Making vinegar from beer

[unionrdr]

Looks like it's working quite well.

 

[Curtis2010]

Ya!

As fermentation slows the mother will drop to the bottom. I've read one place that suggests removing it, but nowhere else. Mine is staying put.

 

[Curtis2010]

Just recently decanted down the chain in my nano-solera experiment. Earlier than planned just to get the system filled. Three vessels. Decanted from 2 to 3, then 1 to 2, and added more Guiness to 1. First time to add to 3...decanted onto a small amount of oak chips.

Plan to bottle some from 3 in a few months and decant again.

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[burninator]

Looks like it's working quite well.

Yep, and for the first time it smells strongly of vinegar.

 

[Kblandfo]

I am also going to leave the mother sitting in the vinegar!

 

[Curtis2010]

Pineapple vinegar experiment with mother.


The traditional recipe I've read for this consists of basically just pulverizing pineapple rinds and and scraps and leaving them to naturally ferment. I assume the outside of the pineapple has both natural yeast and acetobacteria growing on it.

I let it initially ferment naturally (no added yeast) and it kicked off pretty well. Then, it slowly started producing what might have been mother. I was concerned that it might get contaminated with some other bug so I dosed with a few tablespoons of cider vinegar and it quickly produced a mother which covered the whole surface.

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[burninator]

Anyone know how long this process might take? I looked in this morning, and the mother is now this gelatinous mass. If I hadn't poured in the liquid myself, I'd never suspect there was any in there.

I should also mention it smells AMAZING.

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[Curtis2010]

Acetobacteria fermentation is slow. I've had the mother drop in a few weeks, but wouldn't expect it to full complete for at least a few months.

 

[Curtis2010]

Acetobacteria fermentation is slow. I've had the mother drop in a few weeks, but wouldn't expect it to full complete for at least a few months.

Mother on my pineapple vinegar experiment just dropped. Started on 07/01. So about 10 days. I assume the mother dropping represents the completion of the most active phase of fermentation, but don't know that for sure.

 

[Kblandfo]

my first batch which was ed worts apple wine recipe turned out great had it on some fresh cucumbers and served to unsuspecting guests people liked them and were amazed when I told them the vinegar was home grown!

 

[Patrick87]

I made a batch of not-so-great IPA awhile back so decided I'd try and make a jar of vinegar out of it.

I had a bottle of Heinz Organic Apple Cider Vinegar (with the mother, supposedly, printed on the bottle) in the cabinet, so I mixed about 4 ounces of the cider with about 8 ounces of beer in a mason jar and put a coffee filter over the top secured by a rubber band.

Every two or three days I'd give the jar a little swirl to introduce some oxygen. Every time I'd take a sniff of it, it just smelled like stale beer.

Two months later... still no vinegar. Must not have had any live bacteria in the "organic vinegar".

 

[unionrdr]

The mother settles to the bottom.

 

[burninator]

Even so I'd think some acetobacter might have settled in the jar by now. Is acetobacter sensitive to hops?

 

[Tegra]

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1440622594.338769.jpg I think this would be classed as a fail?

It is a couple months old, and the level has dropped from the mark on the side. I purchased a mother about a year ago and had it in the back of the fridge until finally adding it to half strength White Zinfandel.

I will try again with some Omega Nutrition Apple Cider Vinegar with Mother.

My first attempt with beer and unpasteurized vinegar failed in much the same way.

For me, making vinegar is certainly harder than falling off a fence.

Tom

 

[Curtis2010]

Yummy...is that black mold on the surface?

 

[Patrick87]

The mother settles to the bottom.

It was the last ~4oz in the bottle, so it had what appeared to be the mother and a bunch of other sediment in there. I gave it a good swirl and poured it all in.

 

[Tegra]

Yummy...is that black mold on the surface?

More like a light gray....when I dumped it on the ground there was a large cloud of dust. Lovely stuff to have looking down on the kitchen.

Try again...

Tom

 

[Homercidal]

I just poured out a bunch of bottles of Belgian Golden Strong ale. I poured about 4-5 of them in a 1 gallon jug with a whole bottles of Braggs. (I would have been more thrifty with it if I didn't already have a bunch of vinegar on the shelf. We don't use much of it...)

So, I'm looking to see what will happen.

 

[Curtis2010]

Mixed Culture (acetobact & yeast) experiment.

