The Boerhaave procees (for making quick vinegar)

[gatewood]

Here I share an article I recently stumbled across, it describes a supposedly old method (from the 1700-1800) to quickly produce a lot of vinegar (in a month or less):

https://supremevinegar.com/2018/02/...ick-process-making-vinegar-boerhaave-process/

Did anyone here know about it? Has anyone had any experience with it?

 

[bernardsmith]

Am not familiar with the boerhaave method but I have made vinegar from home made wine. The secret is allowing the mother to develop but once you have a mother the process takes just weeks. You can encourage a mother to develop in your own wine by exposing that wine to air OR you can purchase vinegar that has a mother in it and use that mother as your starter.

 

[Beer666]

Add organic vinegar with the mother to beer and it will start to form a skin within a few weeks. Use those to inoculate more beer. A month should be possible if its not too cold. A good tip is to use the decanted wort from starters.

 

[gatewood]

Am not familiar with the boerhaave method but I have made vinegar from home made wine. The secret is allowing the mother to develop but once you have a mother the process takes just weeks. You can encourage a mother to develop in your own wine by exposing that wine to air OR you can purchase vinegar that has a mother in it and use that mother as your starter.

The process describes that, you should sink some grape straws or oak spirals into the fermenting vinegar, so it increases the surface area that is exposed to oxygen (im not exactly sure how is that supposed to work), speeding up the process.

Add organic vinegar with the mother to beer and it will start to form a skin within a few weeks. Use those to inoculate more beer. A month should be possible if its not too cold. A good tip is to use the decanted wort from starters.

Ok I'll try that too, thanks

 

[Beer666]

@gatewood I forgot to add keep it loosely covered. I use cheesecloth and a rubber band.

 

[RPh_Guy]

Sorry, but that article/process is nonsense. We don't need to use methods from hundreds of years ago.

The only thing that pouring it between different vessels does is introduce more oxygen. Simply aerating your vinegar daily by stirring will accomplish the same thing. You can use a whisk and a little "elbow grease", or a drill stirrer. If you like the rustic aspect, you can make a whisk out of sticks.

For the ultimate fastest production you'd need constant aeration, with either an air pump or continuous stirring. It can be done in 12-48 hours this way if your culture is healthy and you keep it warm.

Pumps do not cost "hundreds of dollars". That's total BS. You can use any cheap aquarium pump, under $10 USD. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004PB8SMM/ heck this one comes with an air stone: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B073DWVX5P/ I know you live "in the middle of nowhere" but maybe there's a pet or aquarium store somewhere nearby?
Stir plates for small batches can be built for cheap as well.

Aeration does come with a trade-off. Some of the aromatics will be stripped in the process. Stirring is likely better at preserving the aromatics vs using an air pump.

 

[gatewood]

Sorry, but that article/process is nonsense. We don't need to use methods from hundreds of years ago.

The only thing that pouring it between different vessels does is introduce more oxygen. Simply aerating your vinegar daily by stirring will accomplish the same thing. You can use a whisk and a little "elbow grease", or a drill stirrer. If you like the rustic aspect, you can make a whisk out of sticks.

For the ultimate fastest production you'd need constant aeration, with either an air pump or continuous stirring. It can be done in 12-48 hours this way if your culture is healthy and you keep it warm.

Pumps do not cost "hundreds of dollars". That's total BS. You can use any cheap aquarium pump, under $10 USD. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004PB8SMM/ heck this one comes with an air stone: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B073DWVX5P/ I know you live "in the middle of nowhere" but maybe there's a pet or aquarium store somewhere nearby?
Stir plates for small batches can be built for cheap as well.

Aeration does come with a trade-off. Some of the aromatics will be stripped in the process. Stirring is likely better at preserving the aromatics vs using an air pump.

Woah, ok im sorry, I just found the article in my news feed ._.

 

[RPh_Guy]

Woah, ok im sorry, I just found the article in my news feed ._.

You didn't do anything wrong.
The author of that article is just ignorant; there's a lot of other bad advice there but I didn't want to get into all of it.

 

[gatewood]

You didn't do anything wrong.
The author of that article is just ignorant; there's a lot of other bad advice there but I didn't want to get into all of it.

I know I know, I just kinda fell chastised just by reading your post, lol (the "wilderness dude" reputation notwithstanding).

 

[RPh_Guy]

I'm sorry; I didn't mean it that way!
I hate seeing false/misleading information in published articles.

 

[gatewood]

I'm sorry; I didn't mean it that way!
I hate seeing false/misleading information in published articles.

It's cool, just messing around. Anyhow thanks for sharing your knowledge with us, gullible amateurs.

 

[bernardsmith]

It's cool, just messing around. Anyhow thanks for sharing your knowledge with us, gullible amateurs.

Oh, I don't know that anyone is self-evidently "gullible". Those who self publish on the internet often don't know their arse from their elbow and they make incredible statements that they have heard from other equally misinformed folk or they simply make up what they say from whole cloth - often telling their viewers and or readers that they have never done X before so they are learning as they claim to offer guidance. The blind leading the deaf and mute and so we - their audience - are left with very ability to determine which claims are garbage and which are based on testable evidence. Self-publishing, before the internet, used to be called vanity publishing... and in my view very little has changed.

 

[RogerL47]

The process describes that, you should sink some grape straws or oak spirals into the fermenting vinegar, so it increases the surface area that is exposed to oxygen (im not exactly sure how is that supposed to work), speeding up the process.



