Cider vinegar

For some years, I have made cider vinegar at home in a small wooden barrel.  This has worked well but, in order to start the process, I had to purchase a starter from a supplier in the Netherlands.  The barrel contains the so-called "mother" which is a floating mat of cellulose made by Acetobacter bacteria as they convert alcohol to acetic acid.  As this is inside the barrel, I have never seen it, only felt it with a dipstick.

2024 was a good year for apples and I was able to press more than I needed for pasteurised juice.  Most of the excess was fermented for cider but there was about 10 litres of juice left over for which I had no suitable container.  I decided to leave it in an open bin covered by a net and a loosely fitting lid.  This would let it ferment into cider and then progress to vinegar if suitable bacteria found their way in.  As the bin stood right next to the wooden barrel, this was quite likely to happen.

The bin had been more or less forgotten for 10 months but, yesterday, I finally investigated and found that it contained excellent, clear vinegar with a floating mat of cellulose on the surface.  Here is a photo of the mat lying by a sink.

According to an information sheet I have, this kind of "mother" is diffiuclt to obtain commercially in the UK.  I have no further use for it so if anyone would like to have it please get in touch.  It will, naturally, be full of Acetobacter bacteria.