Calling all booze hounds! Or not. You could be a teetotaler who entertains and this would still be a kickass thing for you to make. Why? Because it takes a bowl, some stuff you were going to throw away and a touch of living vinegar (homemade or Bragg’s will do) to make something that will give your food a ton of flavor. Also, it’s not necessarily cheap to buy decent red wine vinegar, and this is virtually free to make.
We entertain a lot. Or we did, in the period between crazy and über-crazy (aka parts of the last two years). These days our gatherings consist of having a couple friends over for dinner when we can scrape together the collective energy to mop our floors and vacuum our couch. But our favorite kind of party is the kind that I used to blog about. We call it Brunch ‘Til Dawn. Although the title is somewhat self-explanatory, I’ll explain. We have a brunch to celebrate something, but we make enough food to feed 20-25 people two to three times because typically we start at noon and go to the wee hours. There is likely be some form of Kinect dancing, along with some karaoke, if I have my druthers. There could be jai alai in the street, depending on the hour and the mood of the crowd. There will definitely be copious amounts of food and drink. And inevitably, my husband and I will be too tired to do all the party clean-up before we crash out for the night/morning.
This lazy practice has led to more than one quarter-full bottle of decent or (*sobs*) excellent wine ending its life open on the counter for too many hours. But I’m nothing if not optimistic. When life (or my own bad habit) gives me wine that’s been exposed to too much oxygen, I make vinegar. I think you should too.
Wine Vinegar
Yields ~1 cup vinegar (expect some evaporation). Can be scaled for any amount of leftover (or even just-opened) wine.
Contrary to what I’ve read in several places, you in no way need a physical mother of vinegar to make your own batch. Real, living (not pastuerized) vinegar will definitely do the trick as a starter. For my first batch I used Bragg’s, but ever since then I’ve used my own. I eventually made a batch of vinegar that spontaneously grew its own mother and now I get a new mother forming on the surface of my vinegar every so often, whether I use one to kick off a new batch or not. I like to make small quantities of this with whatever I have left after a fête. Give it a mix whenever you think of it. Air is your friend. The acetobacter (not a typo) responsible for vinegar fermentation are abundant in the air, and they need oxygen to survive, so mix those guys in and enjoy the tasty, tasty product.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup wine
- 3 tablespoons starter vineagar, use a living variety. Homemade if you can get it. Bragg’s is good too!
Do It:
- Pour your leftover (not from people’s glasses) wine into a vessel with a large surface area, such as a bowl or wide-mouthed jar.
- Add starter vinegar.
- Stir it all up, very vigorously
- Cover with a towel (secured with a rubber band or string) and let it sit at room temperature, stirring vigorously when you think of it (preferably daily), until a thin, gelatinous film starts to form on the surface. That will form into the mother. You will probably see it form 7-10 days after you begin the process. With small amounts like this, I start tasting it at 3 weeks. It can take longer than a month, though.
- Once it tastes more like vinegar and less like wine, move it to an airtight container, with very little surface area exposed. Swingtops and sealable wine bottles of the appropriate size work great. Although air is critical to the process of vinegar fermentation, continued exposure to air once you have your vinegar is a good way to ruin it/make it not be vinegar any more. (I have been storing my vinegar wrong for ages. I learned this in The Art of Fermentation. Which you should buy. Today.)
Now that you’ve conquered wine vinegar. How about trying some fruit vinegar?
Ruthy @ omeletta says
Thank you for this! I love that I can make it without a mother. Now I only need to find a half-finished bottle of old wine, which is a rarity in my house (not because I am a teetotaler, unfortunately, but because I am a lush. so wish me luck!)
ellie wag says
I have a bottle of wine, would like to make vinagar..What is the mother?? can I add shop rite wine vinagar to help the process?/ or apple cidar vinager??? or will the wine in a month or so turn into vinager?????
Amanda says
Hi Ellie,
You need a living vinegar. Bragg’s is the only nationally available version I’m aware of, so that’s why I recommend that in the recipe. I hope that helps!
Daniel says
Hey I just did this today! Thanks for sharing! I used a one gallon mason jar with a built in spigot. Also I used Eden selected red wine vinegar as a starter it is naturally fermented and raw with a mother in the bottle. Since I make my own beer and mead this is right up my alley.
Lynn says
There is another brand besides Braggs. It is called San Remo. Organic apple cider vinegar, raw unfiltered & unpasteurized with the mother in it. Just put on my first batch. will see how this turns out.
Amanda says
Hi Lynn,
There are definitely many varieties of raw vinegar out there. Bragg’s is available in most US markets unlike any others that I’m aware of, which is why I mention it here.
Hayley Jayne Schultz says
Hi, does it have to be a living wine vinegar? We only have Bragg’s apple cider vinegar here.
Amanda says
Nope, any living vinegar will work as a starter. You could even skip the starter all together if you’re willing to put a lot of stirring into the early days.
Philip, M.D. says
I just bought Wegmans’ red wine vinegar. It say on the bottle, raw vinegar, includes the mother!
I just added 10 1/2 tbs to 3 1/2 cups of Beringers Reserve Cabernet
Hoping for the best
Amanda says
Sounds like you’ll have some of the good stuff soon!
Gregg says
Hi Amanda,
After I start my first batch using Bragg’s, is it better to reuse the mother formed on the wine vinegar, or just keep reusing Bragg’s every time?
How is it best to store the Bragg’s?
Amanda says
If I were going to use a Mother, I would use your home Mother. The Bragg’s mamas are wispy and weak. A mother isn’t necessary for vinegar fermentation, however.
Banshee says
The mother is a disgusting-looking funguslike thing that forms in the vinegar.
Father Knows Best says
Why do need your mother to make it? Can father make it too?
Amanda says
Lol.
madmema says
Because the “Father” can’t make babies on his own.
colleen says
that was awesome.
andreas obuaculla says
how did a lush end up on a site for vinigar?get the wine?will it even get close to the MOTHER,bloody hell i hope not!
Amanda says
Hi Ruthy! Sorry I’m just seeing this now!
