Vinegar with just sugar

[gatewood]

Can mother of vinegar ferment sugar directly to acetic acid? If not, is it practical to mix yeast and mother to create a continuous process where sugar is turned into ethanol and then into acetic acid?

 

[Beer666]

Sorry i cant answer your question but surely even if it works its going to taste horrible using just sugar?

 

[RPh_Guy]

You need the yeast to ferment the sugar first (which requires nutrients, as we've discussed), and only then the bacteria can turn the alcohol into acetic acid.

Cheers

 

[Bobby_M]

Yeast and nutrient in the sugar mixture to make ethanol first, then introduce mother to "sugar wine" or sugar wine into the vinegar vessel. You cannot get reliable fermentation to ethanol if the acid level is too high.

 

[RPh_Guy]

There won't be significant acetic acid produced during the yeast fermentation because of the low oxygen environment.

 

[Bobby_M]

It's possible to mix yeast and mother for a new batch but if that mother has a significant amount of acetic acid as liquid, I'd imagine it could stunt fermentation. I know a lot of people also keep their vinegar in a solera so they remove a gallon of finished usable vinegar and then replace it with wine or cider to keep it rolling.

 

[Beer666]

I have been doing as Bobby mentions but on a smaller scale. There is only so much vinegar i can get through and i am starting to acquire quite a collection.

 

[bernardsmith]

Though there was a period when shrub was a common drink - and shrub is a drinkable vinegar. A basic recipe for shrub is 1 lb of fruit of your choice (in season would be preferable ) 1 C water , 1 C vinegar and 1 C sugar. You almost boil the fruit with the vinegar (heat to about 190 F) and add the sugar then the water and this makes a drinkable vinegar that was all the rage in the 19th and early 20th C.

 

[gatewood]

It's possible to mix yeast and mother for a new batch but if that mother has a significant amount of acetic acid as liquid, I'd imagine it could stunt fermentation. I know a lot of people also keep their vinegar in a solera so they remove a gallon of finished usable vinegar and then replace it with wine or cider to keep it rolling.

I guess you need to put it into airlock first, then, once fermented, open it up so it gets synthesized into acetic acid. Hmmm... coming to think of it, its probably a dumb idea, just keep 2 vessels and hop the product into the next 1 as each microbe finishes doing their job.

 

[gatewood]

Though there was a period when shrub was a common drink - and shrub is a drinkable vinegar. A basic recipe for shrub is 1 lb of fruit of your choice (in season would be preferable ) 1 C water , 1 C vinegar and 1 C sugar. You almost boil the fruit with the vinegar (heat to about 190 F) and add the sugar then the water and this makes a drinkable vinegar that was all the rage in the 19th and early 20th C.

Is it any good?

 

[bracconiere]

isn't kombucha some sorta of vinegar thing?
might want to check this forum out:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/forums/kombucha-fermented-tea-forum.167/

 

[RogerL47]

Acetobacter converts alcohol to acetic acid. There is also another type of Acetobacter called "Gluconobacter" that is able to convert sugar to lactic acid. However, the production of acetic acid will be very low and obtaining that strain of bacteria would be extremely difficult for the home fermenter.