I thought it would be handy to make cider vinegar by just adding apple juice to a culture rather than making a small batch of basic cider first...so I inoculated apple juice with yeast, and after it was off to a good start, dumped it all into a container with a small quantity of vinegar & mother in the bottom. Dumped vigorously to aerate well. Its now off to a good start with mother forming on the surface and trapping CO2 bubbles from the yeast underneath. After just a few days already is developing a nice cider vinegar smell.

This is fermenting in the "primary" container of my "nano solera" experiment. The plan is to decant to "secondary" when obvious fermentation activity stops and then feed the primary with apple juice again.

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[burninator]

I don't know what this is, but it creeps me out. Had the texture of thin leather...old dried skin.

The liquid underneath is fine. Smells like vinegar, but the taste has a very subdued acidity. I stitred it up again and put it back on the shelf.

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[Curtis2010]

Could be dried out mother I suppose, but normally that stays opaque and drops. I'm guessing you got some other bugs working in there too.

 

[Curtis2010]

Mixed Culture (acetobact & yeast) experiment.

I thought it would be handy to make cider vinegar by just adding apple juice to a culture rather than making a small batch of basic cider first...so I inoculated apple juice with yeast, and after it was off to a good start, dumped it all into a container with a small quantity of vinegar & mother in the bottom. Dumped vigorously to aerate well. Its now off to a good start with mother forming on the surface and trapping CO2 bubbles from the yeast underneath. After just a few days already is developing a nice cider vinegar smell.

This is fermenting in the "primary" container of my "nano solera" experiment. The plan is to decant to "secondary" when obvious fermentation activity stops and then feed the primary with apple juice again.

Visible ferm activity has almost stopped (just an occassional bubble and still cloudy from suspended yeast).

Did a taste test yesterday and it is coming along nicely and retaining cider flavor. Plan to let it finish and settle for a couple of weeks then decant to "secondary" and feed "primary" some more juice.

 

[unionrdr]

I'll be brewing the Cooper's English bitter any day now, when it cools off for a spell. I'll also use 1oz UK EKG @ 15 minutes left in the boil to see how a little bit of that herbal/lemongrass flavor carries over. Just as a side experiment. Gotta hit up the bakery at Giant Eagle for some 1-2 gallon pails.
And since I'll have a decent amount of hot peppers left after brewing the Hellfire IIPA, I was wondering what one red Fatalii in a gallon of malt vinegar would do? Anybody tried that yet?

 

[unionrdr]

Well, the English bitter is almost done fermenting, so I started searching for food grade 2 gallon buckets. Home Depot didn't list any. But Lowe's has this one I'll get to make the malt vinegar in; http://www.lowes.com/pd_737856-1788-2D+WH00___?productId=50434788&pl=1&Ntt=2+gallon+food+grade+buckets
Now if they just have a nylon paint strainer to stretch over the top to let air in, but keep bugs out?

 

[Homercidal]

I can see ZERO signs of activity. I must have done something wrong. Maybe the alcohol was too much?

 

[Curtis2010]

I can see ZERO signs of activity. I must have done something wrong. Maybe the alcohol was too much?

ABV of the beer?

The only signs Ive noticed with aceto ferm is mother (opaque cellulose) developing, typically as a film on surface, and increase in acidity which you can smell and taste.

 

[Curtis2010]

...

The only signs Ive noticed with aceto ferm is mother (opaque cellulose) developing, typically as a film on surface ...

Like this on a batch of malt vinegar. Just takes a few days.

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[Curtis2010]

Recently bottled some malt vinegar. The little "nano solera" experiment I set up can produce about 500ml per month now. Way more than we use, so Im giving it away.

Doh! , just noticed the "2014" date on the label...was working on some 2014 tax stuff and it must have stuck.

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[Homercidal]

ABV of the beer?

The only signs Ive noticed with aceto ferm is mother (opaque cellulose) developing, typically as a film on surface, and increase in acidity which you can smell and taste.

Belgain Golden Strong, so about 10-12% I'd have to look it up to remember exactly.

I expected a much thicker mother, so maybe I'll have another look. I did pop the airlock and smelled and it smelled like vinegar and beer. But I used a whole bottle of Braggs and filled the jug up to the neck with BGSA, so that alone could account for the aroma.

 

[Aristotelian]

Hey folks, I have just started a Kombucha mother for my wife who drinks the stuff. Anyone know if I can use this mother to make malt vinegar with beer or wort, or do I need to start a new one?

