Why wine turns into vinegar: how to identify and fix, prevention, methods of application

People who are engaged in the creation of fragrant wine do not become professional winemakers immediately. Sometimes you need to spend more than a dozen years to make a high-quality and tasty wine drink. Beginners who decide to do this for the first time are often faced with the fact that the created drink starts to smell like vinegar. To prevent this from happening, you need to figure out in advance why wine sometimes turns into vinegar.

Why the wine has aged

There are several main reasons why vinegar was obtained from a wine product. These include the following:

The appearance of bacteria in the liquid. Most often, an alcoholic drink turns into vinegar if harmful bacteria appear in it. Therefore, experts who have been making wine for many years advise storing it in pre-sterilized jars. This increases the shelf life at times.
Inappropriate storage conditions. Sometimes a grape drink starts to acidify if it is not stored properly. Most often this happens if the liquid stays in a room that is too warm for a long time, where the temperature does not drop below twenty degrees Celsius.
The content of a large amount of oxygen in the tanks where fermentation is carried out. If the cooked wine smells like vinegar, it may not have fermented properly.

How to identify it

People who are going to get serious about making a grape liquor should know how to tell a sour wine from a normal one.

Knowing that wine turns into vinegar is quite simple, and you can do it even without a spirit meter. The souring process is most often determined by the taste of the liquid and its unpleasant odor. Wine that begins to spoil has an unpleasant smell and a sour taste. Over time, it gives a little vinegar. At the same time, the acidity of the taste is enhanced several times. Therefore, to check whether the drink is sour or not, it is enough to smell it and check the taste. During the test, it is recommended to drink no more than 2-3 sips, as a spoiled drink can adversely affect your well-being.

How to fix spoiled wine

Many are interested in whether it is possible to save a wine drink on your own if it starts to turn sour. This can be done only in the first forty-eight hours after the start of the souring procedure.

However, experienced winemakers recommend doing this in the first hours, as this increases the likelihood of restoring the taste of the wine.

There are several ways to help get rid of the unpleasant vinegar aroma. However, the most effective method is pasteurization, which is carried out in several stages:

first you need to remove the gray film that appeared on the surface;
distill liquid into clean, sterilized containers;
put the filled container in a pot of water;
put a container with bottles on a gas stove and heat for half an hour;
transfer the vat with filled bottles to a room with an air temperature of about 9-10 degrees.

Prevention measures

There are a few helpful tips to help you avoid turning a wine drink into vinegar:

Preparing grape liquid only from high-quality berries. Grapes must be sorted in advance to get rid of rotten and spoiled berries.
Sterilize dishes. Experts advise pre-sterilizing the container in which the drink will ferment and be stored in the future.
The wine cap should be periodically immersed in the must. This is to prevent the drink from spoiling.
Use quality lids. During the fermentation process, you need to use good water seals that will prevent air from entering the containers.

Can you make vinegar from sour wine?

Sometimes time passes quickly, and people do not have time to save the wine, which began to turn sour. In this case, you can simply throw away the spoiled drink or make vinegar out of it, which is often used by people in everyday life. Acetic liquid made from wine is very fragrant and therefore it is added to various dishes to give them a little piquancy.

To make wine vinegar, liquid containers are opened and left open for 2-3 weeks. At the same time, the drink should be infused at temperatures of at least 20-25 degrees above zero. Under such conditions, the liquid will quickly turn sour and turn into vinegar.

Methods of using tartaric acetic acid

If something went wrong during fermentation and acetic acid turned out instead of wine, you should not be upset, as it can also be used. Most often people use it in:

Culinary field. Many housewives and professional chefs use acid in their cooking. On its basis, fragrant sauces are made, which in the future are added to vegetable salads. Also, this vinegar is used when marinating meat products or fish.
Life. Spoiled young wine, which has begun to sour, can also be used in everyday life. For example, it can be used to easily remove dirt from clothes or dishes. Also, this liquid is used for washing things to make the fabric softer.

Can you drink wine that has turned into vinegar

The spoiled and sour wine has lost everything useful, because of which it could be drunk.

Therefore, if it tastes of vinegar, it is recommended to refrain from drinking such a drink.

Conclusion

People who have never made wine drinks often find themselves smelling like vinegar. To avoid such a problem, you need to familiarize yourself with the prevention of its occurrence and with methods for restoring sour wine.