Homemade Vinegar

[JT101]

I think I have just one question.

Rather than go through the process of titration, can you not just dilute the vinegar to taste?

[Green Aura]

I don't understand your question, so I can't answer it. It sounds like you already know how to do it though so I don't know if this will help.

We recently bottled some vinegar resulting from some rather revolting homemade wine made from (evidently far too strong) herbs. It was totally undrinkable. We added a relatively small amount of commercial vinegar to it - I think it was half a pint to the gallon, split it between several DJs so there was loads of air and stopped the top loosely with cotton wool. It took longer than the book suggested (truth is we eventually forgot about it so it was probably in the DJ for about 18 months ). We now have about 5 litres of a very tasty herby vinegar.

Previous attempts at making ACV from scratch in a vinaigrier were pitiful although I've had better results making it from apple peelings in a Kilner jar. Much smaller batch, obviously but it worked very well.

[JT101]

Hi, thanks for the reply.

I'm in exactly the same situation you were in. Undrinkable homemade wine!! Can't see it go to waste.

What I meant was, if the vinegar comes out too strong to use on salads e.g. say it was 10%; can I just dilute it with water until it tastes ok, or from a health point of view, is it best to know the exact percentage.

Obviously if I want to pickle with it, I WILL need to know the percentage

[Green Aura]

What an idiot am I? I've just made several jars of pickled shallots and it never occurred to me to try using the homebrew vinegar! However, in answer to your question - I've no idea. You need MKG or one of the other chemistry bods.

This
http://www1.extension.umn.edu/food/food ... -pickling/
cautions against using home made vinegar, but presumably people did before the days of Sarsons!

[wattreesmassive]

I don't understand your question, so I can't answer it. It sounds like you already know how to do it though so I don't know if this will help.

We recently bottled some vinegar resulting from some rather revolting homemade wine made from (evidently far too strong) herbs. It was totally undrinkable. We added a relatively small amount of commercial vinegar to it - I think it was half a pint to the gallon, split it between several DJs so there was loads of air and stopped the top loosely with cotton wool. It took longer than the book suggested (truth is we eventually forgot about it so it was probably in the DJ for about 18 months ). We now have about 5 litres of a very tasty herby vinegar.

Previous attempts at making ACV from scratch in a vinaigrier were pitiful although I've had better results making it from apple peelings in a Kilner jar. Much smaller batch, obviously but it worked very well.

I tried the apple peelings in a kilner jar and all I got was some very well preserved apple peelings and smelly water! Where did I go wrong? Id love to have another go but the last results put me off a bit....

[MKG]

You can do whatever you like with your home-made vinegar EXCEPT pickling (unless you go through the process of titration to find out how strong it is).

JT101 - yes, you can dilute your vinegar to taste, but don't do it on a whole batch unless you want to ruin its storage suitability. Do it a half-pint at a time and keep it in a sealed bottle in the fridge - your nose will tell you if it's gone funny.

For pickling, you need a vinegar which is strong enough to protect your pickle and you cannot know if that's the case without titration. It may sound sensible just to make the vinegar from a very strong wine, but that doesn't work - the increased alcohol actually reduces the efficiency of the conversion process. Ideally, wine vinegar will be made from a wine of (I think - but check this) 10% to 12% ABV, but wine vinegar isn't the best for pickles unless you intend to eat them in the very near future.

Dunc's the man on this, I think - he knows his microbiology.