I’m with you! I’m not a huge drinker, but my husband usually picks up my slack. If you love wine vinegar or just want to try out the process, you can totally use “fresh” wine, but then you lose the conservation value. A bottle of crappy wine can make a pretty decent bottle of wine vinegar, though!
Brian Scarlett says
I have a question for you. I have a proximate 42 liters of white wine that I was making that stopped working and it turned into nothing. Can I turn this into a wine vinegar? I also have some old wine and champagne can I use this in any way? Yours truly Brian.
Amanda says
Hi Brian,
I don’t see why not. I guess it depends on what the “stop working” was, but assuming there’s at least some alcohol in there (like it fermented for a week or more), it should definitely work. Just add some living vinegar (about 10%) and stir crazily for a few days. And you can use the old wine and champagne exactly in the way detailed in this post. Enjoy!
Fred says
What is this “leftover wine” that you speak of? I have never heard of it!
Amanda says
Most common response I’ve heard, Fred! 🙂
Feel free to use 2 buck chuck or another non-leftover cheapo wine. They do the trick just as well. Sometimes I think a bad wine is improved by being turned in to vinegar!
Christina says
“Contrary to what I’ve read in several places, you in no way need a mother of vinegar to make your own batch. … For my first batch I used Bragg’s…”
Bragg’s has the mother in it–that’s a prominent part of their branding–so I’m not sure that using it as a starter counts as not using a mother. It just means you don’t have to come up with a mother of your own, having purchased an ingredient that includes it already.
Amanda says
Hi Christina,
Thanks for you input. Bragg’s is indeed living vinegar and contains, per their advertising “the mother.” My comment about the mother refers to an actual mother (aka SCOBY), that one would have to obtain. Many vinegar recipes call for this, and I wanted people to understand that if they are using a living vinegar, the bacteria and yeast present in it are sufficient for starting a new batch, so they don’t need to spend the time or effort seeking out a mother. When I use my own vinegar, I filter it and there is no solid (or even wispy, gelatinous) mother present. As long as the vinegar is alive, it will work! As with kombucha, the microorganisms present will often form a new mother that can then be used for future batches, but it is not a necessary element for vinegar-making.
Thanks again!
Amanda
Anja M. says
Can you use Bragg Apple Cider Vinegar? I have some of that, or just regular?
Amanda says
Hi Anja,
Yes, Braggs works great! I started my first batch with Braggs Apple Cider vinegar. Now I use my own as a starter, but I got going with Braggs.
Aaron says
How much starter vinegar do you need to put in the cup of wine ? >Is there a % of starter needed per size of wine your trying to make ?
Amanda says
You can extrapolate the “recipe” in this post to any sized vessel! 18% is roughly what I use here. 10%-20% depending on ambient temperature and how frequently you’re willing to stir will work fine.
Tim C G says
Since wine has so many chemicals in it, I usually make my vinegar out of straight apple, grape juice, blueberry and I am actually making pomegranate vinegar right now. I usually put about 3/4 juice (100% pure) and 1/4 Braggs ACV with the mother. I also cut up some apple with the peals and core and place in jars (I have also put cut up bananas, pears and whole blueberries in it). Cover with cheese cloth and place in cabinet in warm garage. If it stays hot, you have vinegar in a couple weeks, if cooler, maybe a month or longer. Every now and then it goes bad, who knows why. Good luck.
Amanda says
Yup, you can make vinegar out of just about anything! See the most recent post for my cherry scrap vinegar how-to. As for wine having so many chemicals, I worked at a winery and I was pretty fine with everything that went into the process. Lots of different options for vinegar-making, though, if you don’t like or can’t have wine. It can basically be made out of anything that has sugar!
I like to have several varieties on hand, since they all offer a distinctive flavor profile that can really distinguish a meal.
Enjoy your vinegar!
Mitzi says
I stumbled upon this article because I soo badly want to make my own, but I’m scared :0 If I taste it after 3 weeks and it’s nasty, I would assume it’s gone rancid. Will that make me sick? And, (newbie here) what is a living vinegar? Can I just use my Heinz white vinegar as a starter? AND, when you say you use your own now, how do you do that? Skim the film off the top? Is that a mother? How do you store it?
Amanda says
Hi Mitzi,
I totally feel you! Don’t be afraid, though. Just give it a shot and see what happens. If you don’t like the taste at three weeks, evaluate why. Was it not vinegary enough? Was it too acidic and not flavorful enough? If the former, ferment it for a few more days before tasting again. IF the latter, it probably went too long or was in too warm of a spot in your home.
You Heinz vinegar will not work because it has been pasteurized, and all of the living bacteria are dead. The only nationally available living vinegar I’m aware of is Bragg’s although there are bound to be others out there I don’t know about.
When the vinegar tastes how you want it to taste, you need to remove the blob on the surface (yes, that’s the mother). You can use it to culture a new batch of vinegar or give it away. Once your vinegar is done, you need to move it to an airtight container. Air is your friend during fermentation, but once it’s at an acidity that you like, it’s time to put it in a bottle that seals.
I hope that helps! There really is nothing to be afraid of!
Greg says
What is the best way to store the mother between batches? Thanks, Amanda! I recently stumbled across your site and am loving everything I’m finding here! Great work!
Amanda says
Thanks so much, Greg!
You can store the mother in some finished vinegar at room temperature. Just a note: you don’t need to reuse the Mother. If you have a compost pile, you can stick the mother in there for some happy compost.
There are conflicting thoughts on whether it’s good or not to reuse the Mother. I haven’t found that it makes a ton of difference either way. I have found that living vinegar is needed whether or not you use the Mother, so I always use that. In short, don’t feel bad if you need to toss the mother.
Casey says
I have a lot of wines that I have gotten from the winery I currently work for. If I start a batch larger than 1 cup do I also double the amount of braggs?
Amanda says
Hi Casey,
Go for about 15% starter vinegar; slightly less in the summer, slightly more in the winter. You can really do any quantity wine, so no worries on doing a larger batch. Let me know how you like it!
