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Acid Liquors

Vinegar. (Impure Dilute Acetic Acid.) Vinegar is made by the oxidation of alcohol, either directly or through the medium of a ferment, or by the distillation of wood; the latter is known as pyroligneous acid. Any substance capable of fermentation or any containing alcohol is suitable for making vinegar. It is made in the slow way from wine, cider, beer, sugar, or honey vegetables; in the quick way from a spirit preand water, whiskey and water, juice of plants and pared for the purpose.

Slow Method of Making Vinegar.

This is the process usually adopted in the small scale. The "wash," as any weak alcoholic liquor is called, should be weak, from 5 to 10 per cent. of alcohol is best, too strong a liquor will ferment very slowly; the strength is best judged by the taste. The temperature should be from 74° to 86° Fahr. Sour beer, wine, or cider are better than good liquors. The addition of sugar, honey, or other sweet matter with a view of strengthening the vinegar is not to be recommended, as it renders the vinegar liable to spoil. Ordinary fermented liquors are quite alcoholic enough. The best ferment is vinegar; an old cask in which good vinegar has been kept is the best to ferment in. Other ferments are used, as bread soaked in brewer's yeast, sour dough, dough of wheat and rye flour soaked in cream of tartar and vinegar; all these are used in small quantity, a few ounces to a barrel of wash. Vinegar made with them is more apt to spoil. The more ferment present the quicker the process.

The wash is put into the cask, which is best painted black in order to absorb the sun's rays when the weather is cool; the bung is left out, the bung-hole covered with a piece of slate, and in about 4 weeks the acetification is complete. The lower the temperature the slower the change.

To Purify Vinegar.

After all the mothers are deposited, draw it off into a vessel filled with beech-shavings, and let it stand in a cool place until clear. Vinegar is apt to be infested with flies (Musca cellaris), and eels (Vibrio aceti). These may be killed by passing it through a coiled tube dipped in boiling water.

Vinegar (especially when weak) if exposed to the air becomes thick or mothery, and deposits a mucilaginous substance; the vinegar becomes weak and mouldy as this change goes on.

When vinegar is barrelled, a pint of spirits should be added to each barrel to secure its keeping. It should be kept in a cool place. Varieties of Vinegar.

Wine Vinegar, made from wine, contains citric and tartaric acid, and a small portion of acetic ether, which communicates an agreeable flavor.