Wine vinegar problem - thick mother on top and offensive smell

Hello Fred Glad to see someone else that appreciates vinegar! My latest batch of vinegar also has a thick grayish pink fuzzy (appears dry) layer on top and smells very rough (reminds me of parmesan cheese) very little vinegar aroma. I guess it went bad probably due to anaerobic reactions. I don't believe I provided enough oxygen to it. I have heard of some people actually using an air pump in the vinegar fermentation to ensure a constant source of air. I wonder if an oak barrel would provide a generous supply of air. I don't know how you would keep the oak barrel from getting contaminated over time. Hope others will comment on this topic. Sarge

I'm interested in using the leftovers from bottling to make vinegar. Any websites you can recommend and advice?

Here is a great site for basic vinegar making.

Sarge

Hello Sarge,

I don't think you need much oxygen. It may speed up the process to have more oxygen or to stir the wine in the presence of oxygen, but I have had bottles of wine turn to vinegar that were corked for a couple of months. They had been opened and weren't great wine, so they were corked and set aside in the cellar. Some of them were spoiled, but some were good vinegar in a couple of months.

I have noticed that some of the commercial balsamic vinegars say that SO2 was added as a preservative, so those can not be used as a starter. You can buy starters from wine making supply houses.

Fred

May be a stupid question - but what do you make these rather expensive vinegars for? Salad dressings? Please don't flame me, I am just curious. Could be something I'd use if the wine went bad - although I do enjoy my wines greatly!

KD

It's not a stupid question at all. I used to wonder why anyone would pay $5 US for a small bottle of vinegar made from wine. I didn't know that high quality balsamic vinegar could sell for 20 times that. The first time I tasted wine vinegar was at a winery where the wine maker sold expensive wine vinegar that he made. It was completely different from cider vinegar. It was acidic, but it had such a nice flavor.

The first time I made vinegar, I had several bottles of Cabernet Sauvignon that were off in the balance. They seemed too acidic, but had lots of flavor. I had a case of it. Some were great and some were the ones that were off. I made vinegar with the bad bottles and the vinegar was very good. The next time, there was a similar situation with some Zinfandel. Something went wrong as the wine cellared. The vinegar I made with it was good, though. Since then I have just used left-overs. Once in a while I will add a bottle of cheap wine that has a decent flavor.

I use the wine vinegar in a salad dressing with good quality olive oil. I also use it mixed with olive oil for marinating meat before grilling and during baking. I sometimes add herbs du Provence, black pepper, fresh garlic, and salt. It has a very good flavor and aroma.

I also use the wine vinegar in making bruschetta. You add some to the chopped tomatoes.

I've only tried a couple of commercial balsamic vinegars, but I like one that is packed for Roland Foods. It is from Modena, Italy and it is about $4 US for 500 ml.

Fred

REAL balsamic vinegar isn't made from wine; it's made directly from grape juice and aged for many years in small casks of various types of wood. The stuff has a syrup like consistency and is _very_ intensely flavored. A few drops is all you usually need.

The stuff you see in the store for ~$4/bottle isn't real balsamic vinegar. It _tastes_ pretty good though, and I use it all the time in salad dressing. I suspect that it's made from wine vinegar by adding stuff to it (caramel coloring, wood extract, sugar) to make it resemble balsamic.

Tom S

Hello Tom,

The aceto bacter bacteria changes alcohol to acetic acid. Grape juice must be fermented to produce alcohol before the bacteria can produce the acetic acid.

The cheap balsamic vinegar, like Roland, is real, but it is done at a higher production rate and of course it doesn't have the quality of vinegar that is aged for 25 years in barrels.

Fred