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I'm very excited. I've just got back from a week in France, where I became the proud owner of a small glass jar containing a vinegar mother (and a little red wine vinegar). I've got the perfect pot to put it in, and apparently I just feed it with red wine whenever there's some open (so that'll be most days then... ). I'm ridiculously excited at the prospect of making my own vinegar.

Does anyone else out there make vinegar? Any thoughts/guidance for a novice??

Ta!
MLH x

I made vinegar in the past but it was supposed to be beer

I've just been looking at a pot on e-bay for just this purpose - I know you were given yours, but where do you get a starter from otherwise?

I've just typed in "vinegar mother" in e-bay - it came back with many "cider vinegar with mother" entries.

Would it be possible to use some of this to start off our wine vinegar.

I know it would be cidery to start off but presumably it would become more winey(?) as time goes on?

Any thoughts?

Well, according to the things I've read in France, it does seem that everyone has one of these mothers lying around, so finding one there is supposed to be easy. And, according to a website I was drifting through the other day, if you don't have a mother, one will create itself if you leave a mixture of ordinary vinegar, wine and water in a suitable place. Dunno about that...

Anyway, once mine is up and running (so to speak), I'd be happy to let people have a bit of mine. If you live somewhere near Hastings, that is - I can't imagine it would be very safe to send it through the post!

Mine is now in its crock, having been fed with a nice glass of cab sauv. I'll feed it regularly and then see what happens...

MLH x

I think I found some in a bottle of white wine vinegar that I had kept in the kitchen for about a year... does it look like a white cloud, suspended in the vinegar?

And if it is, and it is a bottle I still have (I'm not sure) can I make more vinegar from it then?

As far as I know, the easiest way to make wine vinegar is to open a bottle of wine, have a couple of glasses then just leave it on your worksurface for a few months. Oxydisation of the wine will turn it into vinegar naturally.

Just checked on google and found this is true:

http://www.wine-tastings-guide.com/how- ... negar.html

Once you've made some, I guess you can just keep adding dregs of fresh wine to it and the fermentation will continue. Feel free to disagree, I've never done it and up until now never heard of 'mother of vinegar'. I only make it by accident when brewing with unknown yeast ethers!

I think I found some in a bottle of white wine vinegar that I had kept in the kitchen for about a year... does it look like a white cloud, suspended in the vinegar?

Dunno, Annpan! Mine is in red wine, so I can't really see what it looks like - it seems sort of blobby. And I've heard it described as 'placenta-like' on some websites. But I don't know what it would be like in white wine vinegar. But I've read that you mustn't mix red and white, and that white is rather harder to make.

As you can tell, I don't actually know very much about this yet, but I'm doing quite a lot of reading!

MLH x

I knew I had this info somewhere. Sorry it took so long for me to remember which book it was in. It's in a book called 'Herbal Remedies' by Christopher Hedley and Non Shaw (1996).

Cider Vinegar

Ingredients
waste apple peel and cores
enough water to cover

Method

• 1. Scrub the apples thoroughly in plenty of water. There is plenty of goodness just below the peel, but make sure that the peel itself is clean and free from preservative waxes and pesticide residues. Use organic apples whenever possible.
• 2. Peel and core the apples. All types of apples are suitable, but use just one variety as each imparts a slightly different flavour to the vinegar. Russets and Granny Smiths nutty, Cox's sweet and woody and Bramleys clear and invigorating.
• 3. Use the flesh of the apples as desired. Put the apple peel and cores in a wide-mouthed crock or jar and just cover with pure water. Cover the crock, put in a warm place and leave to ferment. This recipes works best with the core and peels of at least 12 apples. If using much less than this, add 1/4 cup apple juice - this means less water will be needed to cover.
• 4. Taste the liquid every few days and stir to aerate. Remove the froth as it ferments. The taste of vinegar will develop gradually (depending on temperature) and the cloudiness of the liquid will clear. When it is to your taste it is ready to strain into a large bowl. Empty the crock in preparation for the next batch - it may need to b e rinsed with water or wiped, but never use detergent or soap. To make a fresh batch, add fresh apple peel and cores, add the vinegar mother and enough water to cover. Repeat steps 1-4.

Phew! And if that wasn't enough typing for you....

Quick Wine Vinegar

Ingredients
1 bottle of red or white wine or dry sherry
1 tablespoon pot barley

Method
1. Put the wine or sherry in a crock and add the barley. Stand in a warm place for a few days. When it tastes right (usually after 2-3 days) strain and bottle. Label the bottle. Keep some of the liquid and return it to the crock. This becomes a 'starter' or 'mother'. To maintain her in good health, feed occasionally with dregs of wine. Always use the same type of wine, red or white.



If anyone wants more details about the book, please PM me.

I've successfully made a mother! So excited... but can't find anything suitable as a 'crock' or pot. Does anyone know where I can find one? Perhaps a stupid question but my mother is from red wine (so to speak!) so can I only add red wine to that? Should I be looking for a white mother if I want to add white wine? Thanks in advance.

The advice I was given, from the nice French lady, was to use only red wine with a red wine mother.

As for a pot, well I can get Mrlovelyhorse to make you one, as he's looking for an excuse to make a vinaigrier, but doesn't think they'll sell in England!

In the short term, you can use any ceramic or glass jar (suppose pottery is better really, as it will keep out the light and stop the vinegar changing colour). Make sure it has a lid, so that the vinegar flies can't get in. But don't make it completely airtight (so nothing with a rubber seal), otherwise the mother will die. And we don't want that, do we?! (You can use a jar without a lid, as long as you keep the top completely covered with muslin.)
If you *can* get a proper vinaigrier (ie a ceramic barrel with a tap at the bottom), that's the best option. But if not, a ceramic crock will do. Just ladle out the vinegar when it's ready.

Good luck!

I wonder if you can make a cider vinegar mother in the same way described to make a red wine mother. I've already done all the cider fermentation process from my apples last year & bottled it, but as it tastes revolting I really want to find another use for it. I get through LOADS of cider vinegar as I use it for general purpose cleaning, so cider vinegar would be perfect.

Well I have some earthenware utensil pots so I guess it wouldn't cost me anything to give a bottle or 2 a try, if I can get a mother going then I have another 40+ bottles of cider to get through before Autumn as I'll need my bottles for my 2nd attempt!

Anyone in the UK got a piece of a mother that they are willing to part with? (* of vinegar that is, not * in law. )

I've had some wine and some Organic Vinegar in a pot for 6 months, and although it smells of vinegar, there is no mother forming.

Would prefer red, but Cider or white would be appreciated. Or all 3.

Hi hoomin_erra (nice name by the way!)

I got your message - I'd be happy to send you a part of my mother, which is definitely doing what it's meant to do with my red wine dregs.
I'm just not sure how feasible it is to send it through the post. As I understand it, the mother needs air to stay 'alive', so can only be shut up in a bottle for a few hours before it dies (bringing it back from France we had it closed in for maybe 7 hours, max). And even if the post were super speedy, I'd have to put it in a bottle at (say) 4.30pm Monday, and it wouldn't get to you until probably midday on Tuesday (that's if you were in to accept delivery of a parcel) even if it were sent first class ...

Does anyone out there know anything about how long vinegar mothers can survive without air??

MLH x

Hi Hoomin_erra,

don't know if you've had a read of the previous posts on this thread but making your own mother doesn't appear to be as simple as just mixing wine & vinegar, you need to add 'pot barley' to wine. I've just googled & pot barley retails at around £1.30 for a packet on-line, so it may be cheaper to order a packet & give it a go yourself (thats what I intend to do)