How separate should vinegar be kept from winemaking?

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CaptainProg

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I'm considering making vinegar alongside a winemaking operation. Obviously, I don't want to introduce acetobacter to the wines. The vinegars would be in the same room, breathing air in order to complete the vinegar process, but there would never be physical contact or use of the same implements/containers.

Is this a terrible idea? I know that acetobacter can be airborne, but I'm wondering to what extent having vinegar in the same room actually matters. At what stage in the winemaking process is having vinegar nearby more or less of a risk? For example, is vinegar more of a risk during primary than secondary fermentation? Or would simply avoiding stirring vinegar on a day when winemaking operations are taking place be sufficient?
 
I'd keep them as separate apart as possible. Are you going to open the wine fermenter to check on it? Is the airlock ever going to run low/dry? Are you going to move the wine to another room before bottling it? I wouldn't keep them even in the same room, if possible. Making wine next to it? That would be a big NOPE for me.
 
Whatever vessels, tubing, etc., you use for vinegar should be dedicated to vinegar from now on. Use it for anything else and it'll likely end up contaminating whatever you're making, no matter how well you sanitize it beforehand.

Just like for for brewing sours. Once sour, always sour.
 
Thanks – kit will of course be kept separate. Using a different room isn't an option as this will be a business and there is only one HACCP-registered room. I'm trying to detemine (1) whether there is any risk to wines from nearby vinegar so long as no physical contact is made and (2) if there is a risk, is this risk the same at all stages of wine fermentation, or are there specific stages to be particularly careful?

If there are real risks even without physical contact, and it's not possible to mitigate those risks by making vinegar outside of 'high risk' times, then I will simply not make vinegar.
 
Yes, there is definitely a risk making both side by side. Yeast is easily airborne, and can linger in the air. Since wine yeasts and vinegar yeasts are different, they eat some of the same and some different sugars, so it's not like you can say "OK, fermentation is done, so the wine is safe from the vinegar yeast". After fermentation, the airborne vinegar yeast can still get in and ruin the wine. Of course it's entirely up to you, but there is no way I'd make them both side by side, especially when it's commercially important to have both. I'd ditch the vinegar in your situation, but others should chime in with their knowledge.
 
I have a solara bret/lacto barrel next to my 2.5 gal booch fermenter and lacto veggie fermentation going on the first floor and an electric brewery in the basement. i
I don't even bring a booch down when brewing, maybe a little paranoid,whatever.

Doesn't sound like we can talk you out of it so enjoy your red wine vinegar!
 
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