Make Vinegar Yourself – That’s How it Works

Mother of Vinegar – the base of your homemade vinegar

The basis for your homemade vinegar is the so-called mother of vinegar, which you make first.

• For the production of the mother of vinegar, you need unheated, unfiltered organic vinegar as well as water and honey. It is important that the organic vinegar has not been heated, as heating will kill the important vinegar bacteria.
• Pour about 200 ml of organic vinegar into a large glass jug or other glass containers. Add the same amount of water and three tablespoons of honey to the organic vinegar.
• Mix the honey, the water, and the organic vinegar well together before you close the jar so that it is air-permeable. Coffee filters or kitchen paper, for example, are suitable for this, which you attach with a large rubber band or something similar.
• Finally, place the glass on a window sill or another bright and warm place. The optimal temperature is between 25 and 30 degrees.
• After about 14 days, streaks form on the mixture and then it usually takes about four weeks until you get a usable mother of vinegar. You can easily recognize the right time by the fact that a relatively solid layer of mucus has formed from the streaks. Now you can start the actual vinegar making.
• Alternatively, you can also get the ready-made mother of vinegar from specialist retailers.

How to make your own vinegar

After the mother of vinegar is ready, start making your homemade vinegar.

• For the homemade vinegar, in addition to the mother of vinegar, you need a wine that is as sulfur-free as possible. Whether it is red or white wine is completely irrelevant. If the wine has more than 10% alcohol, dilute it a little.
• For every liter of wine, there are 100 milliliters of mother of vinegar.
• Put both substances in a bulbous vessel, which can be made of glass or ceramic.
• Seal the container with a coffee filter or kitchen paper so that air can still get in, but no dirt gets into the vinegar.
• The storage place should be about 25 degrees warm.
• Shake the jar once every two to three days to increase the oxygen supply.
• After about two to three weeks, try whether the vinegar suits your taste.

Bottle the vinegar and let it mature

Once the vinegar tastes the way you envision it, bottle it.

• To do this, first let the liquid pass through a fine-meshed sieve, in which you also place a coffee filter.
• You then bottle your vinegar and store it in a dark, cool place for about another three months.
• After the vinegar is finally finished, refine the aroma with herbs or garlic, for example, depending on your taste.
• Tip: Cleverly refined and in a chic bottle, the homemade vinegar is also a great gift and something different than the obligatory bouquet of flowers.