Vinegar: What is it and How is it Made?

Vinegar finds its way into foods that we eat every day: pickles, marinades, salad dressing, condiments, on our potato chips, and even our fried fish and chips. We've experienced vinegar since we were children, but what exactly is it? There are so many different kinds that it can get a little overwhelming.

Vinegar

Quite simply, vinegar is an acidic liquid mixture of water and acetic acid (also known as ethanoic acid). This acid is made by the fermentation of ethanol (more commonly known as drinking alcohol). In a bottle of vinegar that you'd buy from the supermarket, the concentration of acetic acid is commonly about 8%, but the vinegar used in pickling has about 10% more. Natural vinegars also contain other acids such as citric and tartaric acid. Vinegar has been around for a long time and was most likely discovered when ancient wines fermented accidentally. In fact, it is from this that we get the name: vin aigre, meaning "sour wine" in Old French.

How is it made?

As we've said, vinegar is made from the natural fermentation or oxidation of ethanol by acetic bacteria. These bacteria consume the ethanol and give off the acetic acid. Commercial vinegar can be made one of two ways: by quick fermentation or natural fermentation. The natural method allows the bacteria to replace the ethanol with acetic acid over a period of weeks or months as their colony of bacteria grow. The quick method is to take a colony of these bacteria, add it to the ethanol and water mixture, and pump air into the mixture to encourage quick oxygenation. This method allows the vinegar to be produced in as short a time as one or two days.

Different Varieties

In order to produce vinegar, first you must have ethanol. This ethanol can be produced in a number of natural ways in the form of wine, cider, beer, fermented fruit juices, or alternately it can be produced synthetically from natural gas and oil. Each of these methods produces a different distinct flavor of vinegar, which is why there are so many different ones on the shelves today.

MaltVinegar

By malting barley (turning the starch of the grain into maltose), a special ale can be brewed from the barley. This ale is then turned into malt vinegar by aging it. This vinegar is typically dark brown and is served in traditional English cooking with Fish and Chips. It is most famous in this use.

Wine Vinegar

Made from either white or red wine, this vinegar is very popular in Mediterranean cooking. Red wine vinegar is particularly famous today because of the popularity of red wine vinegarette, a salad dressing. High quality wine vinegars are aged within wooden containers for added flavor and are made from expensive fine wines. Fruit wines can also make excellent vinegars which maintain some of the flavor of the fruits involves. Raspberry vinegar is an example of one of these. Rice wine vinegars are also produced by Asian countries. These come in red, white, and black varieties and are popular with cooking and, in Japan, for sushi production.

Cider Vinegar

Reported to have health benefits, this vinegar has become so popular that it has been sold in pill form. It is stronger in acidity than other vinegars and because of this it tends to burn the throat unless diluted properly. It is made from alcoholic cider which is made from apple juice.

BalsamicVinegar

This aromatic and aged vinegar is made in Italy from the concentrated juices of white grapes. It is treated as the finest of vinegars and is often aged within fine wooden containers. An official balsamic vinegar should be aged for 12 to 25 years. Commercial balsamic vinegars are often red wine vinegars with added white grape juice and caramel. Balsamic vinegar is very dark and very acidic, though often mixed with sweet substances which make it seem less strong.

Distilled Vinegar

Vinegar can also be produced to have no particular flavoring besides the acetic acid itself. This solution is colorless and used in medical, laboratory, and cooking situations. It is also used commonly for pickling.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malt_vinegar#Malt