What is Vinegar and how many types are there?

Hello!Do you know what vinegar is? As elaborated? How many types are there?I will try to answer all these questions throughout the article.

What is Vinegar?

The name vinegar comes from putting together the words, sour-wine, which was renamed vinegar for greater convenience, and comes from the acetic fermentation of alcohol, which does not have to be from wine, although it was through wine that vinegar was discovered. and from there, it took the name.

The first vinegars came from wine barrels that became bad or sour. It was said then that the wine was crushed and vinegar began to form.

It was in Roman times, when the renowned gourmet Apicius wrote the first known cookbook, which introduced vinegar as a preservative in his recipes.

How is Vinegar made?

The first vinegar that was created was by chance, because some barrels of wine turned sour, when the properties of this liquid were discovered, which is when its production method began to be perfected.

Speaking a little more technically, vinegar is produced thanks to bacteria called “Mycoderma aceti”, which are responsible for causing the chemical reaction that transforms ethyl alcohol into acetic acid.

For this to occur, the appropriate conditions of acidity, pH, alcohol concentration and nutrients must exist in the liquid.

The first method known with detail and accuracy about the intentional production of vinegar was in 1864 when Louis Pasteur explained the method that bore his own name, and which consisted of filling cascade-shaped casks with wine and vinegar, in the same proportion, each time a quantity of vinegar was taken out, it was refilled with the same quantity of wine.

The second known method was called Schuetzenbach and it was much faster than the previous one, since barrels were taken forming stacks in levels, in each barrel a double perforated bottom was placed that was filled with wood shavings where the bacteria were housed, making passing the alcohol through those chips that caused the acetic acid to increase between 1 and 2% at each level.

Currently there are various methods that are much more modern than those previously explained and that make vinegar much faster.

How many types of Vinegar are there?

There are various types of vinegar, which is why we have placed special emphasis on the fact that not all vinegar is produced from wine, although it was from this that it was discovered.

Next, I explain the different types of vinegar that exist:

Wine vinegar: It is the best known of all vinegars, as well as the one with the greatest consumption and production in the world, it is obtained from different varieties of wine.

White Vinegar: It is a vinegar obtained from the fermentation of pure sugar cane alcohol and is mostly used to highlight bright colors in fabrics to prevent them from fading.

Balsamic vinegar: This vinegar is of Italian origin and consists of maturing vinegar in barrels or wooden casks for at least twelve years. It is often used a lot in vinaigrettes and it is only advisable to add a few drops to season the sauce.

Cider Vinegar – This is the last type of vinegar and is obtained from the alcoholic fermentation of apples into cider.

The vinegar we make at Bodegas La Aurora is from wine, we have several types of vinegar, under Protected Designation of Origin or without it, you can access our store by clicking here.

I hope that the information shared throughout the article has answered the three questions I mentioned at the beginning. All the best!