Amanda
Naiya says
Hello.
This is my first time considering making vinegar and I have a few questions.
I have about 1&1/2 cup of leftover wine (1981 Cab) that went sour the day after I opened it and I want to use that to make some vinegar.
I was wondering if I can use a glass pitcher and if so do I have to sterilize that before storing the wine in that? The original bottle is also a very big bottle, which contained about 4 (750mL) bottles, so can I use that to store the wine and make vinegar?
I also have some homemade vinegar (made in 1992), which was given to me this year (minus the mother…I think), but I was wondering if I could use that or should I use Bragg apple cider vinegar?
Last question, can I add wine periodically to the fermenting batch to increase the volume?
Amanda says
Hi Naiya,
I do not sterilize for fermentation, generally speaking. I always ensure that everything is very clean, but sterilization is rarely necessary.
A glass pitcher would work great, provided that it has a wide opening. You need air for vinegar fermentation, and the more air exposure it has, the better. For this same reason, I wouldn’t recommend fermenting in the large wine bottle you mentioned.
For storage, you want as little air exposure as possible, so depending on the amount of the final product, a wine bottle may work quite well.
An aged, homemade vinegar could make an excellent starter (although if it is very fine, using it as a starter may be a waste), but only if it hasn’t been pasteurized after fermentation. I’m guess with a 21-year-old vinegar, pasteurization probably did occur. The key thing is to use a living vinegar, and pasteurization will have killed off all of the living organisms needed for fermentation.
I personally do add fresh wine into my vinegar bowl periodically. It has always worked great for me!
I hope that helps!
Happy New Year!
Naiya says
Thank you!
I’m going try it out!
Happy New Year to you as well!
Tim says
Great article! I will use Braggs ACV to use as a starter.
Does the vinegar have to be fresh? What happens if say, the vinegar has been on the shelf for a while and not tightly sealed – will it still do as a starter?
Thanks
Amanda says
It should be fine, Tim. I read in The Art of Fermentation that after some time the acetobacter will turn the vinegar into water and carbon dioxide, but I think it takes quite a long time for that to happen. Taste your vinegar; if it still tastes like vinegar, you should be good to go!
Thomas Adair says
I have a bottle of wine that looks like it’s corked. It sitting on is side and there is some small seepage from the cork. I can use this safely? I guess it is almost vinegar anyways!
Amanda says
Hi Thomas,
I would, but for your well-being, I have to offer you a caveat. If the wine is corked, there could be less desirable organisms in there like molds, that might not make for the tastiest vinegar. You can always give it a try and if you see anything on the surface that looks like mold instead of a mother, use your discretion and toss it.
Let me know what you decide to do!
Sally says
Hi Amanda,
I live in Australia :o) thanks for blog. I have a commercial red wine vinegar, 1/3 full and it has a layer of something (perhaps”mother”??) on top of the liquid inside the bottle. So potentially I could use this?
Amanda says
Hi Sally,
The majority of commercial vinegars are pasteurized and therefore not suitable to use as a starter (although it’s possible that’s not true in Australia. I’d be happy to come over and do some research!), but if you definitely have a Mother on it, that would mean that it’s unpasteurized. Ideally it would say on the bottle that it’s living, raw, or unpasteurized, but if you can see the blob and you can identify it as a mother, you should be good. Make sure the vinegar you’re using looks and smells alright, and that the mother is in good condition (no mold, etc). I hope that helps!
Chris says
I look forward to this process.that said you can buy unpasteurized vinegar with the mother at Wal-Mart now. They have it under their great value brand.
Amanda says
Great to know! You can also skip adding vinegar all together if you’re willing to stir vigorously on a very frequent basis for the first week of fermentation.
Danielle says
I haven’t seen anyone comment on whether or not you can mix various different leftover wines to make vinegar. I have heard you can mix all kinds of wines together (even reds and whites) and get a good-tasting vinegar. Is that correct?
Amanda says
Yes, it’s fine to mix. That what I did for this recipe and many other batches of wine vinegar.
Scott says
Can I use a light resistant plastic container? I have a 5-gallon plastic container with spigot for water for camping. If I leave upright without the lid, covered with cheese cloth, there should be plenty of circulation. Then when it’s time to draw off the vinegar, I imagine I could just replace lid with spigot and pour. Thoughts?
Amanda says
Hi Scott,
I’m very inexperienced with fermenting in plastic. I generally prefer to avoid it, but if you know that your bucket is food-safe, it should be fine. You’ll certainly get a nice big batch and some great circulation out of it.
I’d love to hear how it turns out for you.
Happy Fermenting!
Aaron says
My Italian father-in-law keeps his home made vinegar in a plastic air tight container and it’s worked for 30+ years. So feel free to use it.
Laura says
I have been trying to make vinegar and I am not sure what I have done wrong. What I have tastes like vinegar but there is no gelatinous blob. I mixed Bragg’s with some red wine in a sun tea container (glass) covered in cheese cloth. There is a bit of some type of sediment at the bottom, but wouldn’t the mother float? I keep it in a cupboard because I was told to keep it in a dark place. Help?
Amanda says
Hi Laura,
How long has it been fermenting? Also, did you stir? It’s possible that the mother was very thin. If that’s the case, is it possible that while it was forming you stirred it back in?
Vinegar mothers tend to be much thinner and more easily destroyed than kombucha SCOBYs, so that is something to consider. If it smells and tastes like vinegar and has been fermenting for 3 to 4 weeks at normal, room temperature, you’re probably fine. You might get a much more substantial mother on the batch you make using your homemade vinegar as a starter.
Sarah says
Hi Amanda,
Once the gelatinous mother forms on the surface, do I stop stirring the starter wine every day? After that, do I just let it do it’s thing undisturbed until I start taste testing?
Thanks,
Sarah
Amanda says
Yup! That’s exactly it. Leave it alone for a couple more weeks before tasting once the mother has formed.
