VINEGAR is a dilute form of acetic acid, having a flavour that varies according to the source from which it is obtained. Vinegar has been known from the earliest historical period, and its power of acting on and dissolving mineral substances rendered it an important agent in the hands of the alchemists. They were, however, unacquainted with pure acetic acid; the most concentrated solution they possessed, called spiritus veneris, was obtained by distillation from cupric acetate (verdigris). The nature of acetous fermentation, and the rationale of the processes by which vinegar is prepared, are explained under Fermentation (vol. ix. p. 98); and the acetic acid obtained by the destructive distillation of wood is dealt with under Tar (vol. xxiii. p. 57). Here we have to do only with the various kinds of vinegar used for table, medicinal, and other household purposes. Malt, wine, and beetroot vinegars are made by the slow process, whilst for the quick method dilute brandy or other spirit is most largely employed....
Malt vinegar is the preparation commonly manufactured in the United Kingdom, the high alcoholic duties there excluding the use of spirits in the industry. A fermented wort is prepared, as in brewing, which is run into casks laid on their side, bung-hole upwards, till they are three-fourths filled. These casks have a hole bored in each end near the top, and between the three holes a constant circulation of air is secured over the surface of the liquid. The casks are disposed in low-roofed vaults, artificially heated, in which free circulation of air is kept up; but sometimes the process is carried on in the open air in what is termed a vinegar field. According to the temperature (which should be about 70° Fahr.) and other conditions, the acetification of the wort may occupy from weeks to months. From the casks the vinegar is transferred to large tuns provided with false bottoms, over which a thick layer of stalks and skins of grapes and raisins, &c., termed rapes, is strewn. Through this the vinegar is filtered from one tun into another, whereby it is cleared from mucilaginous matter and the last traces of alcohol are thoroughly oxidized. Wine vinegar is made in France and other vine-cultivating countries from wine lees and inferior wines. The finest vinegar is yielded by white wines, the product being purer, pleasanter, and generally stronger than ordinary malt vinegar. Vinegar is also largely prepared from beetroot, from the juice of other saccharine vegetables and fruits, and from sugar; and indeed all sources of alcohol may be regarded as possible materials for making vinegar. Quick method vinegar is made, principally in Germany, from dilute spirit (about one of proof spirit to six of water), to which are added small proportions of sugar, honey, or malt extract. The standard liquor used by different manufacturers varies considerably. The process is also used to some extent in England for converting fermented and clarified malt wort into vinegar. Commercial vinegar varies much in strength. What is termed “proof” vinegar contains 4∙6 per cent of real acetic acid; and, as it requires twenty-four grains of anhydrous carbonate of soda to neutralize each fluid ounce, it is also known as No. 24. In the same way weaker qualities are known as No. 22, No. 20, &c., these figures indicating the grains of carbonate of soda which neutralize a fluid ounce.
Vinegar is extensively consumed in the preparation of pickles and sauces, and as a table condiment, especially with salad vegetables and fish. For many culinary purposes it is flavoured with aromatic herbs and spices. Aromatic vinegar, made from glacial acetic acid and perfumes, possesses a refreshing stimulating pungency, as is familiarly known by its use in vinaigrettes. Marseilles vinegar, or thieves’ vinegar, is an aromatic preparation used as a prophylactic and masker of evil odours. Vinegar is also a menstruum for several medicinal agents; and in a concentrated condition it is a valuable rubefacient and external stimulant.
חמץ, Num. vi, 3; Ruth ii, 14; Psalm lxix, 21; Prov. x, 26; xxv, 20; ὄξος, Matt. xxvii, 48; Mark xv, 36; John xix, 29, 30; an acid produced by a second fermentation of vinous liquors. The law of the Nazarite was that he should “separate himself from wine and strong drink, and should drink no vinegar of wine, nor vinegar of strong drink, nor any liquor of grapes.” This is exactly the same prohibition that was given in the case of John the Baptist, Luke i, 15, οἶνον καὶ σίκερα οὺ μὴ ϖίῃ, _wine and sikera he shall not drink_. Any inebriating liquor, says Jerom, is called _sicera_, whether made of corn, apples, honey, dates, or other fruits. One of the four prohibited drinks among the Mohammedans in India is called _sakar_, which signifies inebriating drink in general, but especially date wine. From the original word, probably, we have our term cider or sider, which among us, exclusively means the fermented juice of apples. Vinegar was used by harvesters for their refreshment. Boaz told Ruth that she might come and dip her bread in vinegar with his people. Pliny says, ”_Aceto summa vis in refrigerando_.” [There is the greatest power in vinegar, in cooling.] It made a very cooling beverage. It was generally diluted with water. When very strong, it affected the teeth disagreeably, Prov. x, 26. In Proverbs xxv, 20, the singing of songs to a heavy heart is finely compared to the contrariety or colluctation between vinegar and nitre; untimely mirth to one in anxiety serves only to exasperate, and as it were put into a ferment by the intrusion. The Emperor Pescennius Niger gave orders that his soldiers should drink nothing but vinegar on their marches. That which the Roman soldiers offered to our Saviour at his crucifixion, was, probably, ...the vinegar they made use of for their own drinking. Constantine the Great allowed them wine and vinegar alternately, every day. This vinegar was not of that sort which we use for salads and sauces; but it was a tart wine called _pesca_, or _sera_. They make great use of it in Spain and Italy, in harvest time. They use it also in Holland, and on shipboard, to correct the ill taste of the water.