 

[Curtis2010]

Belgain Golden Strong, so about 10-12% I'd have to look it up to remember exactly.

I expected a much thicker mother, so maybe I'll have another look. I did pop the airlock and smelled and it smelled like vinegar and beer. But I used a whole bottle of Braggs and filled the jug up to the neck with BGSA, so that alone could account for the aroma.

Dont know what the alcohol tolerance of acetobact is, but if it works thats gonna be really stout vinegar...good news is that blending down with water works fine. I blend my malt vinegar (Guiness base) with water when bottling and find it lets the malt flavor become more obvious by lowering the acidic taste.

You can always order a known good culture and try that. Maybe the Braggs just didnt have any live culture.

 

[Curtis2010]

Hey folks, I have just started a Kombucha mother for my wife who drinks the stuff. Anyone know if I can use this mother to make malt vinegar with beer or wort, or do I need to start a new one?

Havent made Kombucha, but as I understand it, its a mixed culture of yeast and acetobact. As such, I expect it would work with either wort or beer. Give it shot and let us know.

 

[filthyastronaut]

Hey folks, I have just started a Kombucha mother for my wife who drinks the stuff. Anyone know if I can use this mother to make malt vinegar with beer or wort, or do I need to start a new one?

Had a bit of Belgian pale ale under the spigot in my bottling bucket after bottling, so I put it in a container, added some of my kombucha, and attached a rubber band with cheese cloth, and let it ride for a long time. Easy way to get malt vinegar.

 

[Kblandfo]

Hey folks, I have just started a Kombucha mother for my wife who drinks the stuff. Anyone know if I can use this mother to make malt vinegar with beer or wort, or do I need to start a new one?

I believe them to be different bacteria

 

[Kblandfo]

I bottled up a red wine, and two malted (munich helles and sweet stout) vinegars. I used a local craft vinegar to get my starter vinegar. They all turned out well.

The munich helles malted vin had the largest mother of all three and if memory serves me was only about 4.5%

 

[Curtis2010]

[duplicate post deleted]

 

[Curtis2010]

Had a bit of Belgian pale ale under the spigot in my bottling bucket after bottling, so I put it in a container, added some of my kombucha, and attached a rubber band with cheese cloth, and let it ride for a long time. Easy way to get malt vinegar.

There you go...works with beer.

Anyone try wort?

 

[Tegra]

Curtis2010, I thought I understood the process and that you needed a percentage of existing alcohol to covert to acid. But then I read about the Modena balsamic process. They don't seem to do any formal fermentation process and everything seems to happen in the cask. Does the alcohol and acid develop simultaneously?

Ironically, I have made decent wine and beer but my first few attempts at vinegar had failed. This last one (going for a month now) seems more promising.

Anyone know how to measure the acid strength?

 

[Curtis2010]

(deleted dup post)

 

[Curtis2010]

Curtis2010, I thought I understood the process and that you needed a percentage of existing alcohol to covert to acid. But then I read about the Modena balsamic process. They don't seem to do any formal fermentation process and everything seems to happen in the cask. Does the alcohol and acid develop simultaneously?

Ironically, I have made decent wine and beer but my first few attempts at vinegar had failed. This last one (going for a month now) seems more promising.

Anyone know how to measure the acid strength?

Balsamic starts with grape must and is fermented by a mixed culture of yeast and acetobact. Since most true traditional balsamic vinegar soleras have been around for generations, I assume they've got a mixed culture living in their wooden barrels already.

Im playing with a mixed culture now to make cider vinegar. Just add apple juice to my "primary" and both beasties take over. You can see them both working at the same time by the CO2 bubbles forming under the mother.

Have not tried estimating or measuring % acidity yet. I assume, similar to beer, you could estimate up front if you knew the amount of fermemtanbles (alcohol in this case) or actually measure. If you checked ph up front and then at the end you should be able to extrapolate % acid from that.

I expect most folks who are struggling with making vinegar, just dont have a viable culture to start with. I've had difficulty finding commercal vinegars here in Panama with any live culture left in them, should be easier at specialty shops in the USA. Just because there are dregs or a chunk of mother in the bottom doesn't mean there are still viable acetobact in there. Easier still, just order a culture. I ordered one off Amazon. That way you know you are starting with active beasties. Once you have a viable culture its dead easy.