Making Vinegar

[blue_dolphin]

I have a bottle of pineapple vinegar from Rancho Gordo with an active mother (plus multiple, apparently quiescent mothers on the bottom) and was considering trying it.  I thought the rum-pineapple-maple combination might be nice but decided to stick with the recipe for this round.  

Though maybe I'll pick up some more maple syrup and set up a small batch with the pineapple vinegar. 

[Kerry Beal]

Out of sight - out of mind. For some reason the topic of maple vinegar came up while @Anna N and I were out driving around yesterday. I actually remembered to check it when I got home (of course the date I was supposed to check it was in February!)

 

It's lovely - strong but balanced nicely.

 

 

 

Filtering a bottle for sharing.

 

 

 

The sludge is going back into the stainless barrel with some red rice rum at 55% that I found in the living room and a couple of cups of maple syrup that I had left over after some bourbon barrel aging experiments.

 

Looking forward to the Spinzall so I can clarify in minutes!

 

 

 

Edited April 27, 2017 by Kerry Beal (log)

[chromedome]

Quote

The sludge is going back into the stainless barrel with some red rice rum at 55% that I found in the living room and a couple of cups of maple syrup that I had left over after some bourbon barrel aging experiments.

 

 

Red rum? (Rredrum redrum redrum redrum....)

 

 

 

[Anna N]

 

 So I was the lucky recipient of some of @Kerry Beal's home made maple vinegar.  There is a drinking glass beside it for a very good reason.  I'd be happy to use it for nothing more than sipping!   But I'm open to suggestions as to how best to make use of this bounty. It is so perfectly balanced in a way that even good balsamic isn't.  I can't compare it to great balsamic because I have never tried that!  

[rotuts]

well ...

 

the good news is your bounty will keep.

 

so no need to be in any hurry  

 

Id think about fruit and a nicely ripened stone fruit.

 

very hard to come by at any time , unless you have your own tree  and it not the time right now for fall fruit

 

consider looking for a bartlett pear.  they come from all over.  check the firmness of the flesh just below the stem

 

it should give a little   which means if it blemish free it will ripen on its own.  pears are a rare stone frut that might do this.

 

find one that has a bit of yellow on the flesh , not all green.  and the tiny bit of yield on the flesh - stem end is importatnt

 

when ' ripe enough '

 

section and add a few drops of the above and see .

 

it going to be hit or miss , but you might be one hit.   don't add the above if the sections you've tried are not

 

good to better.

 

a nice ripe white peach would be also nice

 

best of luck with that !

 

I have had very nice white peaches here  , but rarely.

 

I did grow up with many peach trees at home  .... so I know peaches

 

no pears.   the pear tree needs a frozen winter to do its best the next fall

 

then there is always exceptional Home-Made-ish full fat vanilla ice cream

 

2 - 3 drops os the above !

Edited April 28, 2017 by rotuts (log)

[Nyleve Baar]

Yay! Another maple vinegar convert. It's delicious on a very simple green salad or something with bitter greens and strawberries in season.

 

Or, yes, in a pretty little glass for sipping.

[Anna N]

3 minutes ago, Nyleve Baar said:

Yay! Another maple vinegar convert. It's delicious on a very simple green salad or something with bitter greens and strawberries in season.

 

Or, yes, in a pretty little glass for sipping.

 I am so ashamed. I picked up the bottle to put it away but couldn't resist pouring another glass!   I mean really?   It is just that good.

[Nyleve Baar]

Just immediately start another batch while you're still being ashamed.

[Anna N]

3 minutes ago, Nyleve Baar said:

Just immediately start another batch while you're still being ashamed.

 I would except I didn't make this. It was a gift.   I don't have the required ingredients at the moment but I may have to put them on my list although I wonder how one treats an addiction to maple vinegar.

Edited April 28, 2017 by Anna N (log)

[Kerry Beal]

1 hour ago, Anna N said:

 I would except I didn't make this. It was a gift.   I don't have the required ingredients at the moment but I may have to put them on my list although I wonder how one treats an addiction to maple vinegar.

 

The next batch has been started with the lees of the last.

