Making Vinegar.....Time....Time...Time

Anyone can make vinegar....anyone. All you need is wine, or juice, a vessel and time...and lots of it. I have many vinegars started, red wine, apple cider, rose, quince, white wine....and more to come. It really is a simple recipe to follow and I will include the way to "jump start" your vinegars.


You will need a crock, something that is non-reactive, that has a loose fitting lid. Wash it really well and allow to air dry. Next, decide what kind of vinegar you want to make. We will make apple cider and red wine vinegar in these recipes.

Take the apple cider, preferably fresh and non-pasteurized, and pour it into the dry crock. Cover with a lid...and place in a warm place to start the fermentation process. On top of the fridge is a good place. The juice will start bubble, foam, etc, ...all you need to do is let it go. It will form what is called a "mother" on top. This IS what you want. The mother is the "mold" that is turning that juice into vinegar. You can eventually harvest the mothers and stir them into other juice and wine to jump start them going toward vinegar.

The mother is starting to form

For red wine vinegar take any red wine you have, new bottles, partial bottles, "old bottles" and place it in a clean crock. Now you can cover this wine and allow to sit in a warm area, just like the apple cider. But a way to help jump start your red wine is to stir in a little white wine vinegar to the juice. For 2 quarts of wine you can stir in 1/2 cup white wine vinegar. This will aid in speeding up the process. Cover the wine and allow to sit in a warm place. Again look for the "mother" to form. Whenever you have left over wine pour it into the crock and continue to age your vinegar.

The mother fully formed

Your vinegar will continue to mature and develop in flavor over time. You will smell odors of "nail polish remover" or something like that. Don't worry. Let it keep going. Unless you vinegar grows green mold all over it, let it keep going. You can keep straining out the mothers and the vinegar will continue to produce them. Keep tasting your vinegar. This is important. After the viengar has produced a few mothers, place the vinegar in a cool place and continue to age. When the flavor is where you want it, start using it. It is still 'alive' but it is fine. If this freaks you out place vinegar in a pot and bring to 140F. DO NOT BOIL. From here you can bottle it and enjoy it.