Whosdriving says
Hi Amanda,
I recently started working on making vinegar following your instructions above. One thing I’m curious about. I’ve read other peoples instructions too and you seem to differ on stirring. Yours suggest to stir vigorously each day which I have been doing. Others seem to suggest no movement at all. I guess I’m curious if you’ve tried it that way and what differences you found? Also others seem to suggest diluting the wine with water, which you don’t. So curious as to your thoughts about that too.
Thanks!
Gabe
Amanda says
Hi,
I can’t speak to the process of others, but stirring before the mother forms is an important step for a better tasting product in my opinion. It draws bacteria (in wine vinegar) and yeast (in fruit or other vinegars) into the mix, which help the process work. It also totally prevents the formation of unwanted surface molds while the product is fully acidifying. This step replicates what you get from starter vinegar, but I find that it makes for a tastier and more consistent product. Thanks for reading!
Esther says
Thank you for all the advice you give on making vinegar.! My question is, after the mother has formed and I am happy with the taste, do I bottle the mother with my finished product? If not, can I store it to use later for another batch.
Amanda says
Hi Esther,
You do remove the mother. I like to strain vinegar through a fine mesh strain to remove an excess bits of mother floating around in there. Bottle it a container that seals tightly and closely fits the amount of vinegar you have after fermentation.
Thanks for reading!
Esther says
What do I do with the mother?
Phil D says
I how have several bottles of homemade red wine vinegar (mother based) that are several years old. In old wine bottles with cork or screw cap. But now I am hesitant to use or taste them not knowing their condition. Is there a way to test or to refresh the vinegar? When fresh it was great on salads. Or is it so old I should use it as a cleaning agent rather on a salad?
Amanda says
Hi Phil,
What does it smell like? In theory, if it’s been in corked wine bottles, or generally kept away from the air, you should be fine!
janet says
Hi Phil,
I’m so glad to find your website–thanks for all the info. I have a year old bottle of fruity raspberry wine. Can I use Bragg’s ACV to get it started to make a traditionally fermented raspberry wine?
Amanda says
Hi Janet,
If you add living vinegar to wine, and add air, you will end up with vinegar. Wine is made through fermentation, so the product you have is likely already fermented.
I hope that answers your question?
Thanks,
Amanda
Tom says
Thanks for the insights —
If I were to make my own vinegar, for arguments sake let’s say 3 cups of vinegar. Can I just keep using it and topping it off with fresh wine? If so, do I need to wait some amount of time to use the topped off vinegar?
Mainly wondering because we usually have a small amount of wine left over nearly daily (wife is a winemaker). Does it make the most sense to perhaps save a few weeks of wine and then add the mother for a new batch?
Also, does it matter how long the wine has been left out? Wine that has maybe been left out for quite awhile doesn’t always taste or smell good (i.e. has already started turning to vinegar) so is it just fine to use that or has it started getting off-flavors that won’t go away?
Thanks!
Tom
Amanda says
Hi Tom,
I do exactly what you suggested (or I did in the days when we entertained a lot, anyway), so I can tell you that it works fine. The amount of time it takes to fully become vinegar is going to depend on the proportion of wine you’re adding to your finished vinegar. Make sure there’s always at least 10% finished vinegar, though, and you’ll be fine. Wine that has been left out is totally fine. As you say, it’s on its way to becoming vinegar. Just make sure that it isn’t laden with fruit flies before you add it.
I wouldn’t have any trouble adding a small amount in daily. You could treat it like a continuous brew process. I don’t know if any official vinegar-makers do it this way, but I definitely had success with my add-a-bit-when-I-have-it method.
Maria says
Ok, so my friend made 2 cups of this vinegar & it worked !! He wants to know if he can keep adding wine & vinegar to the small 2 cup batch he made or does he need to start over again ?
Let me know !!
Thanks,
M
Amanda says
It will depend on his situation. If he has a constant supply of new wine coming in, continuing to add fresh wine in might be a good solution, a la continuous brew kombucha (I made wine vinegar this way for a several years when we entertained frequently). If he doesn’t, it would probably be better to save some of the vinegar he has made as starter for the next batch (same proportions as this recipe) and enjoy the rest of what he’s made. If he’s making a very large batch, he could just use the whole two cups as starter.
Lori says
After successfully producing and straining off a bottle of red wine vinegar, I basically forgot about what was left in my fermenting jar for many months (didn’t periodically add any more wine to it. Getting back to it now, I just strained off a LOT of mother, and about 1-1/2 quarts of “vinegar.” The vinegar doesn’t taste quite right – more like a mixture of vinegar and cider or something (it looks fine – not cloudy or anything). Do you think this is salvageable if I add more fresh wine and a tiny bit of the mother back to it and let it ferment for a few more weeks? I was planning to compost the huge glob of mother that I removed. BTW, the mother looks normal, without any mold.
Vian says
Does the apple cider vinegar affect the flavor of the finished red wine vinegar? I LOVE red wine vinegar, but I cannot stand apple cider vinegar. I already make kombucha and other ferments, I would love to start making my own red wine vinegar too, but it’s next to impossible to find a red wine vinegar mother. Bragg’s ACV is everywhere though. I will give this a try and see how it turns out. Thanks!
Amanda says
Hi Vian,
A little bit. In your case, I would recommend making a small amount of red wine vinegar, and then using that whole batch as your starter to make a larger batch. That will lower the overall quantity of apple cider vinegar. Subsequent batches will be free of apple cider vinegar flavor.
Enjoy!
Barbara says
Does it matter where you get the mother? That is, can you use red wine mother to make white wine vinegar or vice versa? Does the mother actually retain any of the original wine’s flavor? I’m asking because I already have red wine mother.
Or if I put some Braggs apple cider vinegar in with white wine vinegar to make a mother, will the resulting vinegar taste like apple cider vinegar?
Amanda says
If you’re just using the mother (aka the SCOBY or pellicle) from a different type of vinegar, the flavor will not be impacted. If you’re using a different type of vinegar as starter, though, it will impact the flavor of your next batch a little bit. In your case, I would recommend making a small amount of your “target” vinegar, and then using that whole batch as your starter to make a larger amount. That will lower the overall quantity of apple cider vinegar in your white wine vinegar batch. Subsequent batches will be free (or very nearly free) of apple cider vinegar flavor.