[andiesenji]

On 1/25/2017 at 3:26 PM, blue_dolphin said:

I have a bottle of pineapple vinegar from Rancho Gordo with an active mother (plus multiple, apparently quiescent mothers on the bottom) and was considering trying it.  I thought the rum-pineapple-maple combination might be nice but decided to stick with the recipe for this round.  

Though maybe I'll pick up some more maple syrup and set up a small batch with the pineapple vinegar. 

In about 2005 or so - a couple of years before I retired in 2007 - I had a bottle of pineapple vinegar with the mother.

I had some pineapple juiced drained from a couple of large cans of slices and I combined it with a can of coconut water and a small bottle of coconut syrup that had been gathering dust in my pantry for years. 

I left it to "work" for about 4-5 months and it turned out remarkably tasty.  I used it on fruit salads, to marinate chicken and also pork when I was experimenting with Caribbean cookery.

Unfortunately I had a kitchen helper at the time who dumped out the jar with the mother and ran it through the dishwasher before I noticed it.  

I had forgotten all about it until I read your post today.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

On ‎4‎/‎28‎/‎2017 at 1:47 PM, Anna N said:

 

 So I was the lucky recipient of some of @Kerry Beal's home made maple vinegar.  There is a drinking glass beside it for a very good reason.  I'd be happy to use it for nothing more than sipping!   But I'm open to suggestions as to how best to make use of this bounty. It is so perfectly balanced in a way that even good balsamic isn't.  I can't compare it to great balsamic because I have never tried that!  

 

@Anna N once in a lifetime you should try the good stuff, twenty five or fifty years.  I had given balsamic as a gift but I never tasted it myself until a couple months ago.  You would not be drinking it.  The consistency is somewhat between bitumen and blood.  It is hard to coax a drop.  And then try not to think what that drop cost.

 

Tonight I had a few drops of balsamic on blanched Brussels sprouts.

 

By the way, the bottle is so pretty.

 

[Anna N]

4 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

@Anna N once in a lifetime you should try the good stuff, twenty five or fifty years.  I had given balsamic as a gift but I never tasted it myself until a couple months ago.  You would not be drinking it.  The consistency is somewhat between bitumen and blood.  It is hard to coax a drop.  And then try not to think what that drop cost.

 

Tonight I had a few drops of balsamic on blanched Brussels sprouts.

 

By the way, the bottle is so pretty.

 

 I think there is some strange gene in my DNA that wouldn't permit me to try it even if it were a gift.  Perhaps there is such a thing as an "unworthiness" gene.  Yes I do love the bottle almost as much as the vinegar. 

[Toliver]

On 4/29/2017 at 11:03 AM, andiesenji said:

In about 2005 or so - a couple of years before I retired in 2007 - I had a bottle of pineapple vinegar with the mother...

This led me down an eGullet rabbit hole because I remembered eGullet co-founder Jason Perlow had once sung the praises of pineapple vinegar. It was made with the trimmings and core, what was leftover when you cut and prepared a pineapple to eat.

This was the recipe (click) he mentioned, though you could omit the peppers so it wouldn't be spicy.

[FlashJack]

After a desultory search I couldn't find a thread on vinegar making. Is there one?

 

I have reasonable wine-making experience but am new to making vinegar.

 

After separately collecting red and white wine leftovers I introduced the same mother to each (in ~3l glass containers) and left them  a few months to do their thing. All good; the mother grew and I took off some and successfully started clones.

 

I racked each container off a couple of times, ending up with clear batches with a decided acidity (I don't have a pH meter). I pasteurised each to prevent any further fermentation and left them a couple more months.

 

The white is very sharp. I'll likely dilute it to tame it a bit.

 

The red is bland. No or near-no acid.

 

What went wrong?

 

Supplementary question: the white was made with quite colourless wines -- no oxidised heavily oaked chardonnay. It has taken on an almost whiskey hue. Do some makers strip the colour from their vinegar? How?

[Paul Bacino]

Might.. try the book.   Noma guide to fermentation.   When I did squash vinegar,  I added a fish tank bubbler,  seems that airiation.. can be critical