[euge]

Oh "Swamp People" is a show on The History Channel. These folk hunt gators like gangbusters. Fascinating.

[tschmidlin]

Huh.  Ok.  I really have no idea what to say about that. 

[tygo]

Huh.  Ok.  I really have no idea what to say about that. 

This is how Tom averages 14 posts per day. 

[tschmidlin]

Huh.  Ok.  I really have no idea what to say about that. 

This is how Tom averages 14 posts per day. 

I don't know what to say about that either

[bluesman]

I like Aged Balsamic Vinegar.

Traditional balsamic vinegar is produced from the juice of white grapes, boiled down to approximately 30% which is then fermented with a slow aging process which concentrates the flavours. The flavour intensifies over the years, with the vinegar being stored in wooden casks, becoming sweet, viscous and very concentrated.

None of the product may be withdrawn until the end of the minimum aging period of 12 years. At the end of the aging period (12, 18, or 25 years) a small portion is drawn from the smallest cask and each cask is then topped up with the contents of the preceding (next smallest) cask. Freshly reduced cooked must is added to the largest cask and in every subsequent year the drawing and topping up process is repeated. This process where the product is distributed from the oldest cask and then refilled from the next oldest vintage cask is called solera or in perpetuum.

Consortium-sealed Tradizionale balsamic vinegar 100 ml bottles can cost between US$150 and $400 each. 

I want to try some.

[capozzoli]

So to transfer the mother from the jar of vinegar do I just scoop it out and introduce it to what ever Im making vinegar with. Beer first. Then Im gonna start some peach vinegar.

[euge]

That episode has been on several times since. They're fermenting something. If I can do a gallon or two a year then that'd be great. Just about what may consumption would be plus some "gifts" to friends...

[tschmidlin]

So to transfer the mother from the jar of vinegar do I just scoop it out and introduce it to what ever Im making vinegar with. Beer first. Then Im gonna start some peach vinegar.

Yes, you should be able to scoop it out and move it, or you can siphon the vinegar out and add fresh stuff to be turned.  No worries if it breaks or anything, it'll be fine.

[capozzoli]

So I have the vinegar with the mother. Its just cloudy and no sign of a congealed mass. Guess it is mixed up from shipping.

Gonna start some beer vinegar and cider vinegar tonight. Guess I just have to mix it up and pour some into the stuff to be turned? 

Will that be enough to introduce?

[tschmidlin]

That's all I did.  Mine has been going for several months and I still don't see any sign of a gelatinous mother on the surface, so maybe it will never show.  No matter, the vinegar aroma is very strong.

I'm probably going to turn a batch of beer I have sitting around and see how it goes, Irish stout vinegar

[capozzoli]

How do you get one of these things going?







Got my kefir grains,so I may get that started too. Maybe Ill post some pics in the Milk thread.

[capozzoli]

So, interesting afternoon. I set out to bottle my long aging cider. I made a point to age it for a long time. It is made of fresh pressed cider from the orchard. Through a mix up I ended up using a Belgian ale yeast. Over the past two or more years I have gone down to sniff test it maybe twice.It smelled wonderful both times. I intentionally put it on a back shelf in the basement to forget about it.

It had a bubbler type ferm.lock on it but I switched to some seran wrap and rubber bands for aging so I didn't have to keep checking it. Maybe that was a bad idea?

Now the funny part, I got some vinegar with mother to make some vinegar. I go down in the basement to siphon off a few bottles of cider for conversion. I give a sniff and wow. Five gallons of cider vinegar.

Where did I go wrong? Or is that where did I go right?

Looks like a giant blob of a mother floating at the bottom too, I think?  Ill post picks after I bottle some up.

Funny.

[tschmidlin]

I'm guessing the acetobacter were present on the apples to begin with.  If you had bottled it and drank it or just kept it colder you might never have noticed, but given the long time it spent aging at cellar temps and the plastic wrap allowing air to enter, it allowed the acetobacter to go to work.

That's just a guess.  But at least now you have some cider vinegar 

[capozzoli]

Wow.I have a carboy of beer that is next to the cider that is vinegar too. Or well on its way to be. WTF.

Looks like I have five gallons of cider vinegar and five gallons of beer vinegar. I better make a lot of fish and chips soon.

Guess I killed the vinegar making hobby. Any one want any vinegar? 

I still want to make some peach vinegar, and tomato vinegar.

I think a lot of the fruit vinegars are made from their sugar without being converted to alcohol first.

Here is some good vinegar info.

http://www.vinegarman.com/VinegarMaking.shtml

http://www.msstate.edu/org/silvalab/vinegar_lactic.pdf

[tschmidlin]

Bummer.  Vinegar is a great weed killer on a sunny day, just mix it with some liquid dish soap and spray it on.  It will kill the leaves in a short amount of time, depending on the sun.