Balsamic Vinegar Questions

[Sigvaldi]

I wasn't sure where to put this, so I opted on winemaking, since balsamic vinegar is made from wine.

I researched the process of making this type of vinegar and was surprised to find it takes 5 wooden barrels and 12 years! Insane! While it would be nice to have this setup (because with this method, you have a continuous liter or so per year, and just put new wine in the first barrel to replenish), I dont have the space for a series of 5 barrels. Perhaps when I have a garage, I can have it set up along one wall, but not right now. However, I still want to try my hand at what is one of my all-time favorite foods.

Now, time is hard to replace, but perhaps the barrels we can figure out. My idea is rather than setting up 5 progressively smaller barrels is to soak it in a glass container with wood infusion sticks. I can change out the stick once a year and give it a quick stir to simulate the change in container. Any opinions on if this might work? Anyone with any experience creating balsamic vinegar? Does anyone know or can find how much must makes how much vinegar?

 

[Dimax]

http://www.acetaiadigiorgio.it/en/t...make-traditional-balsamic-vinegar-modena-dop/

This might answer some of your ??

 

[BeerFireBrew]

Well, that was an interesting 10 minutes.
http://www.seriouseats.com/2014/05/everything-you-need-to-know-guide-to-balsamic-vinegar.html

I had no idea how Balsamic V. was made.

After reading the article above (only one I read), I would guess that replacing the wood infusion sticks would not serve the same purpose as sequential barrels. The sequential barrels partial mix old batches with new batches. I am not saying it's a bad at idea at all, but it appears you may be thinking of trying to achieve the same outcome by exchanging new wood infusion sticks.

I never had balsamic v until a couple years ago when my wife (then gf) made some BV roasted broccoli. OMG! We have that or BV roasted brussel sprouts at least once a week, not joking. SO GOOD

 

[Sigvaldi]

http://www.acetaiadigiorgio.it/en/t...make-traditional-balsamic-vinegar-modena-dop/

This might answer some of your ??

That is the ffirst place that gave any kind of size on the barrels. We see that it starts at 60L and ends in a 20L barrel, so you can expect overall volume to decrease by about 1/3rd over the 12-15 year aging process. So if I start with 1 gallon, i will likely end up with a little more than a quart.

So, theres that question. But as for replacing the barrels with a glass container and wood infusion, has anyone tried these? Perhaps even with a wine and not just balsamic vinegar. Is there a difference in taste between infusion sticks and barrels?

 

[Sigvaldi]

Well, that was an interesting 10 minutes.
http://www.seriouseats.com/2014/05/everything-you-need-to-know-guide-to-balsamic-vinegar.html

I had no idea how Balsamic V. was made.

After reading the article above (only one I read), I would guess that replacing the wood infusion sticks would not serve the same purpose as sequential barrels. The sequential barrels partial mix old batches with new batches. I am not saying it's a bad at idea at all, but it appears you may be thinking of trying to achieve the same outcome by exchanging new wood infusion sticks.

I never had balsamic v until a couple years ago when my wife (then gf) made some BV roasted broccoli. OMG! We have that or BV roasted brussel sprouts at least once a week, not joking. SO GOOD

Seriously. Ive had people ask why you would put this much time into it. But its just THAT GOOD. Lol.

From what I understand, the mixed batches still end up mixed at the end, and the individual liters or so that they remove each year vary in average age. They have a small panel of tasters judge its age. So I don't think the actual mixing of batches does anything other than create a continuous form of supply without taking up a huge amount of equipment (otherwise, it would take 5 barrels per batch)