pellicle vs oxygen

[gvmsia]

i had a pellicle form on top of my first attempt at acv. it was said to be beneficial for the process. but i threw it away when i was straining out the solids and moving to the aerobic stage turning alcohol to vinegar. at this 2nd stage, a 2nd pellicle appeared. this time i decided to keep it as advised. so please help me understand... if the 2nd stage is aerobic, won't that pellicle act as a barrier to oxygen, and be counter-productive?

 

[Vale71]

That pellicle is full of bacteria (in this case, acetobacter) aerobically processing alcohol. The reason they gather on the surface is because that's where atmospheric oxygen is present in great abundance allowing the bacteria to aerobically process alcohol even faster. If you keep removing it then you'll have to rely solely on gas diffusion to get O2 delivered to the bacteria and that's a rather slow process.

 

[gvmsia]

thanks for the explanation of its role. so... after about a week, the pellicle is on the top above the fruit and pulp. at this stage, the method i am trying to follow requires me to remove the fruit/pulp/sediment, then add a little raw vinegar to the remaining liquid. here is the same guy doing pineapple vinegar using the same steps.

follow up questions...
1. how do i handle the pellicle at the stage where he strains out all the solids... here in the acv video and in the pv video? do i lift it off and put it back on top of the strained liquid?

2. is the pellicle the thing that becomes the mother?