Apple Cider Vinegar with the Mother

Apple cider vinegar is made in two fermentations. Pressed apple juice is first fermented by yeast, principally Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which converts the sugars to ethanol and yields cider. The cider is then inoculated with acetic acid bacteria, or with a portion of mother vinegar, and those bacteria oxidise the ethanol to acetic acid. Published composition for the finished vinegar is roughly 94% water and 5% acetic acid with about 1% carbohydrate and no fat or protein, which is why acidity, not solids, is the number the trade contracts on. The mother is the reason this grade exists. It is a cellulose-rich biofilm formed by acetic acid bacteria, with Acetobacter the predominant genus in apple vinegar, and it survives only if the vinegar is left unfiltered and unpasteurised. It is harmless and edible. Practically it means the liquid arrives hazy, with visible strands and a settling sediment that is the product working as intended, not a defect, and buyers who need a bright liquid should take our filtered grade instead. Because the culture stays live, the mother can continue to build in the drum over the shelf life. We supply against a declared total acidity confirmed by titration on every lot, most commonly 5% w/v as acetic acid, with 4% and 6% grades available by agreement; specify the minimum your destination market requires at order, since national vinegar standards differ. This is a food acidulant and fermented food ingredient and we describe it only on that basis, with no therapeutic or metabolic claim. Handling matters: at this pH the liquid attacks bare mild steel and aluminium, so keep it in HDPE, glass or lined stainless throughout.