Maple vinegar

[batsofbedlam]

I would love to hear some comentary on making maple vinegar.

[mapleman3]

I had some people asking me about this stuff at the Big E while I was working the Mass Maple booth, I had not realized there was such a thing 8O

[maple maniac65]

isn't maple vinager the outcome when someone in that other state pulls off syrup to early and cans it up. Kinda like when my neighbor first started making syrup and about August all his plastic bottles were as round as a balloon. Ta DA maple vinager. :oops: :D

[sweetwoodmaple]

(getting this thread started again)

I'm in the process of researching maple vinegar. Since this season was so difficult, I'm trying to figure out a way to use that last bit of sap or even buddy stuff that you accidentally boil late in the season. I am not close to anyone who purchases commercial syrup, so I figured this might be an alternative.

My experiment will be the traditional vinegar recipe, like cider vinegar...which is taking 10-15% sugar sweet and mixing yeast and letting it set in a warm environment for a month or two.

I'm also going to try and drain the last sap (that smells like yeast and vinegar) from my lines and using it with the sweet. I am thinking this can take the place of the yeast, but not sure.

I will post back in a month or so.

[wcproctor]

make maple vinegar by mixing maple syrup with sherry vinegar or you can make Maple Vinaigrett dressing:

Put syrup on your salad with this Maple Vinaigrette Dressing Recipe from "The Official Vermont Maple Cookbook," Second Edition, published by the Vermont Maple Foundation. Reprinted with permission.
Ingredients:
•1 teaspoon dry mustard
•1/2 teaspoon dried basil
•1/4 cup balsamic or good quality wine, cider or maple vinegar
•1/2 cup Pure Vermont Maple Syrup
•1 Tablespoon lemon juice
•1 clove garlic, minced
•1 cup olive oil
•1 teaspoon salt
•1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
Preparation:
Combine mustard and basil in a small bowl. With a whisk, add vinegar, maple syrup, lemon juice and garlic. Add olive oil and continue whisking until ingredients are well combined. Season with salt and pepper. Refrigerated, the dressing will keep for several weeks.

Maple Vinegar

This unusual item takes almost a year to ferment and become a beautiful, and tasty, maple vinegar product. The production starts when the maple season ends with the contents that is left in the evaporator. Without any more sap to push the syrup through, we gather that liquid and start our year long process of fermentation. The result is a healthy, 100% natural, maple vinegar to be used on salads, vegetables, or added to your favorite recipe.

[sweetwoodmaple]

http://www.earthclinic.com/Remedies/how_to_make_apple_cider_vinegar.html

This describes things pretty well, just substituting maple instead of apple juice. If you use yeast and have the right proportions of sugar (10-15%), you can have vinegar in 1-2 months instead of a year!

[Gary R]

Brian,

Our association has a recipe. Use late season sap. Boil to 12 - 15%. put in glass container. Cover with cloth or bubbler without water. Let stand 6-8 months in cool place, strain, then bottle. If you need a hydrometer for the sugar content I have one.

[sweetwoodmaple]

Thanks, Gary...that's pretty much what I did. I used old sap out of my lines and brought to a rolling boil. (I am thinking the old sap or "spoiled" is part vinegar. That is why you can't boil it and have it come out correct, the vinegar never leaves)

Then, I supplemented with dark B syrup to get the % sugar correct.

I added fresh yeast to speed up the process so I didn't have to wait so long. I could also have added un-pasturized cider vinegar or purchased the "mother" from a wine supply shop.

[batsofbedlam]

I have been making Maple Vinegar for several years now. I personally found that using the last sap in the pans, even though it has quite a bit of sugar in it, just doesn't work.
I boil down the last sap to syrup and then re-dilute it with water to a reading of 1.05 on a wine and beer hydrometer (floats an egg to where a dime size part is showing), then add yeast. An equivalent Baume reading between 7 and 8 will work. This converts the sugar to alcohol (maple beer or wine). Pour off wine leaving dead yeast on bottom and put into large mouth container and let vinegar spores in the air take over and grow a mother on top of the liquid You can really speed up the last part by using an aquarium bubbler to add oxygen to the liquid. This is how commercial vinegar is made (learned that watching Modern Marvels on TV). I figured out how to do a titration test to check the acid level. Commercial vinegar is 6% acetic acid. I found that mine reads 3.5-4%. I sell a lot of it for making salad dressings, but advise people not to use it for canning because the acid level is to low to act as a preservative.
It can sound complicated but after doing it once, it makes another value added product to add to your maple sales.

[sweetwoodmaple]

http://www.californiacountry.org/features/article.aspx?arID=562

I like this article as it describes the two methods that seem to be out there for making vinegar.

I actually noticed this first as I was reading articles...one says stir every day and the other said leave alone and DO NOT DISTURB. I now see there are two methods.

My sap/syrup combo seems to be making alcohol at a very rapid rate without disturbing (but I did stir the first day).

One other bit I picked up with researching Balsamic vinegar is the aging in different woods makes a big difference. If I can pick up a couple barrels cheap (or order from Mexico on Ebay), I may try my hand at this (much to my wife's dismay).

Speaking of methods, there seems to be a hybrid...make the vinegar quickly by stirring/adding air, then aging in or with toasted oak/chestnut, etc.

[sweetwoodmaple]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JEi4OW2Q54&feature=player_embedded#

A little more of the science behind vinegar...pretty cool for us not educated in the art of vinegar.

[sweetwoodmaple]

Well, took about one year, but I now have two batches (about 3 gallons) of vinegar.

One batch was put in a fresh oak barrel. It went to the "acetone" stage then back again. It tastes good, but has a strong smell from the oak. It also developed the "mother" on the top.

The other batch was done in stainless steel. I did not pour off into another container, so it still has the dead yeast on the bottom. It seems this batch as stayed as a combination of wine and vinegar. We used this for marinating and it works great. I will pasturize this batch. It did not form a "mother", which I think means it did not go fully to vinegar.

For next year, planning a larger batch if I can get enough stainless containers for 20 gallons or more.