Homemade Apple Cider Vinegar

[taxlady]

Its the same as; "Which came first, the chicken or the egg". You must acquire a viable working culture before you can get a "mother". However, the mother is not conducive to good "static" fermentation as it hinders the absorption of the O2 at the surface of the batch.

Once you have a batch that is "finished", remove the mother with a slotted spoon and discard. There will be enough culture within the liquid to ensure another batch.

So, one takes some of the vinegar from which the mother was removed to make another batch. Have I got that right?

 

[mR.vINEGAR]

So, one takes some of the vinegar from which the mother was removed to make another batch. Have I got that right?

When your batch is assumed "finished", remove and discard the mother. Remove approximately 50% of the batch. Add more food (alcohol), being careful not to exceed 7-8% alcohol to the total volume. If your batch was active, the new addition of food should be finished in approximately 7-10 days. You should monitor the mother production during this phase. When the mother becomes too thick, your batch is finished. Repeat the process. NOTE: Removing 50% of the finished vinegar will keep the process going. However, after a few months, you may notice the mother becoming very thick and very soon. Like al other biological processes, that indicates that YOU HAVE TOO MUCH VIABLE CULTURE. This will result in the mother being produced at a greater rate than the conversion of alcohol to acetic acid (vinegar). Some culture must be removed. To do this, remove 75% of the finished batch.

 

[taxlady]

When your batch is assumed "finished", remove and discard the mother. Remove approximately 50% of the batch. Add more food (alcohol), being careful not to exceed 7-8% alcohol to the total volume. If your batch was active, the new addition of food should be finished in approximately 7-10 days. You should monitor the mother production during this phase. When the mother becomes too thick, your batch is finished. Repeat the process. NOTE: Removing 50% of the finished vinegar will keep the process going. However, after a few months, you may notice the mother becoming very thick and very soon. Like al other biological processes, that indicates that YOU HAVE TOO MUCH VIABLE CULTURE. This will result in the mother being produced at a greater rate than the conversion of alcohol to acetic acid (vinegar). Some culture must be removed. To do this, remove 75% of the finished batch.

Add more alcohol? Like vodka? Or more apple peels? Do you throw away the 50% that you remove or do you use it to start the next batch?

 

[mR.vINEGAR]

Add more alcohol? Like vodka? Or more apple peels? Do you throw away the 50% that you remove or do you use it to start the next batch?

That 50% is finished vinegar. Bottle it and seal it tightly so that no air can get into it. The culture will continue to work in the bottle for about 1-2 hours before it runs out of free dissolved O2. Keep it sealed for a month to ensure there is no live culture remaining.

The 50% left behind is loaded with live culture. Add your food source to that which should be an alcohol solution such as wine or beer. You don't want too much alcohol. You do not want to add more fruit pieces to that. It should only be approximately 6-10 days for that food source to be finished vinegar.

 

[taxlady]

That 50% is finished vinegar. Bottle it and seal it tightly so that no air can get into it. The culture will continue to work in the bottle for about 1-2 hours before it runs out of free dissolved O2. Keep it sealed for a month to ensure there is no live culture remaining.

The 50% left behind is loaded with live culture. Add your food source to that which should be an alcohol solution such as wine or beer. You don't want too much alcohol. You do not want to add more fruit pieces to that. It should only be approximately 6-10 days for that food source to be finished vinegar.

Thank you. Does one do the same thing again, with this new batch of vinegar?

 

[mR.vINEGAR]

Thank you. Does one do the same thing again, with this new batch of vinegar?

You continue with this method for as long as you wish. It will continue to produce vinegar. However, you must be sure that the alcohol value is not too high. Use wine which is approximately 11% -12% alcohol/vol. You must dilute it to about 7% alcohol. I am including this calculation for you. All you need to do is enter your own values. let me know if you need assistance with it.
Diluting an Alcohol Base with a Liquid Containing No Alcohol
To Obtain an Exact Desired Volume

Desired: 8.0% alcohol/volume
Base(Wine): 11.2%/volume
Desired volume: 750ml
Dilution Liquid is water


750ml / [Base 0.112 / 0.08] = 535.7ml water
750ml – 535.7ml = 214.3ml base (wine)

Base Liquid = 535.7ml
Dilution Water = 214.3ml


Therefore, add 214.3ml of dilution liquid (water) to 535.7ml base (Wine).
Total volume 535.7ml + 214.29ml = 750ml

Check:
(535.7ml Base)(0.112) = 60ml of alcohol

60ml alcohol / 750ml TV = 8% alcohol/volume.

 

[blissful]

Mr Vinegar, thank you for gracing this thread. I appreciate your experience and you talking math in your last post.



I've made vinegar from fruit with a small amount of sugar added to fruit scrap/water.
A. with a small amount of active vinegar
Is the active vinegar to lower the PH or is it to introduce some active culture? Or both?
B. without active vinegar.
Do you think it is a necessary ingredient in fruit scrap/sugar/water with my sights on vinegar?
I've had success both ways.


