If you find what looks like strings of sediment floating in your bottle, that's called “mother”—it can form in any unpasteurized vinegar as a result of bacteria fermentation and is widely regarded as the most nutritious part—many health food advocates recommend choosing organic, raw, unfiltered apple cider vinegar with ...
When pasteurization is incomplete or the vinegar is re-inoculated with vinegar bacteria from the air after opening, a slimy, amorphous blob or substance will form and float near the bottom. This is a vinegar mother and is just bacteria that feeds on alcoholic liquids.
cloudy stuff floating in your vinegar is? Once your vinegar is open and exposed to air, it can grow vinegar bacteria. The bacteria forms a cloudy sediment. It's a complex carbohydrate. that does not affect the quality of the vinegar. So even though it does not look appealing at all, it is not harmless.
Once opened and exposed to air, however, harmless “vinegar bacteria” may start to grow. This bacteria causes the formation of a cloudy sediment that is nothing more than harmless cellulose, a complex carbohydrate that does not affect the quality of the vinegar or its flavor.
And, while some changes can be observed in other types of vinegars, such as color changes or the development of a haze or sediment, this is only an aesthetic change. The product can still be used and enjoyed with confidence.”
Though there's no expiration, there is a sort of "sweet spot" for vinegar storage, and it varies by the type. For wine vinegars, balsamic, and rice vinegar it's about 2-3 years, whereas apple cider vinegar is 5 years; and distilled white is, well, whenever the apocalypse is.
If you're noticing a general cloudiness in your vinegar, that's your signal to buy a new bottle. “When the vinegar starts getting cloudy, or the flavor is off, then oxidation has significantly changed the quality of the product,” explains Regusci. “But I wouldn't say spoiled, I would say low-quality.”
Mother of vinegar is a biofilm composed of a form of cellulose, yeast, and bacteria that sometimes develops on fermenting alcoholic liquids during the process that turns alcohol into acetic acid with the help of oxygen from the air and acetic acid bacteria (AAB).
“It's a little bit of sediment from the apples themselves, and it's also vinegar mother,” which is a natural by-product of the fermentation process. “The vinegar mother grows over time, and that's usually the swirly stuff that people see at the bottom of the bottle.”
Some species produce pigments on solid growth medium and can produce different types of polysaccharides. These bacteria are found in substrates containing sugar and/or ethanol, such as fruit juices, wine, cider, beer, and vinegar.
A vinegar mother is a gelatinous disc that looks like a slice of wobbly raw liver.
1 The best part? This vinegar typically gets better with age, so there's no need to worry about an expiration date dampening your culinary plans. However, if the taste becomes too bitter or or the color darkens far more that what it would be normally (balsamic will darken some over time), then it's best not to use.
Vinegar eel, or Turbatrix aceti, are non-parasitic nematodes which thrive in unpasteurised apple cider vinegar, feeding on the bacteria which creates the vinegar. They grow to a maximum of 2mm long, so can just be seen with the naked eye, and have a virtually transparent body.
What's happening in there? A chemical reaction between the vinegar and the baking soda produces bubbles of carbon dioxide gas. The dish detergent in the vinegar helps the bubbles last longer than they would with just vinegar and baking soda.
When you find a bit of stringy sediment, large or small, in a bottle of vinegar don't fret. In fact — congratulations — you have a mother. A mother of vinegar, that is. Yes, it looks rather grungy and scary, floating on the top of the vinegar like that, but this spongy mass of bacteria is completely harmless.
Does Vinegar Go Bad? No, vinegar doesn't expire. Whether it's a bottle of crystal-clear distilled white vinegar or cloudy apple cider vinegar with the “mother,” vinegar has a virtually indefinite shelf life thanks to its high level of acidity (above 4%).
Although mother of vinegar looks unappealing, it does not pose a health risk.
It would be very unusual for molds to grow in vinegar, since vinegar is one of the agents used to control molds.
A: I refrigerate after opening, though most vinegar doesn't require refrigeration. On the other hand, if you use a lot of it pretty frequently, non-refrigeration shouldn't hurt it at all.
The next time you go shopping for vinegar, be sure to read the label carefully. Look for the percentage of acid, and while you're at it make sure you don't buy “apple cider flavored vinegar”—distilled vinegar with flavor chemicals added—in place of true cider vinegar.
You might find mold growing on the surface of your fermenter or the top of you cider, as part of a yeast and pectin cap or brew bag floating on the surface of your cider. Also, mold is colorful while yeast is white or colorless (1). That blue, green, yellow, or black fuzzy stuff is mold.
The fermentation process
A thick, gelatinous layer is formed by the acetic acid bacteria on the surface of the vinegar. This layer is known as 'The Mother' because it is the catalyst that gives rise to the vinegar.
The present results showed that bacterial diversity was rich and exhibited a certain variation during the dynamic fermentation process of apple vinegar.