Brewing Vinegar

[Loyalist Dave]

A couple years ago I made a mead that topped out at 22.5% Final gravity was .992

THAT was one for the record books, for sure. :shocked2: If it wasn't you Clyde, I'd say the person miffed reading the hydrometer and adjusting for particulates, but in your case, you must tell me what yeast that was! Spectacular Results! :applause:

I normally play around with yeast strains that at least go back to the time period, IF I'm going for something "historic", and shy away from strains that have been laboratory developed for higher alcohol tolerance. So...like try doing a mead with an ale yeast like Edme or Coopers'. :grin: Hey,... wild honey, and a yeast cultured from a wild strain, and get around 6% abv. Kinda harsh on the back of the throat when drinking. :haha: But what do you expect from Viking Mead ?

Now bottle it and let it age a year, and it's a very different, much more pleasant product.

LD

 

[coloradoclyde]

you must tell me what yeast that was! Spectacular Results!

Premier Cuvee from Red Star. It tops out about 24% when fermenting pure honey, if you treat it right and feed it staggered doses of yeast nutrient....I think I gave it some oxygen in the beginning too....

It is a very clean and dry yeast with a high alcohol tolerance...That can pose a problem when back sweetening or bottling, if you bottle too son it's real easy to make a sparkling product. But, if you want the most alcohol you can get with a clean profile and a dry finish, then it's the bomb...

 

[coloradoclyde]

I normally play around with yeast strains that at least go back to the time period,

Premier Cuvee and Lavlin EC-1118 are both Prisse de Mousse strains but I don't seem to quite get the same results.
They are a French strain, I don't know haw far back it goes but knowing the
French, 100's of years.

Here is a yeast selection cheat sheet. http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/strains.asp

 

[coloradoclyde]

Now I need to learn how to make vinegar...Guess I'll start here...
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct...s/192136.pdf&usg=AOvVaw3rJg0W4ognKP-poEwnn09q
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct...s/192135.pdf&usg=AOvVaw3x9QhhTPTeOG1GUbWzxV0A

 

[NeilMacleod]

Here are some cultures if you want to get specific. https://www.homebrewing.org/Vinegar-Making-Consumables_c_388.html

 

[Ames]

If it tastes bad when its done you could always use it to wipe between shots. :rotf:

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Premier Cuvee from Red Star. It tops out about 24% when fermenting pure honey, if you treat it right and feed it staggered doses of yeast nutrient....I think I gave it some oxygen in the beginning too....

AH so you conditioned it..., well done..., as I've heard of folks using Cuvee, but they never got over say 18%, but they were using grape juice and fructose mixture as well. They tried, and got a desert wine that packed a punch. :shocked2:

I used to get a lot of folks who would brew up an ale and think they were going to get 12% abv using a basic, top fermenting yeast. They'd misread the hydrometer, and then they hadn't taken a final reading. So they'd be puzzled at the sweetness in their ale, and sometimes they'd get flying bottles since they had actually gotten "stuck" and had not taken a final reading... of course when they racked the carboy into a bottling bucket and then bottled.....BLAM after adding that O2.

LD

 

[coloradoclyde]

Yep! yeast is a living breathing organism...It's a lot like people...The amount of work (alcohol)you get out of them depends on what you feed them, how you treat them, their environment, nutrition, health, etc. etc..

When I first started brewing and was using extracts, I was puzzled by my high final gravities. Then I learned that extracts contain a lot of unfermentable sugars.
Some yeasts and bacteria can produce enzymes to consume these sugars...if they have what they need.
An example related to this topic is that the "Mother" can consume the acetic acid that it produced if it has enough oxygen.

Yeast and bacteria are fascinating creatures.

I've heard that Premier Cuvee makes a good bread yeast, as do other wine yeasts. Makes sense since the wine region is also known for it's bread...I haven't tried it though....I've only used ale yeasts so far....

 

[Hairy Clipper]

Since you mentioned yeast & bread ... My grandmother would make bread by leaving the milk & sugar out for an hour or two before mixing it with flour to make her dough. She captures the yeast that is airborne in the open milk container and it would raise as good as packaged dry yeast.

 

[coloradoclyde]

Was the bread sour like sourdough?

Was it unpasteurized milk?

 

[Hairy Clipper]

I do not remember the bread tasting sour.

The milk was delivered by a nearby dairy and this was the 1950's and I remember two vertical black lines on the side of the glass bottles with the word "pasteurized" between them.

 

[coloradoclyde]

Interesting....I'm a long time brewer but never made vinegar. How do you know the acid level of the final product?
Do you filter or distill the final product?

Silly me...I didn't realize that distilled vinegar wasn't distilled.... but, rather was made from distilled alcohol.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

I do not remember the bread tasting sour.

No I wouldn't expect it to unless it had time to build up lactic acid. NOW if she had left the dough overnight, and then added some sugar to it and kneaded it again, she might have come up with a soured-dough.

LD

 

[coloradoclyde]

I just don't see milk and sugar being left out for an hour or two having enough yeast to raise bread.
I think grandma put yeast in when no one was looking.

 

[NeilMacleod]

The industry today cheats on sourdough and just adds vinegar. However if you use the natural vinegar with the enzymes and leave for a couple days then you have nice sourdough, I just use a tsp, the yeast works with the vinegar and you dont have to wait for the wild yeasts to maybe do the job.

 

[Hairy Clipper]

Here I am learning more about bread baking.

 

[Hairy Clipper]

It is possible she did, but, I never saw a yeast packet or jar of yeast at her house.

 

[coloradoclyde]

Interesting.... :hmm:

 

[NeilMacleod]

It was common to let dough open to the air to accumulate yeast, the other option people had was get their yeast from a brewer and use the dregs.

 

[coloradoclyde]

It's the 2 hour thing that is rattling around in my brain......Now if the dough was left to rise for 24 hours or so....Well, then ok.