Enjoy!
Kirsty says
Hi Amanda
When I got the bottle of (commercial) balsamic vinegar out of the cupboard last night there was a huge solid layer at the top. Through Google I now know this is a “Mother” and I’ve managed to get it out of the bottle by shaking it vigorously until the Mother was in bits. Can I use it to make red wine vinegar? Should I include any of the original balsamic vinegar or just add red wine? At the moment I have all of it sat in a big jar, hoping the Mother will reform.
Thanks
Kirsty
Amanda says
Hi Kristy,
Hmmmm. Was the vinegar raw? I’m only asking because I haven’t seen raw balsamic here in the States (not sure where you’re located) and if it was a pasteurized vinegar, I would be a tad leery of reusing something that grew in it. The other thing that gives me pause is that vinegar mothers are usually a pretty well-formed bunch. Shaking wouldn’t break apart any vinegar mother I’ve ever grown (it’s difficult enough to do with a knife or kitchen shears!). That doesn’t mean that it’s not a mother, it just probably wasn’t a very strong mother if you could shake it apart.
If it was raw, and you feel confident that it’s a mother based on your Google search, then yes, by all means! Go forth and make vinegar. You can use any vinegar mother to make any other type of vinegar. Your I would include starter vinegar. That keeps the pH (safely) low and also adds more of the bacteria necessary for fermentation. Again, that’s if the vinegar was raw. If not, I would recommend finding a living vinegar and throwing that in the mix with some red wine. Stay small with this batch and then use that batch to make a much larger batch. That will give you a truer red wine vinegar.
I hope that helps!
Kirsty says
Thank you for the reply.
How do I know if the venegar is raw? It says it contains an antioxidant and sulphites. I’d guess it probably isn’t as pretty much anything you buy in a shop has been treated to within an inch of being edible in order to make it edible!
(I’m in the UK)
Vince says
I’m just taking a chance here because this thread is epic and aged like an oak, so maybe my question will be picked up!…. Last year I made ACV by adding some Braggs to about 250 ml homemade cider…. I got great vinegar in a couple of months but no gelatinous “mother”……
So am I right that the acetic bacteria remained free floating and that a colony is not actually required to make vinegar?
Secondly, this year, I’ve done the same, but I’ve added the Braggs to a much larger amount of cider…..about 1.5 litres….. Is this too much volume for acetic bacteria to handle?…..
The alcohol level is not too high… Judging by my tasting, it was more than 6% but less than the advertised percentage of 15% (on the packet of yeast I used to ferment the apple juice?)
Linda says
I bought a ceramic vinegar pot from Williams Sonoma and got instructions online that said to pour two bottles of wine and one bottle of Bragg vinegar into the container. Cover the container opening with cheesecloth and a rubberband so it gets air but keeps bugs out. It sat for a few months then I removed the cheesecloth and corked it for another two months.
I don’t see any mother, only a little bit of film on top of the liquid.
I never shook the container.
Should I let it breathe longer with the cheesecloth cover? Should I add more Bragg or buy mother?
thanks!
Amanda says
Hi Linda,
I think the “little film” you have may be the mother. Vinegar mothers are often not thick, crazy guys like kombucha SCOBYs. The first batch is probably going to produce the weakest mother, because commercial vinegar (even Bragg’s, which I use to start batches when I don’t have any homemade on hand, too), doesn’t have the strongest microbial community in my experience.
When you use your own vinegar to start subsequent batches, you will probably get a stronger, thicker mother. I would add “stir vigorourously, daily, for the first five to seven days of fermentation” to the instructions you have. That’s one way to make sure you’re getting a good amount of air in there.
I can’t be sure that the film is the mother without seeing it. If you want to know if your vinegar fermented, you could check the pH with a cheapo pH strip. It should be somewhere around 3.0-3.1. If the film is puffy like mold, it could be mold. If it’s kind of a slimy circle, it’s probably the mother, but you might be able to use Google image search to know for sure.
I hope that helps!
Rachel says
Hi Amanda,
Wow! Thanks so much for all the time you put into responding to people’s questions!
I just started some red wine vinegar with Bragg’s and a bit of leftover wine. I intend to add leftover wine as we have it- hopefully a half cup or more every day or so.
Should I add more Bragg’s each time I add more vinegar to keep the approximate 15% mother ratio mentioned in your original instructions and answers or do I not need to add more as I go along?
Thanks,
Rachel
Amanda says
Hi Rachel,
Is there a reason that you’re not adding it all at once? If not, I would recommend doing that, and just adjusting the living vinegar amount appropriately. If there is a reason (aka, that’s how much wine you’re left with on a nightly basis) I would maybe wait a bit (like for a day every week) before adding it. That will give the fermenting vinegar some time to acidify.
Otherwise, it really depends on the size of your batch. If you’re making a quart and you’re adding a half cup of wine everyday, yes, it would be a good idea to keep lowering the acidity. If the amounts you’re adding daily constitute a tiny percentage of the total, adding live vinegar is less important.
I hope that makes sense!
Amanda
Danny says
Hi! I’m about to try making my own wine vinegar, and have looked up several websites along with this one in preparation. Since I already have a bottle of Braggs, I am planning on using that, but I have just one question:
Does it matter if I have previously shaken and agitated the bottle of Braggs in the past? Is the “mother” still going to work? Also, should I use the bottom murky “mothery” part of the bottle of aforementioned vinegar, or does it not matter?
thank you in advance! I’ll try to check back on this website, but would really appreciate it if I
Wilma Clapp says
We have a few leftover bottles of berry wines (black, blue and rasp) and would like to try a vinegar using our leftovers. I see a lot about red and white wine vinegars that you add frut to, but is there a recipe for vinegars made with fruit wine? We’d really appreciate your input. The bottles have been opened almost a month.
