I Want Vinegar!

[BookWalker]

Hi everyone,

I would like to make apple cider vinegar. I can find all kinds of information on this, buuuut I need some very specific details due to the temps where I live. All of the people offering information online are people into health and homesteading, with warm and cozy environments year round for brewing. I'm in great doubt that they would be able to help me. I know that in wine making there are risks of producing vinegar and that most wine makers know a great deal about the ins and outs of this. Therefore I have come here for expert advise, although not on making wine. Please forgive me.

I live in Uruguay. We're going into winter now. Today's temp is 65 F and will go up maybe to 70 F. Temps will start dropping lower soon and can reach a lowest of 40 F, but most likely the daily temps will not be that cold. I haven't paid attention to average temps, but who can now days with our weird weather during all seasons. These temperatures will be relevant to the room where I'll be attempting to brew vinegar. Not sure if humidity counts, but we do have high humidity here.

So in your honest opinion/s with those specs, is it possible for me to make vinegar?

If it is, how long should I leave the apple in the water before straining out? I'm going to assume with such low temps I'd have to leave the apple bits in longer.

Thanks ahead of time for all of your input!

 

[salcoco]

the best way is to buy a vinegar mother from a wine supply house. this is a liquid with the bacteria that make wine vinegar.

short of that, the old fashion way is what I would try. If the wine has finished fermenting and clear just take a bowl of it and expose it to the air, put a cloth over the bowl and place it in a dark pace but warm it will take a few weeks but it will eventually go to vinegar. I would take about half teaspoon of hydrogen peroxide to the wine to reduce any sufphite that you may have added if you did not add any sulfate no need. you can also add water to the wine about 1 cup water to 2 cups of wine to reduce the acidity of the wine. be patient as it will take a while for the wine to be populated with the vinegar bacteria possibly as long as a month. once you have vinegar just add one part of vinegar to one part water and two part wine to increase your volume.

 

[BookWalker]

The only place one can buy wine making supplies is in the capital city here. I live in the interior (5 hours from there) and it's difficult to get things. The bit of home brewing I have done I'm sure anyone here would squirm at hearing the things I used - bread yeast, tea bags.. but lovely fruits!

So the basics are that constant air exposure and warmth will create vinegar?

Will it do this at the low temps I mentioned?... I ask, because the place where I'd be making vinegar is not heated. I really don't have another option.

 

[sour_grapes]

Can you get vinegar that is not distilled, like unfiltered apple cider vinegar? That could be your "starter," hopefully containing the right bacteria.

https://www.rodalesorganiclife.com/wellbeing/homemade-vinegar

 

[BookWalker]

I wish I could get some, because that's a great idea. I wouldn't mind waiting all winter if need be, because I'd do a huge batch.

I might have to wait until next summer to make some "Hillbilly wine" and then let it go open to the air. I recall a couple of years ago one batch getting a scum on top and starting to turn to vinegar. I don't think that it was apple though. Really want apple cider vinegar.

 

[salcoco]

it is possible with the air temperatures you identify to start. try it i would start with a small batch maybe a quart and then use this as starter for larger batches

 

[BookWalker]

This all sounds encouraging. I'm going to get some apples at the farmer's market this weekend and start a batch.

I thank the two of you for your help!

 

[Boatboy24]

Could it be as simple as just adding some Braggs, or something like it? I don't know about Uruguay, but it is found in common grocery stores around here.

 

[BookWalker]

It's impossible to get that where I live. Raw apple cider vinegar that is. This is why I'm interested in making it myself.

"Health food" stores are very lacking in things. I get a lot of blank stares when asking for many things. I went to a pharmacy to see if they had psyllium powder or psyllium husk. They knew what it was and directed me to a health food store. The people there had no idea what I was talking about, in English or Spanish, even after describing what it was used for.

Appreciate the suggestion, though!

 

[salcoco]

http://talesofakitchen.com/raw/homemade-organic-raw-apple-cider-vinegar/ here is a on line link for making vinegar with just apples, sugar and water. it take about three months but should work for you.

 

[BookWalker]

Thanks. This seems to be the same information that I kept running into. I was going to try this method of using apple chunks, as well as making an apple cider, to see if they came out the same.

My main concern was would I be able to brew vinegar at low temps. I just looked online and found out that the average temperatures during June-August last year were the lowest at around 45 F.

I'll give it a whirl and see what happens.

 

[meadmaker1]

It will come down to strength. It takes seveal buckets of chunks to get a bucket of juice, without adding water.
Im interested in your process, progress, and result.

 

[balatonwine]

My main concern was would I be able to brew vinegar at low temps. I just looked online and found out that the average temperatures during June-August last year were the lowest at around 45 F.

It will simply take longer at lower temperatures.

When I make vinegar, I take whatever few liters of extra wine I have that is done fermenting, and just put it into a bottle or two (about 2/3rds full). I add nothing else, and simply stick some cotton in the bottle opening to keep out insects/dust and allow natural inoculation. And ignore it for 6 months. In a place that can go down to 40°F during the winter. Maybe it stops, and then gets re-inoculated in the spring, I don't know. I never checked or cared to check. I always end up with a good vinegar by next summer. But I was always using grapes. Have not tried with apples. Maybe I should (we have apple trees).

 

[BookWalker]

So sorry I missed these last two posts! The notification ended up in my spam.

It will simply take longer at lower temperatures.

When I make vinegar, I take whatever few liters of extra wine I have that is done fermenting, and just put it into a bottle or two (about 2/3rds full). I add nothing else, and simply stick some cotton in the bottle opening to keep out insects/dust and allow natural inoculation. And ignore it for 6 months. In a place that can go down to 40°F during the winter. Maybe it stops, and then gets re-inoculated in the spring, I don't know. I never checked or cared to check. I always end up with a good vinegar by next summer. But I was always using grapes. Have not tried with apples. Maybe I should (we have apple trees).

Have you ever tried making it from a base that was not wine? I ask because I see people all over online just adding a certain ratio of sugar to water with apple chunks and/or leftovers from making pie or applesauce, and no yeast.

Well, I've got all winter to wait. After I get things set to brewing, I'll give it a check every couple of weeks after that initial month. Only so that I can know what happens during those conditions and will know for the future what to expect. All of the input has made it sound promising that this will indeed work.

I wasn't able to get apples this past weekend. It rained and there was no farmer's market. I'll try to remember to keep everyone posted on what happens.

Thanks much everyone!

 

[meadmaker1]

I left the water I used to rinse capping wax, in my rv for a couple months because I forgot about it.
It turned and had a 1/2 "layer of mother on top.
Was sitting on the table with the lid set on loose.
was an interesting aroma for a camp trailer.
(Capping wax is the face of comb that gets cut off to extract the honey from the comb)

 

[balatonwine]

Have you ever tried making it from a base that was not wine?

Not yet.