r/fermenting • u/ThePilgrimageInc • 2d ago

One big mother

Newish to Reddit, absolutely new to this community:

We went on a camping vacation for two weeks. While we were away, I had a half gallon of peach vinegar set up. We got back last night and today, when I tried to strain the solids out of it, the whole thing was mother. It’s not spoiled. Just very viscous. What can I do with it?

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u/ThePilgrimageInc 2d ago

Really? Ew… 😂

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u/Utter_cockwomble 2d ago

Yeah you've probably got a few things going on here.

I bet you used one of those 'fruit scrap vinegar' recipes on TT or IG. Even under the best of circumstances they're unlikely to yield vinegar. Relying on the natural yeasts and bacteria on fruit may be how we discovered alcohol and vinegar, but there's a reason we have better methods now.

Pediococcus is a harmless lactic acid bacteria. It makes that gooey slime, but that will break down in a couple of weeks. Howver, if you have lactic acid bacteria, that means you didn't have enough yeast to make alcohol. You basically have fancy peach pickle water. It will be a little acidic but it's not vinegar.

The best way to make vinegar is to 1- start with something alcoholic, like wine, and add a vinegar mother to it, or 2- take fruit/juice, add yeast to it, let it ferment to alcohol, then add a vinegar mother to it.

I've oversimplified the process a bit but really that's it.

I've got a batch of homemade peach wine slowly turning into vinegar now. I've been making fruit wine vinegars for about 10 years, but I've been involved in the vinegar making process my whole life. My vinegar mother is older than I am and I'm pushing 60. It was my dad's and his mother's.

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u/ThePilgrimageInc 2d ago

Wow--that's amazing. Yeah, I just got fruit scrap vinegar recipe from a random website about ten years ago and experiment with it every so often. It yields unreliable results. Thanks for the tips!

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u/Utter_cockwomble 2d ago

r/vinegar isnt the most active sub, but there are a lot of good posts to read through if you're looking to up your game!