Amanda says
Hi Wilma,
The process will not be any different with berry wine than it is with grape wine, so you can definitely use this recipe. I do wonder if the wines you opened a month ago are okay? They may have already turned themselves partially into vinegar or they may have gotten moldy. Make sure you give them a good sniff before you start the process! Don’t use anything moldy, but otherwise you should be good to go!
Amanda
Ron Widman says
I made my first batch of wine vinegar using Braggs. It is now at 2 weeks and is tasting and smelling good, still in the bowl. My question is can I add small amounts of leftover wine to this while it is still fermenting in the bowl, or should I begin a new batch.
Amanda says
I would definitely be okay with adding small amounts of wine after 2 weeks of fermentation. But definitely limit it to small amounts. I would go with no more than 5% of the total volume of your vinegar. That’s a little arbitrary, but small amounts should acidify quickly. Adding a large amount would be a little like starting the process over again.
Herman F. Ebeling, Jr. says
When I do a Google search for “living vinegar,” I get Heinz Unfiltered All Natural Apple Cider Vinegar, 32 fl oz as the first hit. Can I use this to make my own vinegar? As I have several bottles of wine that I am not likely to drink anytime soon. And I’d rather make my own vinegar rather than let it go to waste.
Amanda says
I don’t believe that Heinz is actually living. You’ll need to read the label carefully, but it will have to be unpasteurized and should say something specifically about containing a mother or living bacteria. If you’re in the US, Bragg’s is your best bet, since it definitely contains living bacteria.
Wine will turn to vinegar without added live bacteria, but it’s more labor intensive process and more prone to off aromas and flavors, so I do recommend finding some living stuff.
Samantha says
I started my vinegar about a month ago (possibly more as I’ve lost track of time a little) and it doesn’t seem close to vinegar. I did not ever see the mother appear on the surface – does this mean I should start over?. I was not very good about stirring it everyday as you said so that may be the problem. It also doesn’t smell like vinegar…smells more like bad red wine. Thank you!
Amanda says
Hi Samantha,
Okay, so there’s definitely something odd there. If it didn’t become vinegar, you should at least be seeing a serious amount of mold after a month of letting it sit at room temp.
The nose knows, however, so if it’s not vinegar after a month and you followed the process above, something very odd happened.
Really, the stirring is partially to prevent mold from forming before the acidity and Mother take over that responsibility, and not stirring shouldn’t prevent vinegar from working as long as you used live vinegar to kickstart things.
I’m not sure what happened here, because none of it jives with my experience or understanding of this process, but I would not use that. So sorry to say that!
Good luck with your next batch. Maybe up the amount of live vinegar you add and double check that it’s definitely living.
Kim says
My Colavita red wine vinegar has developed a mother, so I’m going to try this. Thanks for all the tips! Apparently Colavita is not pasteurized; I found this comment on a Wine Spectator forum from 2004:
I checked with Colavita and indeed, their vinegar, which is produced at their factory in Modena, is not pasteurized. Had a long conversation with the Italian customer services lady about vinegar “mother”, and the mistaken impressions Americans sometimes get that cloudiness is tantamount to “spoilage”.
Amanda says
Great tip! Thanks!
Nicole says
thanks for this useful blog! I would like to start making vinegar regularly. i have a mother inside an old bottle of rice wine vinegar. i am also buying a bottle of Braggs. Is the mother of a rice wine vinegar the same bacteria as one to make red wine vinegar? are they interchangeable? should i bother buying the Bragg’s if i have the mother already? thanks for any feedback!
Amanda says
Yes! It’s always possible that there’s some microbial variation based on the substrate (stuff you’re ferementing), but I wouldn’t be worried about it. Acetobacter is the main bacterium you need here, and that is omnipresent in Mothers. I’ve also made vinegar from just about everything you can think of, and I use whatever living vinegar I have on hand as the starter. It will work!
Happy Souring!
Diane says
I stumbled upon your blog when trying to research if “mothers” are interchangeable between Kombucha to vinegar etc… The previous comment kind of answered this for me, but I still wanted to make sure. I have a friend with Kombucha “mother” and he’s willing to give me a starter. Will it be just fine to use with vinegar making?
Amanda says
Hi Diane,
Not really. Although very long-fermented kombucha is pretty indistinguishable from vinegar in flavor and aroma, it is a different thing, with a different microbial make-up.
I wouldn’t use a vinegar mother to ferment kombucha (it’s a less diverse organism than a kombucha SCOBY), but if I’m making vinegar for the flavor only, I wouldn’t have an issue using a kombucha SCOBY. Or you can just skip it altogether and make vinegar as described above.
Happy Fermenting!
Alyssa says
I’m hoping you might be able to provide some feedback on whether I should persist or just throw in and start again –
A while back I saw that a bottle of cheap white wine vinegar I had bought developed a mother. I dumped the mother into a wide mouth jar with some random white wine. Covered the top with an ACE bandage and popped it into a cupboard, and forgot about it.
6-8 weeks later, the mother has dropped to the bottom and gone a little dark, but the wine has gone cloudy and there’s floaty bits of white. And it tastes awful. Like watered-down horrid wine.
What next? Fish the probably dead mother out? Keep it and hope for vinegar later? (FYI – it’s been about 70F here or higher for the last 2 months, but winter now, so temps in my place could drop to 50F or a little lower) remove some if the cloudy wine and drop it into a new bottle and start again? Any suggestions would be appreciated
Amanda says
My rule of thumb is always that if a ferment smells or tastes awful, it’s letting you know it’s not fit to consume. I wouldn’t reuse the mother. The good news is that you don’t need a mother to make vinegar, though! If you can get some living vinegar, you’ll be able to make a new batch.
Generally you want a vinegar mother on the surface, or somewhere near it, but I’m not sure what the significance of a bottom-dwelling Mother is. Sorry it didn’t work out this time!
Chris Harris says
Can you use wine that has preservative 220 (sulphur dioxide) or will this prevent the process?
phyllis says
Hi! I just read your blog and went into the kitchen and started two ferments – one with a kombucha mother which I had left over from making kombucha, and the other with
date vinegar that I am hoping is unpasteurized (I know that you’ve probably never
heard of date vinegar, but I found someone who makes it where I live). My questions:
1. what is the minimum-maximum time I should let it sit on the counter before trying it?
