High quality vinegar is another bonus of winemaking. It is a low cost enterprise that requires little equipment or experience.
When choosing a wine to make into vinegar make sure it is an unflawed wine, as any flaws will be transferred to the vinegar. The quality of your vinegar depends on the wine you make it from, the better the wine, the better the vinegar. Red wine vinegar is quicker to make than white wine vinegar, as they are usually filtered less and contain lower sulphur dioxide levels. Dry wines make better vinegar, as the unfermented sugars increase the possibility of off flavors.
The main difference between vinegar and bad wine is the tame bacteria, known as Mother of Vinegar. This bacteria converts the alcohol into acetic acid and does not produce the unpleasant by-products associated with spoiled wine. It can be bought at your local wine supplies store, or cultured from other home made vinegar. Commercial vinegar is usually unsuitable as a source of bacterial culture.
Instructions
Clean and sanitise a 3 litre jug
Pour 2 litres of wine into the jug
Add 1 litre of water
Add Mother of Vinegar (once you have made your first batch of vinegar you can use some of that as a starter) fill the neck of the bottle lightly with cotton wool or cover with cheese cloth to keep insects and dust out.
Store in a warm(20-23C,70-80F) dark place.
The vinegar should be ready in about 3- 4 months. When it is ready carefully siphon it into bottles.
You can store the mother of vinegar in a screw top jar filled with your vinegar and reuse it for your next batch or alternately replace the siphoned vinegar with a 2:1 mixture of wine and water for continuous vinegar making.
