Making vinegar from beer

[A2HB]

Ok thanks for the tips! So apparently my containers are #5 grade plastic and after a quick google I found:

[IPlastic #5 - Polypropylene (PP) is a thermoplastic polymer. It is strong, tough, has a high resistance to heat and acts as a barrier to moisture.

Where is Polypropylene found?
Yogurt & margarine tubs
Plastic cups & baby bottles
Kitchenware, microwavable plastic containers and lids
Health Concerns
Most PP are microwavable safe and dishwasher safe. NOTE: microwavable/dishwasher safe only means that the plastic will not warp when heated. It does not imply that it is a healthy practice. A better alternative is using glass containers to heat foods and to hand wash plastic instead of using the dishwasher.

- See more at: http://www.babygreenthumb.com/p-122-safe-plastic-numbers-guide.aspx#sthash.wO16ZQwy.62LhnAs4.dpuf[/I]

So says its safe. Well now just need to get some cheese cloth or a paint strainer bag to cover them up and I'll be on my way.

I'm planning on making two separate batches, one from a milk stout and the other from a Belgian tripel. Really looking forward to giving this a try

 

[unionrdr]

I found my 2 gallon PET pail & a pack of 2-2 gallon fine mesh paint strainers with elastic top band for cheap at homedepot.com. Some things the FIY stores don't have in the local store. The site will say if they do or not. Good prices too.

 

[A2HB]

Thanks for the tip on the strainer bags i bought two and put them on my plastic containers, perfect fit. I added 1/3 c. Braggs vinegar to 1.5 liters of 7.5% milk stout and 1/3 c. vinegar to 1.15 liters of 10% golden belgian ale. Hopefully that'll be enough to start a good mother in those beers! Will update as it goes along

 

[Curtis2010]

Ok thanks for the tips! So apparently my containers are #5 grade plastic and after a quick google I found:

[IPlastic #5 - Polypropylene (PP) is a thermoplastic polymer. It is strong, tough, has a high resistance to heat and acts as a barrier to moisture.

...

Acid/alcohol resistance?

 

[theDREWery]

Polypropylene is the standard plastic for most alcohol containers. Almost all your bottom shelf half-gallons are PP.

 

[Curtis2010]

We have enough surplus of malt and apple cider vinegars now that GF has decided to give small bottles away as Christmas gifts. Even found some nifty & inexpensive bottles to use.

View attachment 1447787794521.jpg

 

[unionrdr]

Nice bottles. I need to start looking around for some myself. I really need to sample my 1 gallon batch I started from the Cooper's English bitter a while back.

 

[A2HB]

English bitter is like a brown ale style right? I bet it tastes pretty awesome right now

 

[slym2none]

We have enough surplus of malt and apple cider vinegars now that GF has decided to give small bottles away as Christmas gifts. Even found some nifty & inexpensive bottles to use.

Can you skunk a malt vinegar made from beer? Do the hops still react with sunlight to create that flavour, or does the acetic acid nullify that somehow? I am just curious.

 

[unionrdr]

English bitter is like a brown ale style right? I bet it tastes pretty awesome right now

Have yet to taste it, but vinegar does seem to take more time than fermenting beer. I just put a 6'r of the ale in the fridge for Thanksgiving. It's a brownish-amber sort of color, but technically it's an " ordinary bitter" brewed as is. I was told by the N american distributor when he gave me one free once, that if you add plain light DME & an ounce of EKG to it, you get an ESB, like Fuller's.

Can you skunk a malt vinegar made from beer? Do the hops still react with sunlight to create that flavour, or does the acetic acid nullify that somehow? I am just curious.

I used an ounce of EKG hops At 15 minutes in this batch where I siphoned off the 6th gallon for the vinegar. so we'll find out. I do have a black smoking jacket the dog chewed up blocking the sunlight to the 2 gallon pail containing the vinegar.

 

[slym2none]

Heh - the only reason I even thought about that was the beer-malt vinegar in a clear glass bottle above.

 

[unionrdr]

Yeah, I thought the same. Even though it stops making acetic acid when sealed up- as I understand it- it might skunk, Idk? My 1 gallon in a 2 gallon pail gets a little indirect light. but it doesn't smell bad. So maybe it does change something?

 

[Curtis2010]

Nice bottles. I need to start looking around for some myself. I really need to sample my 1 gallon batch I started from the Cooper's English bitter a while back.

Yes, she found them for about 80c each.

 

[Curtis2010]

Can you skunk a malt vinegar made from beer? Do the hops still react with sunlight to create that flavour, or does the acetic acid nullify that somehow? I am just curious.

Dont know. May try setting some in the sun for a while to see. With an output now of about 750ml per month, Ive got plenty to waste!

Usually stowed in the pantry with minimal exposure to sun light, so has not been an issue.

 

[unionrdr]

I was just gonna store the bottles in a box till they go in the fridge one by one.

 

[Curtis2010]

Heh - the only reason I even thought about that was the beer-malt vinegar in a clear glass bottle above.

I even use clear 1 liter bottles for beer. If not stowed in sunlight, then not a problem, never have had a skunked beer (of my own).

Just dont put a grow light in the fridge!

 

[coyote68]

Yeah, I thought the same. Even though it stops making acetic acid when sealed up- as I understand it- it might skunk, Idk? My 1 gallon in a 2 gallon pail gets a little indirect light. but it doesn't smell bad. So maybe it does change something?

how was that brown ale vinegar i sent you? i have it in clear glass that's over a year old and no skunk issues as of yet. i do store it in boxes out of sunlight.