2. Do I know that it is ready just by tasting it?
3. In the wine-date vinegar mixture, I used about 3-4 cups of wine and 1/4 cup of date
vinegar. Was this too much vinegar? Will it still come out alright?
4. I understand that you can use a kombucha mother, but it is not as good as using
unpasteurized vinegar.’
5. Can I leave them on the counter in my kitchen or is it better to put it in a dark place?
6. I left some kombucha tea to ferment for about 8 days, and it has a sort of sweetness
but also a distinct vinegary taste. It’s now in the refrigerator. Is this what kombucha tea
is supposed to taste like?
Many thanks for your answers!
Best regards,
Phyllis
Amanda says
Hi Phyllis!
1. I would wait 3 weeks before trying a vinegar in warm weather and 4 in cooler weather.
2. Yes, but vinegar fermentation really does just take about 4 weeks, so you can go by that.
3. No, if anything, I would say you used too little. Erring on the side of too much is a better way to err when you’re talking acidity at the start of vinegar fermentation.
4. With the kombucha mother (and I hope something to acidify the liquid) you’ll end up with Kombucha (or at least something more microbial similar to kombucha than it is to vinegar). It will not actually be a true vinegar.
5. Meh. You can choose. Direct sunlight might not be the best thing, but they don’t need to be in the depths of your cupboard or anything.
6. Yes, kombucha is related to vinegar (via acetobacter at least) and very mature kombucha tastes very similar to vinegar, if not identical. They will be different on a microbial level, but the flavor of kombucha gets very vinegary over time. Most people look for the time when the balance between vinegar flavors and sweet flavors is right for them.
I hope that helps!
Amanda
Chris roles says
I love this site – thanks for the effort that goes into maintaining it. 🙂
I have a question on making wine vinegar – can I put grape juice with citric acid and ascorbic acid in with the wine? I recently started a batch of wine vinegar, using Solana Gold vinegar (local to NorCal.) This morning I found an open bottle of Welch’s grape juice in the fridge from several months ago. It doesn’t have HFCS, but it has the aforementioned acids on the ingredients list. Will either of them affect the vinegar-making process?
Laura Cherry says
I have made red wine vinegar a few times, and my current batch is finished but a little tart. It also keeps growing a new scoby or mother every time I take the old one out. I am storing it in a bottle I got from Crate and Barrel with a little flip top metal cap that’s not exactly air tight but not open to air either. I am also making white wine vinegar, which is in a cut glass vinegar bottle with a rubber and glass stopper. My question is, should I remove the scoby each time one grows? Should I try to put it in a different container?
Amanda says
Yes, I would remove the pellicle, or vinegar mother, each time. It will cause the vinegar to ferment quickly, which I personally don’t find leads to a superior product. You can definitely give them to a like minded friend or add them to the compost!
Pieter says
Insightful and inspiring information, thanks for the shared wisdom. I have a few litres of wine and started with about 5 litres (but only about 4 made it into the process) which I diluted with 2 litres of water (the wine is 14% alcohol so I wanted to dilute the alc. content) and added 500ml (1/2 litre) of vinegar that had the mother. (In South Africa so used another brand as it was easier to find than Braggs – though Braggs is available but difficult to obtain and double the price). I used a 10L plastic (food save) container and an aquarium pump to air it.
My question if you can please assist Amanda, is the mistake I made (I think?) was to “air” it for 4 weeks and on revision of your blog was only supposed to have done so for a week or so?
It looks like I have a layer of something white at the bottom and some pieces (of mother maybe?) white fluff floating around. My concern is there seems to be “dust-like” particles on the top.
It tastes a bit vinegary but more like wine. I feel that I should leave it now with the pump off for 2 or 3 weeks and see what happens but do you think I should just start the process over?
And one more thing, do I use the container with the stuff at the bottom or do you think i should clean it before starting over or with the new batch?
You’re welcome to come and taste if you’re in the area (Gauteng, South Africa) 🙂
thanks for all your info!
Shelly F. Cohen says
I have a bottle of rose wine that’s been in the fridge and is starting to smell like good vinegar all on its own. I’d like to use it to make a shrub (drinking vinegar) but I’m thinking it would be good to know the acidity to see if I really have vinegar or just bad wine. Any suggestions? Thanks.
Amanda says
Hi Shelly,
Yes! You can get wine pH strips and test the pH. Vinegar definitely leans very acidic (like 2.5) but anything under 4.0 I would consider safe. Anything 4.5 or under is technically safe, but there can be variations in how the strips read, so err on the side of caution and look for a pH of under 4.
Shelly F. Cohen says
Thank you!!
Jim says
One of the comments mentions that you could use old wine. Can you use wine that was opened 4 or 5 months ago?
Amanda says
If it’s not moldy or off smelling, I would use it, but honestly, I would think it would have turned to vinegar on its own after being opened for a few months. You might want to check the pH to see if time did the work for you.
Mona Houghton says
Question: After the first ‘mother’ shows up on top of the potion, does one take off this gelatinous film or stir it back into the fermenting wine? Someone said “this becomes the starter or mother.” Do I save the gelatinous stuff for future efforts or do I use some of this new vinegar I have just made? thanks.
Amanda says
You can use both, or skip the mother. The newer take on mothers is that they’re unnecessary and might even rush the process, resulting in a less interesting flavor profile in your final vinegar. You definitely want to use some of your final liquid in your next batch. It will inoculate and drop the pH appropriate at the start of fermentation.
johnnie utter says
I started a batch three days ago with Acetum red wine vinegar with mother. That was before I found you so I went and stirred it for the first time. Most recommend not disturbing. The Acetum just had three small flakes. I tasted it while stirring and it tasted good as far as I can tell The flakes appear to have gotten a little bigger and there was a little settlement near the bottom. Do you think it will be OK or should I start over?
paul says
Wat does bad wine vinegar taste/look like?