When I made red wine vinegar, it took much longer (than fruit scrap/sugar/water) to get to vinegar, is there a reason for that? I did not add anything but air for it to turn to vinegar.


I've made vinegar from fruit scrap/water/sugar/(active vinegar or not).
The recipes that used more sugar/gallon with the fruit scrap moved so much faster, foamed more, formed a thicker mother, than the one's with less sugar.

I'm going by approximate amounts and smell and taste to measure.

As long as I don't go over the 11% or 12% of alcohol, is it actually moving faster toward vinegar than a future vinegar that doesn't seem to have the smell of much alcohol?
If you have time, thank you for all the information provided, it is very helpful.

 

[larry_stewart]

So my vinegar made from apple scarps, sugar and water seems to be coming along fine. Ive already let the scraps sit for 2 weeks, strained it and let it sit another 2 weeks. During this time a mother formed. Now its in its 3rd week after straining and it seems the mother stank to the bottom and another one is forming at the surface. I tasted it earlier in the week and I was happy with the results. So my questions are:

1) is its normal for a second mother to form ?
2) Is this a good time for me to take out the vinegar I want to use/ store , and add wine to the remaining to start another process going ?

***I have some crappy apple wine that I made , and I think this would be a good way to use some of it up. In addition, I also made some cranberry wine, so why not make some cranberry vinegar, especially this time of year***

 

[mR.vINEGAR]

So my vinegar made from apple scarps, sugar and water seems to be coming along fine. Ive already let the scraps sit for 2 weeks, strained it and let it sit another 2 weeks. During this time a mother formed. Now its in its 3rd week after straining and it seems the mother stank to the bottom and another one is forming at the surface. I tasted it earlier in the week and I was happy with the results. So my questions are:

1) is its normal for a second mother to form ?
2) Is this a good time for me to take out the vinegar I want to use/ store , and add wine to the remaining to start another process going ?

***I have some crappy apple wine that I made , and I think this would be a good way to use some of it up. In addition, I also made some cranberry wine, so why not make some cranberry vinegar, especially this time of year***

I sounds to me like your vinegar ferments are approaching the Kombucha method. If you have a working culture going, there is no need to ad more fruit scraps etc. All that will do is prolong an alcohol fermentation which you don't want. The "bubbling" you see is the alcohol being produced. Vinegar fermentation will not produce "bubbles". What you want to do is feed your batch "alcohol" and not fruit scraps.

I'm assisting another person with this. I will attach a simple calculation for you to follow that I offered her. When you feel you have a batch that resembles vinegar, remove the mother and discard it. The mother serves no purpose other than to protect the culture in ways that can be explained later. Your method should be "static" and it should not be disturbed in any way once you feed it. Because it is a static process, the mother interferes with the O2 absorption at the surface. The "Aceto Bacter" (vinegar making bacteria) is a strict aerobe. It requires free O2 to survive. Without it, it dies.

Back to your batch; Remove the mother and discard. There will be enough culture in the liquid to keep it going. Measure the volume you remove "As Finished Vinegar" and seal it tightly in a bottle so as to prevent air from getting in. Be sure to leave a slight head space. If you know the volume you removed, it must be replaced with alcohol that should not be too strong. You want to keep it at approximately 6%-7% alcohol/vol. You can use whiskey, Rum Wine or a strong beer. If you know the alcohol values, the calculation I'm attaching will help you "dilute" these. Wine would be the best choice because the whiskey and Rum are usually 40% alcohol/vol. and your dilution will not see a very large volume. Wine is your best option but be sure to know the alcohol value. To water down the wine, you can use a fruit juice of your choice, preferably grape juice, in keeping with the wine scenario.

Here is the calculation and please contact me if you have any difficulties with it. All you need to do is insert your values.

Diluting an Alcohol Base with a Liquid Containing No Alcohol
To Obtain an Exact Desired Volume

Desired: 8.0% alcohol/volume
Base(Wine): 11.2%/volume
Desired volume: 750ml
Dilution Liquid is water


750ml / [Base 0.112 / 0.08] = 535.7ml water
750ml – 535.7ml = 214.3ml base (wine)

Base Liquid = 535.7ml
Dilution Water = 214.3ml


Therefore, add 214.3ml of dilution liquid (water) to 535.7ml base (Wine).
Total volume 535.7ml + 214.29ml = 750ml

Check:
(535.7ml Base)(0.112) = 60ml of alcohol

60ml alcohol / 750ml TV = 8% alcohol/volume.

 

[larry_stewart]

So I removed about 1/2 gallons worth of my new, freshly made Apple vinegar. I must say, it really does taste significantly better than store bought stuff. I know everyone always says " homemade is better than store bought". Sometimes its true, other times not, In this case, I can truly taste the difference. that being said, I usually dont buy high quality brand name vinegars, which Im sure has something to do with it.

