I bought a mother today!

Facetious

Moderated
http://hotchyx.com/

:nanner::nanner::nanner:​







A mother of vinegar is a thin film of slimy, gelatinous bacteria that encourages fermentation.








2 cups red wine to begin, plus 7 1/2 cups more over the next few weeks
1 cup filtered water
8-ounce jar of purchased vinegar mother
1-2 gallon earthenware crock or glass jar (ideally with a spigot)
A small square of cheesecloth

Instructions:

Combine 2 cups wine, the water and mother in the crock. Cover the crock with two layers of cheesecloth and secure the cloth with a rubber band around the neck of the crock.

crockwithcheesecloth

Store the crock in a dark, warm place (ideal temperature for vinegar is between 70-80 degrees). A kitchen cabinet that is not opened frequently should work well.

Let the vinegar sit a week, then over the course of the next week add 2 1/2 cups of wine to the vinegar on three different days (for a total of 7 1/2 more cups of wine). If a thin, web-like veil has formed on top of the liquid, try not to disturb it when you add the wine. This layer is good bacteria forming, a new mother so to speak. Consider using a funnel or turkey baster to add the wine slowly so the bacteria is not disturbed.

Leave the vinegar alone for around two months, although the real test of when vinegar is done is when it tastes good to you. You can steal little tastes while it ferments (which is why a spigot on your crock is ideal) to see how the vinegar is doing. If the vinegar takes on an aroma like nail polish, unfortunately this means it has gone bad and the only thing to do is start over.

When you declare the vinegar done, strain it through a coffee filter to remove any sediment and store it a sterilized glass bottle. You can also keep the vinegar in its crock and simply take straight from the crock as needed and continue to add wine (about a cup or so a week) to keep the vinegar continuously going.

Bacteria in the crock will multiply over time, creating new mothers that will be floating around. “Older” mothers that sink to the bottom and take up room in the crock can be fished out carefully with bare, clean hands.


:nanner:


bon appetit! :yummie:
 
One time I had a batch of homemade purple plum wine turn after bottling, I had sanitized everything properly, bottles were new and filtered the wine to perfection. I don't know what happen maybe temperature or some unseen bacteria off a plum but each bottle had one of these fleshy type jelly things in it, I usually bottle the wine and store it in a cold dark area, so bottles age and sometimes get passed by for older batches. On this occasion I happen to find the contamination and thought did I create new life :dunno: I swear it looked like flesh they put on burn victims, anyway as I was pouring out the wine I smelled a sweet vinegar smell, reminded me of red wine vinaigrette. So I sampled a drop & sure enough it was. Every now & then I pour a lil on a salad or on a Hoagie Mmm Delicious! :yummie: :goodpost:
 

PirateKing

█▀█▀█ █ &#9608
For a sec I thought it was a bloody stool. Perception can be a funny thing.
 

Facetious

Moderated
One time I had a batch of homemade purple plum wine turn after bottling, I had sanitized everything properly, bottles were new and filtered the wine to perfection. I don't know what happen maybe temperature or some unseen bacteria off a plum but each bottle had one of these fleshy type jelly things in it, I usually bottle the wine and store it in a cold dark area, so bottles age and sometimes get passed by for older batches. On this occasion I happen to find the contamination and thought did I create new life :dunno: I swear it looked like flesh they put on burn victims, anyway as I was pouring out the wine I smelled a sweet vinegar smell, reminded me of red wine vinaigrette. So I sampled a drop & sure enough it was. Every now & then I pour a lil on a salad or on a Hoagie Mmm Delicious! :yummie: :goodpost:


What residual sugar levels are you generally shooting for?

Mmmm Plum wine! :yummie: I imagine it tasting something like that VS (Very Special) Codeine laced Wild Cherry cough syrup Rx I had as a kid. :yummie: I bet that stuff makes for a great natural aphrodisiac ... it doesn't cause you to have the runs, does it? ;)
 
Well depends on if I'm making a dry wine or an almost brandy wine, I usually check with a hydrometer and the oldest batch I have from 2001 was tested at 28% Alcohol, but remember homemade wine varies alot, my grandma passed me down the recipe from her great grandmother and it works with almost any fruit or anything with seeds pretty much, it is really good tasting and one of my buddies thats a chef at a high end restaurant loves it too, I gave him a bottle to try and he came back and bought a case! I never had the runs after eating it but im sure if it happen I would of known the cause :D I also made a apple cider vinegar by accident too, I was gonna give my buddies a bottle of green apple wine that tasted like jolly ranchers & it was around christmas so I put some raw cinnamon sticks in it, turned out he saved it for a few years and whala
 

