Balsamic vinegar

Anybody know how to make Balsamic Vinegar?

Reply to
Johnny Mc
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I thought is may have been made like a wine.....

Reply to
Johnny Mc

Yes you can make a Balsamic STYLE Vinegar, you need a red wine (prefferably one from Modena, Italy; it is one of those regional style things), some red wine vingar mother (that would be the bacteria culture, again find one from Modena) and carboy to convert it in (some websites sell a speical bottle for the job, but you probably won't need it, if you can find a galon sized carboy all the better). By searching Google you can find some websites that talk about it, most wine stores will order in Vinegar Mother for you (they don't often stock it).

Rules

1) Do not have it in the same room as your wine, in fact keep it as far away as possible, in another building if possible. 2) Buy a new set of brewing equipment that will only be used for the vinegar. 3) Do not break rules 1 and 2 or you will most likely infecting all of your brewing projects. 4) Have Fun. Ken
Reply to
Ken Vale

I believe Balsamic vinegar is made from white grape (Trebbiano) juice.

searching

stores

I understand the process to be, crush the grapes (usually late harvest grapes), run off the free run and heat it to concentrate the must. It is then aged for 12 years or more in progressively smaller barrels made of different types of wood. I think oak, cherry, chestnut, ash and mulberry are usually used but each maker may have their own preference.

It's kind of like a solera system where some of the vinegar from the smallest barrel is bottled and the barrel is filled from the next largest. That barrel is then filled from the next largest and so on until the largest barrel is filled from freshly boiled must.

I think the largest barrel really contains the yeast and bacteria to convert the sugar to alcohol and then the alcohol to acid, but some makers may do this in tanks before it hits the barrels. The rest of the barrel regime is done to concentrate the vinegar further. Fluctuating temperatures help this along so the barrels a traditionally stores in attics rather than cellars.

BTW, this is from reading, I've never made it but am interested in the process since I really like good Balsamic.

Andy

Reply to
JEP62

I noticed you said Balsamic STYLE Vinegar, that will suffice. I will do some reading and give it a try. I guess I can order some red wine vinegar mother online. I have lots of 1 gallon carboys and bubblers. Where to put it away from my wines and beers is the question. Can I let it convert in my living room, will it have a strong odor? So, are you saying it is impossible to kill vinegar mother? If so, I don't know if I want it in my house!!! One other thing, would you want a sweet or dry wine?

Thanks a Million

Reply to
Johnny Mc

12 years is to long for a salad dressing.........
Reply to
Johnny Mc

Johnny Mc wrote: > I noticed you said Balsamic STYLE Vinegar, that will suffice.

Well you know how some wines are named after a grape and others after a region, I got the impression this was the case with Balasmic Vinegar, I could be wrong though (I do know Modena, Italy is famous for it). I don't think it has to strong an odor when I tried to make a batch in my laundry room I didn't notice an odor, but it didn't work out so it could just have been a dud. Vinegar Mother is not unkillable it is just one of the bugs that spoils wine/beer/cider/mead/etc, the less chances you take with the stuff the better. It is really hard to effectively clean things like siphon hoses, the less chance of an accident happening the less chance you have of discovering that you now have 6 galons of shiraz vinegar (I'd have problems using up that much wine, I have no clue what I would do with that much vinegar), let alone if it hit everything you are making. Vinegar Mother is airborn (like most contamenents) which is why you want it in another room. As for a sweet or dry wine I don't think it really matters, Vinegar Mother will convert alcohol or sugar to vinegar, it is just easier with alcohol. Just like fermenting will change the flavor of grape juice, Vinegar will change the flavor of the wine. Once the alcohol has been converted then you can adjust the flavor to suite yourself, you may need to cut the wine with water to lower the alcohol content. I'm sure there are much better directions on the net, this is just what I remember from two years back. Ken

Reply to
Ken Vale

But good balsamic is rarely used in salad dressing. It is thick, sweet and has a very strong flavor. It only takes a drop or two. The stuff you buy in grocery stores for $3 is a poor imitation of good balsamic but works ok for oil and vinager salad dressing.

Andy

Reply to
JEP62

I saw several brands of Balsamic Vinegar at the grocery store yesterday for about $3 each. Surely it is not true Balsamic Vinegar!

Reply to
Johnny Mc

They are surely not true balsamic. They are vinegar with additives (some sugar and other flavors - I've read what they are and I forget what they are at the moment) to mimic true balsamic vinegars. The time, storage, and shipping from Modena, Italy, would be over $3/bottle. Real, authentic balsamic sells more like perfume, little tiny bottles for lots of money. But there's nothing like it...

