Wine turned to vinegar

I didn't get any replies, so I changed the title. I'd like to hear some opinions from people that make vinegar and possibly from some biochemists.

"Fred C. Young" skrev i melding news:31Qtd.226849$R05.199293@attbi_s53...

Hi You may want to try the rec.craft.winemaking newsgroup. They might put you in the right direction or even give you answers! hth Anders

Maybe you left it in the jar for too long. My wife is into "vinegar making" and she regularly tastes the stuff and once she has the impression that it is "mature" she fills it into bottles (i.e. separating it from the "mother" to prevent it from becoming really nasty-acidic).

Maybe it is a silly question as you seem to have some experience with it: are you sure that you never mixed white and red wine in the same vinegar jar and that you never used cork-tainted wines?

Regards

Yves

I seem to have the same problem with my vinegar making. When my batch of vinegar got a pungent smell I started some other batches in parallel. They also have the scum on top but they have the expected vinegar aroma not the pungent aroma. I have no idea why the one batch smells pungent and noone has been able to explain it. I figure I left it too long and the vinegar turned into something else or I didn't get enough air into it and some anaerobic bacteria beat out the mother. I am trying to make a balsamic style vinegar. Is there any Italians from the region that make balsamic vinegar that can comment? Sarge

biochemists.

When the vinegar is strong enough, I pour it off into another container and throw away the sediment. I don't pasteurize it, like some do. The vinegar that appears to be spoiled never made it to a good state. I have added a bit of white wine, but 95% has been red. I have never put any TCA tainted wine in the vinegar jug, but I have put wine in that wasn't good due to Bret. The bad smell isn't barnyard, though.

Fred

Hello Sarge, My vinegar has been great until this batch. I have never seen the "mother' before. There is always a lot of sediment in the bottom and a slight scum on top, but no layer of the gelatinous substance. It has a beautiful, but sharp nose. Sometimes when we have friends over for wine, we end up tasting vinegar samples to see how they are when made from different wines. I had some that I made with a full bodied zin. The zin was originally very good, but tannic. I cellared some of it too long. It didn't get oxidized tasting, the balance was just terrible. The vinegar from it had a very good flavor.

When you start the vinegar, you have to have a fairly low alcohol content (I'd guess about 12%) or you need to add water to lower the concentration because the aceto bacter doesn't tolerate high levels of alcohol. The first time I made vinegar, I used a sample from a bottle of wine that had turned to vinegar. The wine wasn't very good, so I corked it and set it aside in the cellar. About a month later I was dumping it out and it smelled and tasted like vinegar. Then I started adding wine.

I'd like to learn about the balsamic vinegar, too. So far, I buy the vinegar from Modena that is available in the grocery stores, but I'd like to get a couple of small wood containers to use for making my own vinegar with left-over wine.

Fred

Hello Fred Glad to meet someone that appreciates vinegar! My latest batch of vinegar has a thick grayish pink fuzzy (appears dry) layer on top and smells very rough very little vinegar aroma. I guess it went bad somehow and will pitch. I am looking for a small barrel for vinegar. I would love to know how they make the real balsamic. I understand it can take 12, 25, 50 years. The white trebbiano grapes are cooked after they start fermenting to concentrate the flavors. The vinegar ends up very dark. I don't know much more. I can't see waiting 12-50 years but it does sound interesting. Sarge