Facetious

Moderated
That's a really cool craft you have going there, you don't see very many traditions being passed down these days (the good ones anyway :p), it's cool that you've taken interest in an activity enjoyed by your grandparents! Do you ferment with the natural individual fruit yeasts or do you Sº2 the fruit and inoculate your own preferred yeast strains?
Have you ever stopped a fermentation out of the desire or preference of retaining some of the natural sugars in the wine?
What about fermenters, are you partial to glass or SS?
Have you ever processed a batch of fruit wine that slightly effervesced or showed off signs of a slight petillance? That's the bomb, huh? :glugglug:

Have you tried your luck with pomegranates? :yummie:
I saw a production/ bonded winery pomegranate wine for the first time on the fine wine aisle of a local gourmet grocery store in my area... I was tempted to put it in my cart, but upon reading the label, I discovered that there was other fruit juices included in the deal ... what percentage of the wine was from actual pomegranate juice, I don't know.

It is often said of, by and for micro producers: In order to achieve consistency and quality in the finished product, the craftsman should handle the operations as minimally as possible... would you agree?
 

LukeEl

I am a failure to the Korean side of my family
If you make some with apricot send me a case.
 
Now we know what sams mother looks like.
If we ever meet in person, and you talk about my mother like that to my face, I'll beat you to within an inch of your life. Lucky for you, you are too chicken-shit to say that to me in person. Hide behind your screen little man! You're utter lack of social intelligence shines brightly.
 

Hondarobot

Banned
If we ever meet in person, and you talk about my mother like that to my face, I'll beat you to within an inch of your life. Lucky for you, you are too chicken-shit to say that to me in person. Hide behind your screen little man! You're utter lack of social intelligence shines brightly.

How would anyone have the opportunity to say anything to your face? Does anyone here know who you are?

Jeff Anderson, Minneapolis, MN
 

Facetious

Moderated
[... one of my buddies thats a chef at a high end restaurant loves it too, I gave him a bottle to try and he came back and bought a case!
Cool! Ya gotta love that tax free income any way you can get it! :thumbsup: :rofl2:
I never had the runs after eating it but im sure if it happen I would of known the cause :D
:baconsalt: :D

I also made a apple cider vinegar by accident too, I was gonna give my buddies a bottle of green apple wine that tasted like jolly ranchers & it was around christmas so I put some raw cinnamon sticks in it, turned out he saved it for a few years and whala
How do you, the amateur bootlegger extract the juices from apples, do you have a centrifuge or some kind of press contraption... or, do you get all of your buddies together and have an apple stomping fest? Which is it, Mr. T? :D
 
If we ever meet in person, and you talk about my mother like that to my face, I'll beat you to within an inch of your life. Lucky for you, you are too chicken-shit to say that to me in person. Hide behind your screen little man! You're utter lack of social intelligence shines brightly.



:1orglaugh So much for the ignore feature tough guy. Next time I pass by a trailer park in the inbred regions of the south I will be sure to stop by and tell you a lot more than that to your face and your bacteria producing mothers.
 
Next time I pass by a trailer park in the inbred regions of the south I will be sure to stop by and tell you a lot more than that to your face and your bacteria producing mothers.
You Might want to turn around and head west. Colorado to be precise. Here... I'll help you find my house.

mybrickcottage.jpg
 

BCT

Pucker Up Butter Cup.
I thought it was a nasty Kool-Aid shit there for a second :1orglaugh
 

Facetious

Moderated
If we ever meet in person, and you talk about my mother like that to my face, I'll beat you to within an inch of your life. Lucky for you, you are too chicken-shit to say that to me in person. Hide behind your screen little man! You're utter lack of social intelligence shines brightly.
It was an unprovoked attack on your mum, does he really need to say it again? ... and stop with this within an inch of his life crap... jus take it and enjoy the tax break. Really, there's no need to put additional stress and strain on our hospital ICUs... finish the job you start ... it's an MC credo!

:elaugh:
 

Facetious

Moderated
You Might want to turn around and head west. Colorado to be precise. Here... I'll help you find my house.

mybrickcottage.jpg


Nice, I like the brown toned bricks! ... the same 'ol reddish one's are just sorta stale looking, IMO.:thumbsup:
All in all, it's a nice looking place, but it would be better if you chopped down some of the surrounding trees (not all, but some)...it's way too shady. A sunny place is a happier place! :D

Also, You call that a ''cottage"?
 
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