Specialist Questions - Spirits, Essential Oils, Vinegar

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  • Question 15

    annie | US, 31.12.2024 01:25:20

    i am making red wine vinegar with leftover wine. it has been sitting for 3 months at 68 degrees. It has formed multiple mothers. (one or two sank and then a new one formed.) the ph is 3.6. but my vinegar has very little flavor. is there anyway to boost the flavor?

    Reply
    Doesn't have so much an impact on flavor, but the optimum temperature to run a vinegar fermentation is at 28 °C (82.4 °F).

    After around three months, however, a large proportion of the alcohol originally contained has evaporated. Hence, the acidity will be quite low, causing a dull taste. The pH value of a "normal" vinegar is something between 2.5 and 3.0. Since this is a 10-logarithmic scale, 3.6 is far away from that, despite the small difference in numbers. As a matter of fact, the acidity of your vinegar is not strong enough. To improve this issue, add distilled alcohol, e.g., vodka. Furthermore you need nutrients, therefore you should also add apple juice in a small portion.

    Because of the low acidity it doesn't make sense to try an infusion "to boost flavor", this procedure wouldn't remove the dull taste / smell.

    Explaining everything in detail here would go far beyond the scope of this answer, so I can only recommend that you read our book “The Artisanal Vinegar Marker’s Handbook” (see https://www.making-vinegar.com/books/). If you have any further questions that go beyond the content of the book, please do not hesitate to contact us.

  • Question 14

    Amy | Pacific Northwest (US), 04.10.2024 22:30:09

    I began my apple vinegar on 9/8, strained out the apples on 9/15, and at this point it tastes like a light vinegar but I wonder if I could/should let it go another week or so. Is there any chance it’s at its peak right now? Could another week ruin it or will it just get more vinegary? How do I know?

    Thanks -

    Amy Manny

    Reply

    I suppose you describe an infusion of apples in vinegar, not a vinegar fermentation. If it is actually an infusion, you can leave the apples even longer, depending on your personal taste. To enhance acidic taste, or rather to get a strong vinegar, add white (distilled) vinegar with a higher acididty.

  • Question 22

    Robert | Medetirian, 17.01.2024 16:32:30
    What are the ingredient of Digestif drinks that affect the stomach? How and why these ingredient affect the stomach whereas other liquors and alcoholic drinks such as apéritifs affect the throat? How these specific ingredients work specifically on the throat?
    Reply
    ad 1) Herbs in a positive way, undesired fermentation by-products in a negative way, e.g., nausea is induced by ethylacetate, among other substances, and after having consumed too much alcohol.
    ad 2) Herbs ingredients are healthy, good for your stomach, whereas pungent smelling drinks affect the throat, caused by acetaldehyde.

    ad 3) To avoid this issue, just don't drink alcoholic beverages with a pungent smell.

  • Question 13

    LS | USA, 18.12.2023 04:19:50

    Hi! I have your book and love it!

    Im in the process of fermenting some satsuma juice and have noticed a bit of a yeasty smell and off flavor. im wondering if the yeast is stressed and what i can do to fix it.

    i started by juicing satsuma and grapefeuit, adding the juice and pulp to a sanitized glass jar. i added honey, about a 1/3 to the amount of juice, and then hydrated some red star wine yeast to mix in.

    fermentation was great for first few days but now im on day 5 and it seems fermentation has slowed way down. i know honey is microbial so this could contribute to slower fermentation times, but the smell and taste make me think its a yeast problem.

    would you recommend that i add more fruit juice, potentially more yeast, or just wait and continue to stir to release CO2 and hope for the best?

    I did not take a hydrometer measure at the beginning of fermentation. I appreciate your help!

    Reply
    Thank you!
    :)

    If after yeast addition the fermentation has strongly started after 24 hours at latest, everything should be in order. Your desired yeast type has taken over and killed other (unwanted) strains. It's normal behavior if fermentation speed decreases over time. Having said that, to notice this effect after 5 days already, is usually too early. But this behavior also depends on the volume of the fermenting batch. With not more than about 4 liters (1 gallon), it should nevertheless be in order, whereas with the tenfold of this volume, there shouldn't be a noticable difference yet.

