Bad Beer? Make Some Malt Vinegar!

Everyone has a bad batch or two a year, that is just the way of things. Do not fret though, for there is something you can do with it - turn it in to vinegar! I love fish and chips but it is an empty meal without the right vinegar to compliment it. Learn how to use your sour beer to make enough malt vinegar to last you a lifetime after the jump.

The process is simple; find some alcoholic beverage that you will not drink and let time and oxygen take its course. Better yet, you can help it along the way with a mother or some unfiltered vinegar, giving the beasties a head start in the right direction. For this batch we will be using Bragg's Unfiltered Apple Cider Vinegar to inoculate the beer. I strapped some cheesecloth over the jug to keep out bugs but allow oxygen in. Make sure to keep this bugger at room temperature and in the dark.

This one gallon batch came about after I used a questionable batch of yeast to brew a "darktoberfest' beer. The result was something that was too sour to drink and too reminiscent of straight molasses. Which, to those unfamiliar, is gross - it is only good when cooked into things. Anyway, I will update this post in a few months with the results of this vinegar experiment.

Please feel free to leave a comment if you have ever tried to make your own malt vinegar.

Thanks