Ken Vale wrote:
Johnny Mc wrote:
Anybody know how to make Balsamic Vinegar?

Yes you can make a Balsamic STYLE Vinegar, you need a red wine
(prefferably one from Modena, Italy; it is one of those regional
style
things),

I believe Balsamic vinegar is made from white grape (Trebbiano) juice.

some red wine vingar mother (that would be the bacteria
culture, again find one from Modena) and carboy to convert it in
(some
websites sell a speical bottle for the job, but you probably won't
need
it, if you can find a galon sized carboy all the better). By
searching
Google you can find some websites that talk about it, most wine
stores
will order in Vinegar Mother for you (they don't often stock it).


I understand the process to be, crush the grapes (usually late harvest
grapes), run off the free run and heat it to concentrate the must. It
is then aged for 12 years or more in progressively smaller barrels made
of different types of wood. I think oak, cherry, chestnut, ash and
mulberry are usually used but each maker may have their own preference.


It's kind of like a solera system where some of the vinegar from the
smallest barrel is bottled and the barrel is filled from the next
largest. That barrel is then filled from the next largest and so on
until the largest barrel is filled from freshly boiled must.

I think the largest barrel really contains the yeast and bacteria to
convert the sugar to alcohol and then the alcohol to acid, but some
makers may do this in tanks before it hits the barrels. The rest of the
barrel regime is done to concentrate the vinegar further. Fluctuating
temperatures help this along so the barrels a traditionally stores in
attics rather than cellars.

BTW, this is from reading, I've never made it but am interested in the
process since I really like good Balsamic.


Andy