Mario Rivera says
Hi
Many thanks for the invaluable resource!
I have two questions:
1) Can I use wine vinegar fermented at home in this way, in the same way apple cider vinegar is used for its many health benefits? Are they same thing? Is the “mother-based” home fermentation the only important bit?
2) I’ve cumulated a fair amount of mothers in the jar where I ferment in the past 2 years. Can I eat some of them in my smoothies? I’ve read they should be fine and healthy.
Regards
Mario
Amanda says
Hi Mario,
Thanks for reading! To my knowledge, the health benefits of raw vinegar live much more in the realm of speculation than in proven science, but I am all for people eating what makes them feel good. So:
1) Yes, in theory. If you experience health benefits from raw apple cider vinegar, wine vinegar is in the same microbial camp so it’s within reason to think you’d experience the same thing.
2) You could put them in your smoothie, but again, I don’t know that they offer any particular benefits. They are not as microbially complex as say, a kombucha SCOBY or kefir grains.
In any case, I hope you continue to feel great from vinegar and that making vinegar on your own proves fun and fruitful!
Inci Jones says
Hi there, a quick question I found an old mason jar with some wine that I put away for vinegar-ing. But I’m not sure if it’s safe to consume at this point because it has been in the back of my cupboard for years.
I covered the mason jar with a paper towel then the inner seal, which I punched a hole in to give it air. It smells like mild vinegar. Is this still safe to consume? Thank you in advance – Inci
Amanda says
Measure the pH. Cheap pH strips can be purchased online or bought from your home-brew store. You want a pH below 4.0 (ideally closer to 3 or below).
If it’s below that threshold, it’s probably good! At the least you could use it as a starter for your next, larger batch.
Amanda
Pauline Rohrmann says
Hi,
Recently I tried a bottle of Glory Bee Artisan Fermented Honey, it was fabulous! However, $14.98 is a lot to pay for 8.45 oz. of vinegar, no matter how delicious it is. Have you ever fermented honey? Do you know anyone who has and would share their recipe.
Hope to hear from you soon :- )
Amanda says
Fermented honey is mead! If you add water to honey and stir vigorously for a couple days until bubbly, then put it under an airlock, you’ll have enough alcohol to call it mead in a couple weeks. Then decant it into a wide-mouthed container and follow the recipe in this post. In a month you’ll have fermented honey (aka vinegar)!
Cover the vessel with a tight lid once it’s fermented!
Kim in SD says
Hello! I had a batch going for about a month in a cupboard but had to throw out because it was attracting too many fruit flies. The flies had also made their way through the cheesecloth and into the liquid. Once I saw a larva and a fly in the liquid, I was done and knew I could never consume it even if I was lucky enough to pluck them out. Has anyone else had this problem? Can I cover with a loose lid? More and more layers of cheesecloth? I have to admit that I sorta cheaped out and only used 3 layers of cheesecloth and not the entire package. But I was anticipating big flies and not the little ones that were flying around. I live in San Diego, CA by the way about 5 miles inland. Thanks!
Amanda says
Ugh, yes, that is the grossest thing that can possibly happen in a ferment, IMO. Give me all shades of mold over a single fruit fly, thank you very much (I know this isn’t the hippiest of all opinions, but I’m with you! I’ve had it happen 2 times; once with a vinegar and once with a kombucha scoby hotel and bother were promptly moved to the compost pile!
A couple things: make sure that the cloth is fine weave but breathable. I generally use muslin or a regular kitchen napkin (cloth). Coffee filters also work in a pinch. Make sure the rubber band you use is tight and in good working order. Both times I had this issue, the rubber band dried out and broke off in a way that couldn’t be seen from the front. My remedy now is to use multiple rubber bands, or, to put the ring of a mason jar on tightly over the cloth. Happily, this hasn’t occurred again since I’ve been more vigilant, but man, was I freaked out and unhappy.
Best of luck for future batches!
Kim in SD says
Thanks for the quick reply. I’m wondering if I’d be able to do this at all. Living in a temperate climate, we don’t have AC and frequently leave the windows and doors open. Even with a tight-fitting, but breathable cloth “lid,” wouldn’t the smell attract flies? And though the flies won’t be able to get into the jar, they’d still be flying around, right? How do i deal with that?!?! Since i threw out the batch, the flies have disappeared. Where are they OTW? On a good note… the smell of the vinegar was great. It would have been a good batch! Thank you.
Ted says
So I have some mother about 3 years old in a Mason jar and I have about 4 cases of wine. I work in the wine industry and am always bringing home samples. I’ve mixed various varietals together (Cabernet, Merlot, Syrah, Grenache, Sangiovese, Montepulciano, etc) all in one bottle. So each bottle is a different mix. I want to make one giant batch of red wine vinegar in a tub, store in my basement and bottle as gifts to friends and family. If I was to empty all of these bottles into one tub, add my 3 year old mother and cover, will this work? What do you suggest? I want to make sure I do this properly as I may get only one crack at it. I also have lots of white wine and rose to make other vinegars. Please advise and dont leave out any details. Thank you!
Amanda says
Hi Ted,
I think I would skip the mother. Add 10% living vinegar from a source you trust instead, and focus on stirring. A new mother will form. I really love that you’re doing this! Make sure you have a nice secure, but fully breathable cover for whatever vessel you use.
Please report back. Such a lovely idea and a great way to prevent waste.
Larkin Faller says
I need to make a lot of vinegar for a special project. I have approximately 5 gallons of 15% “wine” as my test batch. If I were 2 quarts of Braggs as my starter, would that be enough? How often would I need to stir it in the beginning? And, is 60 degrees warm enough? How warm is too warm? How will I know when it is done?
Jean says
Such a great find! Thank you for your detailed instructions! I’m a vinegar making newbie, first batch of red wine vinegar in process. I’m a tad concerned because the mother [I used braggs with mother] that is forming after about 3-4 weeks is not floating on top as you mentioned, it’s at the bottom of the gallon mason jar. Should I leave it alone? Stir it? Or just keep praying? 😉