Rob

Reply to
Rob

They are surely not true balsamic. They are vinegar with additives (some sugar and other flavors - I've read what they are and I forget what they are at the moment) to mimic true balsamic vinegars. The time, storage, and shipping from Modena, Italy, would be over $3/bottle. Real, authentic balsamic sells more like perfume, little tiny bottles for lots of money. But there's nothing like it...

Rob

Reply to
Rob

Did you look to see where it was made? Virtually anything can now be bought in the US, made in Romania or Moldova or some other tiny country you never heard of....

Reply to
Bob

It's not made from red, it's white and concentrated prior to fermenting. All vinegars have an odor, I doubt you want to do this in a living room. It's not made from wine, it's made frome concentrated Trebbiano juice, another name for Trebbiano is Ugni Blanc.

True balsamics are really thick and do take years to make. They sell it in tiny bottles. The stuff used for cooking and salads can come from Modena but is really not the same thing. It's made in huge stainless vats. You could experiment with different vinegars and honey, they usually add carmelized sugar to get the cheaper stuff colored brown.

I make vinegar but not balsamic. Mothers are tough but can be killed with heat, they hate sulfite too.

Joe

Reply to
Joe Sallustio

Well, I think I have been scared off from bringing that Mother into my house. I believe I am more looking for the cheap salad dressing Balsamic vinegar taste. I probably have never tasted the real deal!

Reply to
Johnny Mc

It's not an issue really. I make wine in another room, that's all. I have been making vinergar for at least 4 years and haven't had a problem... (yet). :o)

I use seperate racking tubing and never take the vinegar into the winemaking area, other that that I really don't take any special precautions. I can with distilled vinegar in the winemaking area, but that's not the same thing, if it's distilled it _should_ be dead.

If you are looking for a good salad vinegar, you may want to consider starting with a heavy red wine. I had a bunch of Chancellor that was really tannic and had a TA of around 7 g/l; it wasn't undrinkable but would have taken several year to be pleasant to most people. That's if it ever came around, some times you wait all that time and all you have is the same wine, only older. It made incredible salad vinegar, I bet if I added some honey it might approximate what you are looking for. I'll try it and get back to you.

Joe

Reply to
Joe Sallustio

Ok, I tried it. You may want to try this in a small batch:

Take 3 parts red wine and add 2 parts honey, warm it up in a microwave or on the stove to help the honey dissolve. I did not use white wine vinegar since mine just seems to taste a little flat, the red had more body and more 'zing' to it.

(I used 150 ml of red wine vinegar and added honey to 250 ml.)

I don't know what to call it but it's pretty good at 06:30 in the morning here... It has a thin syrup consistency and is brownish red, my vinegar starts out pretty dark to begin with.

I use a lot of oak in my wines, more than most references call for. It works out to about a cupful of oak beans or chips, 125 to 150 grams to

5 gallons US of red wine. Our wine is more like some Australian reds, we like a lot of oak in them. If you use store bought vinegar for an experiment that might me the major difference between something homemade, I'm not to sure they use oak in commercial red wine vinegar. I'll try it on salad a little later, but I'm sure it will be good.

It's not balsamic or made like balsamic, but it's decent.

Hope that helps.

Joe

Reply to
Joe Sallustio

Thanks Joe,

You convinced me to investigate the vinegar making again. You have my mouth watering! One problem I have is I don't want to pay $10 just for the mother of vinegar, which is how much the online wine suppliers charge and then you have shipping. Like you said, Distilled vinegar may not work, but what about the Balsamic imitations. You think I could culture the bacteria from one of them? Or, just pour a little in some red wine and see if it converts to vinegar? About how long does it take to convert to vinegar?

Reply to
Johnny Mc

It might be hard to get live vinegar in a regular store, I would bet it's been pastuerized even if it's not distilled. Most people refer to the 'glop' that as the mother, but I'm pretty sure that is just cellulose. The entire batch is really the mother.

You may be able to get some live vinegar in a health food store. I thought I got mine for around $4 to $6, but we have local winemaking shops here. I've probably made 20 or 30 gallons with it, it's pretty popular.

The proportions usually used are one part live vinegar, one part water

2 parts wine. It takes a few months to convert.

Email me if things don't work out.

Joe

Reply to
Joe Sallustio

Thanks Joe

Reply to
Johnny Mc

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