 

[unionrdr]

It went into the fridge soon after it arrived. Still excellent! Great on fries, fish-n-chips,etc. Thanks again! So it seems with proper care, the vinegar will last forever?! My vinegar made from the Cooper's English bitter atm smells sorta malty, but...bright? Light film on top as well. Coming along slowly I guess?

 

[slym2none]

What's the smallest amount of beer feasible to make vinegar from? Some homemade malt vinegar for fish 'n chips sounds nice...

 

[m00ps]

What's the smallest amount of beer feasible to make vinegar from? Some homemade malt vinegar for fish 'n chips sounds nice...

Ive made vinegar from the amount sopped up in my foam stopper in my starter, so id say you dont need much. F^&* you fruit flies

 

[slym2none]

So, 1 or 2 12-oz bottles will do? I think my brew-bro still has some of that syrupy-sweet OktoberBeast I made...

 

[unionrdr]

The thing to remember here is that acetic acid turns the alcohol into vinegar. some say no hops is better. I think they're wrong to some degree, so I used one ounce of EKG for flavor in the Cooper's English bitter I started with. Since it tastes (to me) like herbs & lemongrass, I thought it'd give a lil bit of a nice flavor complexity? We'll find out.
But yeah, even one or two 12oz bottles would do.

 

[Curtis2010]

So, 1 or 2 12-oz bottles will do? I think my brew-bro still has some of that syrupy-sweet OktoberBeast I made...

Any amount will work. Just need a some healthy acetobacteria.

 

[Curtis2010]

The thing to remember here is that acetic acid turns the alcohol into vinegar. ..

Just a technical correction, its the acetobacteria that do that.

 

[ultravista]

Subscribing

 

[unionrdr]

Just a technical correction, its the acetobacteria that do that.

Yeah, that was it. got it a bit backwards. The acetobacter bacteria produce acetic acid. Aging sucks sometimes... (we need an " old goat"...

 

[slym2none]

Awesome, that Oktobermistake is about 9.2% ABV, and plenty malty!

Time to get a bottle and start reading this thread from the beginning...

 

[unionrdr]

Just need some cider vinegar with the mother in it...

 

[punkrawkgeek]

Been reading this thread for a while... I was pretty interested in making my own vinegar... So i got a 1.5L glass jar and threw in some tropical blonde ale, sitting at 5.8%, that i had made. It has been about just shy of a week, and I can already smell a bit of an acidic smell. I am excited! Thanks!

 

[unionrdr]

You're welcome. Hope it turns out addictive!

 

[Curtis2010]

Opens up another option for what to do with disappointing beer too!

 

[Curtis2010]

Awesome, that Oktobermistake is about 9.2% ABV, and plenty malty!

Time to get a bottle and start reading this thread from the beginning...

Thats likely to come out powerfully acidic, but you can just blend it down with water. I do that with my malt vinegar. Reducing the acidity by blending lets the malty flavors come forward more too.

 

[burninator]

Got this gelatinous, translucent mass floating in a bottle of cider vinegar. How do I harvest this for later use?

View attachment 1448144546919.jpg

View attachment 1448144611846.jpg

 

[Curtis2010]

Just decant it off into another bottle. That's the "mother", it is just inert cellulose which is excreted as a by product of fermentation, but it will harbor acetabact as will the vinegar itself. You can use the decanted portion to start future vinegars.

Or, what I do, is decant off most of the vinegar for use (leaving the mother and some vinegar behind) and then feed the remainder with more cider. This way you can just keep a prepetual batch going.

 

[OldTimer]

I just read this whole dang thread and I tell ya what, I bet cooper's english bitter goes good with bbq and would make a darn fine mop sauce too. Thinkin' about turning some into a balsammic vinegar for eatin on fish.

 

[Curtis2010]

I just read this whole dang thread and I tell ya what, I bet cooper's english bitter goes good with bbq and would make a darn fine mop sauce too. Thinkin' about turning some into a balsammic vinegar for eatin on fish.

We really like having some good malt vinegar for fish and its uncommon here (lots of other vinegars available, but malt not common).

 

[unionrdr]

I just read this whole dang thread and I tell ya what, I bet cooper's english bitter goes good with bbq and would make a darn fine mop sauce too. Thinkin' about turning some into a balsammic vinegar for eatin on fish.

I make a mop sauce out of a bottle of it. Got some vinegar going from a gallon of it now. I posted my mop sauce recipe somewhere ...I think the cooking & pairing thread, or the bbq forum?

 

[slym2none]

I just read this whole dang thread and I tell ya what, I bet cooper's english bitter goes good with bbq and would make a darn fine mop sauce too. Thinkin' about turning some into a balsammic vinegar for eatin on fish.

Balsamic is made from cooked grape juice, not beer.

"True balsamic vinegar is made from a reduction of pressed Trebbiano and Lambrusco grapes. The resulting thick syrup, called mosto cotto in Italian, is subsequently aged for a minimum of 12 years in a battery of several barrels of successively smaller sizes. The casks are made of different woods like chestnut, cherry, oak, mulberry, ash and juniper. True balsamic vinegar is rich, glossy, deep brown in color, and has a complex flavour that balances the natural sweet and sour elements of the cooked grape juice with hints of wood from the casks."

If you do try the balsamico process, let us know how it turns out in 12 years!

 

[BroStefan]

Ive read through this thread but can't seem to find a situation like mine.

I was cleaning up the basement and found a 5 gal carboy with ~ 2.5 gal of a Flanders Red that I seem to have misplaced about 2 years ago. It is very vinegary with some interesting background notes. It doesn't taste or smell "off" in any way.

Any issues with using this as a condiment - salad dressing, fish and chips and such?

 

[unionrdr]

Well, if it has a strong vinegar smell you're probably cool to try using it as a condiment.