I had 2 large jars going. Both had produced mothers. I removed the mother from one, left the mother in the other ( more as an experiment than anything else). I added homemade apple wine too one, and homemade cranberry wine to the other. Looking forward too the results.

 

[mR.vINEGAR]

So I removed about 1/2 gallons worth of my new, freshly made Apple vinegar. I must say, it really does taste significantly better than store bought stuff. I know everyone always says " homemade is better than store bought". Sometimes its true, other times not, In this case, I can truly taste the difference. that being said, I usually dont buy high quality brand name vinegars, which Im sure has something to do with it.

I had 2 large jars going. Both had produced mothers. I removed the mother from one, left the mother in the other ( more as an experiment than anything else). I added homemade apple wine too one, and homemade cranberry wine to the other. Looking forward too the results.

The one with the mother will probably not ferment as "efficiently" as the other. However, if it offers a vinegar that you like, go for it. I think you're on your way to producing vinegar "ongoing". You will eventually have more vinegar that you can use. Keep family & friends in mind. When you bottle it, be sure that it is a very tight seal so that air cannot get into it. I usually wrap a bit of plastic cling wrap over the opening and then seal. The culture will still be active when you bottle it. It will consume the air that was trapped inside for a couple of hours. This means there will be a vacuum inside the bottle. Never underestimate the power of a vacuum. If your bottle is not properly sealed, that vacuum will start to draw in air and that will keep the culture alive. If that happens, you'll end up with a bottle of water.

 

[GotGarlic]

Cool beans, Larry! I wish I could taste it! [emoji39]

 

[pepperhead212]

The one with the mother will probably not ferment as "efficiently" as the other. However, if it offers a vinegar that you like, go for it. I think you're on your way to producing vinegar "ongoing". You will eventually have more vinegar that you can use. Keep family & friends in mind. When you bottle it, be sure that it is a very tight seal so that air cannot get into it. I usually wrap a bit of plastic cling wrap over the opening and then seal. The culture will still be active when you bottle it. It will consume the air that was trapped inside for a couple of hours. This means there will be a vacuum inside the bottle. Never underestimate the power of a vacuum. If your bottle is not properly sealed, that vacuum will start to draw in air and that will keep the culture alive. If that happens, you'll end up with a bottle of water.

Good to know about the vacuum, and that gives me an idea, for something that I use for a lot of things - Vacu Vin. It's just a rubber top for wine, but I use it for a lot of things that I don't use very often, and after sucking almost all of the air out, they keep very well. I'll try that next time I make vinegar. Plus, I have some similar lids for mason jars, to form a vacuum while making kimchi, and the like - should help store the vinegar.

 

[taxlady]

Good to know about the vacuum, and that gives me an idea, for something that I use for a lot of things - Vacu Vin. It's just a rubber top for wine, but I use it for a lot of things that I don't use very often, and after sucking almost all of the air out, they keep very well. I'll try that next time I make vinegar. Plus, I have some similar lids for mason jars, to form a vacuum while making kimchi, and the like - should help store the vinegar.

Using the Vacu Vin to seal the bottle of vinegar sounds like a great idea to me, but I'm no expert. I do have a Vacu Vin.

 

[larry_stewart]

Would corking it like a wine bottle be of any benefit if im storing it for awhile ?

 

[pepperhead212]

I think the cork would cause a problem, since it breathes - not enough for the beginning, when you need the oxygen, but with the finished vinegar, you don't want it to breath, from what I gather. That's why I thought of that vacu vin.

 

[mR.vINEGAR]

I think the cork would cause a problem, since it breathes - not enough for the beginning, when you need the oxygen, but with the finished vinegar, you don't want it to breath, from what I gather. That's why I thought of that vacu vin.

A cork would absolutely cause a problem. It will allow air into the bottle. I think a simple tight screw on cap would suffice. Adding a small bit of cling wrap over the top first would act as a gasket and ensure no air getting inside.

 

[pepperhead212]

Today I started a batch of that pineapple vinegar, that I mentioned before. I hadn't looked at that recipe for years, but it was basically the same as Larry's with the apple scraps - this has a quart of water and 1/4 c brown sugar, added to trimmings from a half of a pineapple. I also had some pineapple pieces in the fridge, that had started fermenting - something they often do - so I put those in. I crushed everything, getting some juice with the scraps, and put everything in a gallon jar, with a cheesecloth cover. Now, time to wait!

 

[larry_stewart]

Today I started a batch of that pineapple vinegar, that I mentioned before. I hadn't looked at that recipe for years, but it was basically the same as Larry's with the apple scraps - this has a quart of water and 1/4 c brown sugar, added to trimmings from a half of a pineapple. I also had some pineapple pieces in the fridge, that had started fermenting - something they often do - so I put those in. I crushed everything, getting some juice with the scraps, and put everything in a gallon jar, with a cheesecloth cover. Now, time to wait!

good luck, keep us posted. I cant wait to try other vinegars.

 

[pepperhead212]

Bumped this thread up, since I thought those making vinegar would find some good information, not just on apple cider vinegar. .