Ok I'll try that too, thanks

In have 40 years experience fermenting vinegar using the "Static" process. It isn't complicated and a "static" method should never be rushed by the additions of external equipment etc.

The alcohol solution that the acetobacter will be consuming, takes place at the surface. The acetobacter consumes the available dissolved O2 at the surface, and converts it to acetic acid. This "production" of acetic acid then has a greater specific gravity (sg) than the solution and proceeds to descend into the fermenter, the basis for static fermentation. Titration of the solution at various depths within the fermenter shows, a greater acid value than that at or near the surface, proving the "descending" process. Once started, the process should never be disturbed.

"Mother" production at the surface should not be allowed to become to grow into a thick mat. A thick mat of mother, will hinder the O2 absorption at the surface and slow the production. I understand that removing the mother will disturb the process but it may become necessary to do so. The process will recover. However, once your static process is balanced with the correct ratios of alcohol as the food source, the batch will be finished before the mother can become a problem. Remove the mother with a slotted spoon and catch the dripping in a bowl. The drippings will contain enough culture to get another batch going if desired. I regularly monitored the process with titration to find my calculated "end point" but many home brewers will probably not have the equipment to perform this. Once the process is "balanced", it should only be approximately 5-10 days for the finished product. The old method of taste testing will work when the process is balanced.

On another note, these processes have a habit of growing too much culture and this will be evident in the growth of the mother which will be excessive as well as losing liquid. More on that later if anyone is interested. Here is a photo of one of my fermenters (Honey vinegar) and the resulting mother that I am removing. This fermenter is 26 litres in volume of which I had 1 in operation producing various types of vinegar. I managed to achieve 19 International awards for my vinegar but am now retired. I do however, still teach the process. If you wish to get a bit more info on my process, google "Meet Mr. Vinegar". Hopefully, I'm still there.

 

[RogerL47]

Sorry, but that article/process is nonsense. We don't need to use methods from hundreds of years ago.

The only thing that pouring it between different vessels does is introduce more oxygen. Simply aerating your vinegar daily by stirring will accomplish the same thing. You can use a whisk and a little "elbow grease", or a drill stirrer. If you like the rustic aspect, you can make a whisk out of sticks.

For the ultimate fastest production you'd need constant aeration, with either an air pump or continuous stirring. It can be done in 12-48 hours this way if your culture is healthy and you keep it warm.

Pumps do not cost "hundreds of dollars". That's total BS. You can use any cheap aquarium pump, under $10 USD. Amazon.com : Tetra Whisper Air Pump 20 To 40 Gallons, For aquariums, Quiet, Powerful Airflow : Pet Supplies heck this one comes with an air stone: Amazon.com : Pawfly MA-60 Quiet Aquarium Air Pump for 10 Gallon with Accessories Air Stone Check Valve and Tube, 1.8 L/min : Pet Supplies I know you live "in the middle of nowhere" but maybe there's a pet or aquarium store somewhere nearby?
Stir plates for small batches can be built for cheap as well.

Aeration does come with a trade-off. Some of the aromatics will be stripped in the process. Stirring is likely better at preserving the aromatics vs using an air pump.

Injecting air into the ferment transforms the process into a "submerged" process rather than a "static" process. Most home fermenters do not have the equipment to titrate for efficiency and the entire batch could be lost in a matter of a few days. When the acetobacter consumes all of the available food source (alcohol), it will then start to consume the acetic acid it has produced. This would then be the complete cycle of the ferment; Back to plain water. I have attempted to assist many home fermenters with the static process who have requested my assistance. In one sad case, a fellow had 3-4 large wooden barrels (Approximately 60 litres each) of which he was so proud. One, he stated was 10 years old and still fermenting. His barrels were exposed to the air and I knew what I was going to find. He was actually bottling it and selling it.

I explained the basic principle of the static process but I knew it was too late for him. He gave me a few bottles of his 10 year old barrel aged vinegar and when I got home, I titrated for acid value. The vinegar had an acetic acid value of 0.8%. Illegal to see to the public.

 

[RogerL47]

Am not familiar with the boerhaave method but I have made vinegar from home made wine. The secret is allowing the mother to develop but once you have a mother the process takes just weeks. You can encourage a mother to develop in your own wine by exposing that wine to air OR you can purchase vinegar that has a mother in it and use that mother as your starter.

I have noticed that at a few pubs, there are malt vinegar dispensers sitting on the tables that are "open to the air". Many have been there for months or even years. They just keep refilling them. In many, there is floating material which is "mother". Ask the owner if you can take some if this home for your starter batch. You will only need about a tbls.

 

[Beer666]

Injecting air into the ferment transforms the process into a "submerged" process rather than a "static" process. Most home fermenters do not have the equipment to titrate for efficiency and the entire batch could be lost in a matter of a few days. When the acetobacter consumes all of the available food source (alcohol), it will then start to consume the acetic acid it has produced. This would then be the complete cycle of the ferment; Back to plain water. I have attempted to assist many home fermenters with the static process who have requested my assistance. In one sad case, a fellow had 3-4 large wooden barrels (Approximately 60 litres each) of which he was so proud. One, he stated was 10 years old and still fermenting. His barrels were exposed to the air and I knew what I was going to find. He was actually bottling it and selling it.

I explained the basic principle of the static process but I knew it was too late for him. He gave me a few bottles of his 10 year old barrel aged vinegar and when I got home, I titrated for acid value. The vinegar had an acetic acid value of 0.8%. Illegal to see to the public.

Thank-you. That explains why some of my vinegar went watery. Very interesting.