mother of vinegar. 3. Make sure the 
vinegar can breathe: the bacteria making vinegar need access to oxygen so 
make sure there are holes or an open top the vinegar can breathe through. 
Cover these holes or top with cheesecloth or gauze however to prevent fruit 
flies from getting in. Finally, the optimal temperature for vinegar growth 
is 80-85 degrees Fahrenheit. It will still grow fine at room temperature 
though. Good luck! >>>

2) I hadn’t thought of the alcohol percentage being a concern before, but it 
makes sense. I guess you could use that vodka or bourbon to preserve your 
vegetable or fruit harvest, but I seldom hear of that now, or in period. :-)

It was done with honey and I would expect honey to be more expensive than 
alcoholic distillations in period.

3) What do you get if you distill mead?

I’m still undecided whether to do some hunting at my local brewing shops or 
simply order through Amazon.

Maybe different vinegars for Yule gifts?

Stefan


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