Homebrewed vinegar is SO much better than store bought!
Do you hate vinegar as much as I did? After trying the vinegar made with this recipe and technique you will never look at vinegar the same way again.
We will start with a simple Apple Cider Vinegar.
Prep time: About 20 minutes.
Ingredients:
- 1 quart glass canning jar
- Apple cider (in this example I used Louisberg cider – it is pasteurized)
- Unchlorinated or distilled water (Don’t use tap water or it will interact with the yeast)
- 1/4 tsp yeast. I usually use champagne yeast or a light ale yeast. (do not use bread yeast)
- 1/8 to 1/4 cup starter apple cider vinegar with the Mother, or transfer the Mother from another batch of vinegar
Other supplies:
- A paper insert for a coffee filter basket to put on top.
- pH strips to test acidity
This recipe is adapted from: Homebrewed Vinegar: How to Ferment 60 Delicious Varieties, Including Carrot-Ginger, Beet, Brown Banana, Pineapple, Corncob, Honey, and Apple Cider Vinegar by Kirsten K. Shockey:
Step 1: Fill the glass jar to a little more than halfway with apple cider.
Step 2: Put the 1/4 tsp of yeast in a bowl with a little bit of unchlorinated water, warmed slightly to about 100% (not too much or it will kill the yeast). We are hydrating or activating the dry yeast, which most people store in the refrigerator. Let this sit for 10 minutes, then pour into the apple cider vinegar in the glass jar.
Step 3: Add the starter ACV or the Mother from another batch of vinegar. Make sure that if you use a starter vinegar that it is raw, unpasteurized, and comes with the Mother, a floating, hazy component.
Or use the Mother from another batch of vinegar. In this picture you can see the Mother is a floating Scoby. I put this in our new batch of vinegar.
SCOBY, which stands for “symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast,” is an ingredient used in the fermentation and production of kombucha. This will develop normally if you use a starter vinegar.
Step 4: Stir the vinegar together. Put something breathable over the top and screw on the canning jar ring. I use a paper insert for a coffee filter basket.
Step 5: Vinegar needs oxygen to ferment. Stir once a day for one week.
Step 6: Let your vinegar sit for about a month or until the pH is below 4. Pour a little vinegar into a bowl. Use a pH strip to test the pH. When the pH is below 4, preferably 3.5, you can filter and bottle it.
Step 7: Filter the vinegar through a mesh screen or cheesecloth and bottle, either into another glass jar or into a fancy jar like this. This example was asparagus vinegar I bottled earlier this month.
After bottling you can age it for as long as you like. When you age vinegar, especially ACV, it develops flavors from the esters released from the apples.
I use this vinegar on salads. You can also use the vinegar for infusions or for mixed drinks like Shrubs.
These are bottles I use:
Mockins 8.5 oz Glass Bottle Set with Swing Top Stoppers:
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