Vinnie? Is that you? (the possibility of vinegar)

[AsharaDayne]

I recently brewed a batch of graf from apple, pear, and pineapple juice. It was rather sour, so I decided to try and make vinegar from part of it. I found that one method for making cider vinegar is just to leave the cider out in the open for a bunch of time. Never a man to shy away from the simplest solution, I tried that. The graf clocks in at 7.8% ABV.

Well it has been almost a month and as you can see from the picture attached (sorry for the quality), some kind of critter definitely got a foothold in there... I'm curious what it might be.
There's some off-white foam/gunk on top and something like trub in the bottom. When I started to move the bottle, the foam cap started dissolving and dropping, so I opted for letting it rest a little more.

Of course it's graf not cider, and the cider part is almost half pineapple juice, not to mention the spices I added, so who knows how far a cider vinegar recipe applies here. Anyhow, I'll try to keep an eye on it and update if anything interesting happens. I know it's kind of tangential to our main passion, but we're an open-minded bunch aren't we

 

[GFHomebrew]

Add that to ya chippies may be a great idea or food poisoning .

I did I cider ages ago was actually the last cider I did I added pineapple juice in there and some oak chips I was going for an oak aged traditional cider anyhow it went vinegary too. I'm guessing it's a type of bacteria. I let that sit for a couple of months as is it was drinkable but had that sour vinegar back bite.

I think it's the pineapple juice either it's the little critters in it or some compound in it.

I did make a great pineapple cider btw two pineapples juiced with a bunch of apples and 2 lemons I had a great deal going with local fruit shop to pick up all their seconds be it strawberries pineapples pears or apples.

Yep I got carried away with it and haven't done one since.

 

[AsharaDayne]

yeah the graf is a bit on the sour side, but not vinegary, just lightly sour... I'm hoping it will mellow out or something.

Wow two lemons and it really tasted nice? Not to acidic/sour?

I'm thinking it can hardly be something harmful. I mean if it was someting bad it would smell bad, I figure. Anyhow, I'll let it do whatever it's doing and see. I'm certainly not going to chug the bottle just yet.

 

[GFHomebrew]

yeah the graf is a bit on the sour side, but not vinegary, just lightly sour... I'm hoping it will mellow out or something.

Wow two lemons and it really tasted nice? Not to acidic/sour?

I'm thinking it can hardly be something harmful. I mean if it was someting bad it would smell bad, I figure. Anyhow, I'll let it do whatever it's doing and see. I'm certainly not going to chug the bottle just yet.

Yep 21 Lt 2 lemons maybe that's why was so sour at least dropped ph I guess pineapple would do the same.

 

[jmcnamara]

Have you talked to my cousin? He may be able to help you out of your predicament

 

[AsharaDayne]

a movie just got added to my watch list.

 

[AsharaDayne]

Well, I've let this go for a bit, strained and pasteurized... as far as I can tell, it's not vinegar. It doesn't smell like it, just smells "yeasty", and it doesn't seem very acidic.
So I'll dump it. For the rest of the graf, (about 6L), I just purchased some (red) mother-of-vinegar which I dumped into a bucket with it. Covered with some cloth that should keep out anything that doesn't belong there, and we'll see what comes out, in a bit.

 

[AsharaDayne]

we'll see what comes out, in a bit.

Well what came out was a bucketful of mold... I'd read that vinegar takes a lot of time and likes very warm temps, so I've let it sit next to the radiator for a few months. Didn't turn out so well. Turns out making vinegar isn't that easy. Not that it's a goal of mine, but it might be a cool option for salvaging something out of insatisfactory brews.