Making vinegar from beer

[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?

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[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.

 

[Curtis2010]

Sounds like you've got 2.5 gallons of malt vinegar to me.

 

[Curtis2010]

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?

Thats a similar scenario to how I got started making vinegar. I had a beer that got acetobact contamination, no fixing that...so I just inoculated with more and took it all the way to vinegar. Turned out great!

 

[BroStefan]

Thanks! It's really tasty and complex

 

[Curtis2010]

Now you just need to fry some fish to go with it!

 

[unionrdr]

A malty, low ABV beer is said to be the best for making vinegar. My gallon of Cooper's English bitter with 1/2C cider vinegar mother is still going. Should be good! I brewed it to the usual Cooper's recipe volume of 23L, or 6.072 USG. Bottled 5 gallons...

 

[A2HB]

So my two batches have become tasty malt vinegar, so I have a question what to do at this point. Should I cover the jars with their lids now that the conversion has taken place, or should I leave it exposed to air with the lid off? Also for dilution should I use distilled or RO water for that?

 

[Curtis2010]

So my two batches have become tasty malt vinegar, so I have a question what to do at this point. Should I cover the jars with their lids now that the conversion has taken place, or should I leave it exposed to air with the lid off? Also for dilution should I use distilled or RO water for that?

Once fermentation is finished there is no need to keep it exposed to air (regardless you do want it covered so nothing else gets in there). I usually let mine "finish" for 1 month, lid on loosely to allow air exchange, and then bottle.

Any good quality water, without significant mineral content/taste, should be fine. I use RO water, but just because thats what we have in place already for drinking.

 

[Curtis2010]

Bottling up malt & cider vinegar for Christmas presents:

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[unionrdr]

I need to get some 8oz bottles for mine. Should be done by now?...

 

[A2HB]

Once fermentation is finished there is no need to keep it exposed to air (regardless you do want it covered so nothing else gets in there). I usually let mine "finish" for 1 month, lid on loosely to allow air exchange, and then bottle.

Any good quality water, without significant mineral content/taste, should be fine. I use RO water, but just because thats what we have in place already for drinking.

Ok thanks for the tips, I'll cover it up with the lid (loosely) and let it ride from there.

Fish and chips this weekend for sure though!

 

[Curtis2010]

De nada.

 

[jp27300]

Is there a telltale sign of vinegar production, like bubbling in beer? I put in 1 table spoon braggs " with the mother" in 12oz beer to try it. Its only been a week, but just wondering if there is ever any "activity"?

 

[z-bob]

I just got back from a master gardener conference (I'm not a master gardener) and one of the classes was on vinegar-making. It was given by an amateur winemaker that has started a commercial vinegary using his excess wine. There really was not much information, but the little bit there was there was just what I didn't have. He said mix a pint of vinegar mother with 2 or 3 pints of wine diluted to about 8% ABV, let it work for a few weeks and then you can step it up with more wine. Keep stepping it up until you get to the volume you want. He had pints of vinegar mother for sale (cloudy vinegar with a lot of slime in the jars) but I never got to the store because my wife was giving a class about raising Monarch caterpillars the next hour and I wanted to be there to help her, and then it was over.

Anyway, it needs air but you need to keep fruitflies and other bugs out (so cover with muslin or cheesecloth or something, don't use a fermentation lock) And warm temperatures are better than cool. 75 to 80°F is good, and 90° is not too high. Aerating really well when you first mix it up will take weeks off the fermentation time.

For years I've want to try using a rotten apple for a vinegar starter. Not just any rot, but "brown rot". I may try it this fall when it's apple season. The teacher of the vinegar class thought it was an "interesting" idea. Interesting can mean a lot of things

 

[Curtis2010]

Basically the same process for beer as described above.

The only visible sign is the formation of mother (cellulose).

 

[jp27300]

My oaked stout beer grew a mother or 2. A Lot evaporated, then white mold on top. I pitched it, only 12 oz trial. How do i prevent that mold?

 

[Aristotelian]

Is there a telltale sign of vinegar production, like bubbling in beer? I put in 1 table spoon braggs " with the mother" in 12oz beer to try it. Its only been a week, but just wondering if there is ever any "activity"?

No bubbling, it will just very slowly form a "mother" (slime pellicle across the top that protects the colony from air).

 

[Tegra]

I have a feeling that the suggestion to keep the top open is a bit overkill. My first two attempts I left completely open and lost quite a bit to evaporation and grew a lovely head of mold. The next time I loosely covered the top and removed the covering for a few seconds every week or so. I then had success.

From this I understand that it needs some air transfer but not so much that there is appreciable loss.

This was with a wine vinegar that I diluted so that it was about 7%.

T

 

[Curtis2010]

I have a feeling that the suggestion to keep the top open is a bit overkill. My first two attempts I left completely open and lost quite a bit to evaporation and grew a lovely head of mold. The next time I loosely covered the top and removed the covering for a few seconds every week or so. I then had success.

From this I understand that it needs some air transfer but not so much that there is appreciable loss.

This was with a wine vinegar that I diluted so that it was about 7%.

T

A loose fitting top and/or cheese cloth is adequate . Most of my batches have been loose fitting tops over cheese cloth, just to insure no critters get in.

 

[unionrdr]

I had a plastic bag over my small pail of malt vinegar, after I was certain it was done. Finally got around to jarring it up, since it'd evaporated quite a bit. It seems kind of concentrated, something like Basalmic vinegar? I don't know if it'[s good or bad, but it smells a bit like a meat sauce. Clear on top, with that whitish layer of cellulous floating under the surface. Got four, 15oz jars, since that's all I had to put it in, after sanitizing with Starsan.

Got'em in the fridge crashing to clear'em, up now...

 

[Curtis2010]

I had a plastic bag over my small pail of malt vinegar, after I was certain it was done. Finally got around to jarring it up, since it'd evaporated quite a bit. It seems kind of concentrated, something like Basalmic vinegar? I don't know if it'[s good or bad, but it smells a bit like a meat sauce. Clear on top, with that whitish layer of cellulous floating under the surface. Got four, 15oz jars, since that's all I had to put it in, after sanitizing with Starsan.
[IMG]http://i563.photobucket.com/albums/ss71/unionrdr/IMG_0167_zpsvbsqmgtu.jpg[/IMG]
Got'em in the fridge crashing to clear'em, up now...

How did it taste?