    After a successful fermentation start, yeasty smell and off flavor is caused by the active yeast strain. Unfortunately, even some cultivated yeast strains have this issue. I hope this is not the case here, I've never heard anything like that with Red Star brand products, but who knows. In any case, it cannot be lack of nutrients, satsuma juice contains more than sufficient of that.

    BTW, fermenting honey by adding yeast to a honey-water-solution (or honey-juice-mixture) is normally trouble-free, especially, if the fermentation has already successfully started.

  • Question 21

    Amateur backyardigan | Arkansas, 30.06.2023 03:38:51

    Made a mash of 50% cracked corn 50% sweet grain. Checked at 5 days and hydrometer showed .990 so I decided to run 5 gal of mash. Discarded 250 ml head and next jar tastes horrible and only proofs at 90. Suggestions?

    Reply

    It seems the alcohol content is rather low, so not much alcohol has formed by fermentation. Maybe the starch wasn't properly turned into sugar and / or the alcoholic fermentation didn't perform well. Check the ratio of starch - sugar with iodine tincture, analyze the alcohol content of your mash.

  • Question 12

    Tickled pickler | USA , 24.06.2023 16:13:22

    Can you send English instructions on how to use the pectinase?

    Reply
    I can't speak for products of other brands, here are the instructions for product "Verflüssiger Spezial" (company: Oestreich GmbH, Germany):

    drupes & berries: 5 - 10 ml / hl (hl = 100 liters)
    pome: 10 - 15 ml / hl
    jerusalem artichoke: 20 - 50 ml / hl


  • Question 11

    rodrigo | spain, 28.02.2023 11:25:23

    the total alcohol was too high at around 7%ABV so the bacteria stopped working once they got close to 6.5% acidity?

    seems odd since generators say they can go to 12%). I have successfully made vinegar to 6% before but never tried higher.
    Reply

    No. Even for non-specialized vinegar bacteria (the "good" ones) is 7 %ABV not too high. BUT: It's also important to consider the so-called "total concentration". This is the sum of acidity (in %) and alcohol concentration (% ABV). If this value

    is too high, even a lower alcohol content may cause troubles. To be save, take care the total concentration is not higher than

    something about 10 to 12.

  • Question 20

    mario | italy, 27.02.2023 11:28:30

    I bought 1kg of dry roots on the link you gave me, for now I will try to make gentian-apple brandy, next year I will try to

    make pure root gentian brandy, I tried to ask here in Italy for the sale of roots fresh from those who make them, but they told me that for a large one they must be ordered first… I just wanted to ask you: do the dried roots I bought have to be finely chopped before they are added to the mash? or can I leave them as they are?
    Reply

    They are already chopped, so they're ready to use.

  • Question 20

    linda | usa, 27.02.2023 11:21:50

    I'm wondering if the Leonardo can distill both essential oils and spirits?

    Reply

    As extensively described in the online-shop, the type Leonardo is only for hydrosols and essential oils. If you want to produce, or rather distill, both, essential-oils/hydrosols and alcohol, the type Deluxe would be perfect.

  • Question 19

    Emerita | Venezuela , 15.10.2022 19:13:21

    Hello, I hope You are well. A question: I distilled oregano, and I obtained essential oil in several containers. I Left it in the containers for more that a month and as can be seed in the photography, there are many drops of the oil disperse in the bottle, Why is this happening? Thanks You very much for your attention.

    IMG_20221015_142414.jpg
    Reply

    The oil drops stick on the wall because of adhesive forces and surface tension effects. Just strongly twist the bottle along its
    vertical axis back and forth, as thoroughly described in our book.

    Having said that, in general, colored oil bubbles look much bigger than they are, if they do not flow up to the top after twisting. These bubbles are even too small to be soaked up by a syringe with attached hypodermic needle.


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