Open the door to the delicious world of acid alchemy

Vinegar is a culinary staple that complements dishes in a way not many condiments can, adding a complexity of flavor that is unrivaled. Here is the thing. While apple cider vinegar has a long history as a folk remedy for a variety of health conditions and has achieved something akin to cult status among natural health enthusiasts many people don't realize that there is a whole world of options beyond store-bought ACV or distilled white vinegar. 

Vinegar can be smooth and sublime (not just the abrasive and sour the industrialized product would lead you to believe.) Your homemade vinegars introduce you to flavors you didn’t know were possible as a base ingredient moves through the fermentation, leaving you with delicious flavors and essence to enrich your world. 

In this class, you will learn to make apple cider vinegar from scratch but you will also learn to make vinegar from wine or beer, fresh fruit, even peels, and other scraps. This class is the most comprehensive vinegar class out there and you will learn a number of techniques that will give you the skills to make any vinegar intuitively and successfully.


What You Will Learn

  • What is vinegar and the microbes that make it possible

  • The history of this acid and why you want to make your own

  • The equipment needed to set up your kitchen vinegar works

  • You will understand how each step of the fermentation works

  • You will get video demonstrations and recipes for making your own apple cider vinegar, wine vinegar, malt and beer vinegar, vinegar from fruit scraps, from rice syrup, from spirits

  • You will also learn about herbal vinegars

  • And how to make (and enjoy) drinking vinegar

  • In this class you will learn the base ingredients are wide open for you to make any kind you like. By the end of class you should feel confident to make any type of vinegar you dream of.

Course curriculum

    1. Wecome to vinegar making

    2. What is vinegar made of?

    3. Vinegar a cooperation of yeast and acetic acid

    4. The world's oldest condiment

    1. Equipment needed for vinegar making

    2. Preparing your equipment for vinegar making

    3. Basics of yeast fermention: Alcohol for vinegar

    4. How to measure specific gravity and why you might want to

    5. Is vinegar an acid? Understanding vinegar pH and percent acid

    6. Downloadable and printable vinegar log template

      FREE PREVIEW

    1. Overview of home vinegar making fermentation processes

    2. What is a vinegar mother and do you need one?

    3. What does a vinegar mother look like? Am I looking at mold, yeast, or a new mother?

    4. Troubleshooting: How to get rid of surface yeast on your vinegar fermentation

    1. How to make apple cider vinegar from apples demonstration

    2. Apple cider vinegar recipe: How to make from hard cider or apple juice

    3. Bonus: Apple cider vinegar comparison: apple peel vinegar, apple chunk vinegar, and apple cider vinegar

    1. Technique: Setting up a continuous brew vinegar

    2. Wine Vinegar Recipe

    1. Beer Vinegar Recipe

    2. Bonus Recipe: How to make malt vinegar at home

About this course

  • $119.00
  • 35 lessons
  • 2.5 hours of video content

Student Reviews

Ian Anderson

5 star rating

“liked this one. I have a better sense of the options and will have a bit of fun with the citrus peel once ours come into season in a few months entire course was fabulous. I love the exposure to the range of techniques and have a sense of the s...”

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“liked this one. I have a better sense of the options and will have a bit of fun with the citrus peel once ours come into season in a few months entire course was fabulous. I love the exposure to the range of techniques and have a sense of the science. ”

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Jessica Lovelady

5 star rating

“Great course! headed in a with a small amount of experience….thus lots of questions from doing research online. The lessons were broken down into very effective chunks with lots of variations in process explained and demonstrated so you could figu...”

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“Great course! headed in a with a small amount of experience….thus lots of questions from doing research online. The lessons were broken down into very effective chunks with lots of variations in process explained and demonstrated so you could figure out how to make vinegar using the tools you already have. Clear linear explanations. While I love the connection of in person or live workshops, this workshop was so great because there is little fluff and she gets to the point of the video with out getting off topic. Great examples to see what is being talked about and useful practical tips that really only come with experience. You can really tell that Kirsten is teaching from a great depth of experience. Thank you for putting this information together!”

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Nicholas Malvesti

5 star rating

“Such a great course. Easy to follow. Leaves you with everything you need to know to get started”

“Such a great course. Easy to follow. Leaves you with everything you need to know to get started”

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Jill Williams

5 star rating

“Once again I enjoyed this chapter, learning the different methods of making vinegar. Very interesting to use the methods to test out your acidity level, I enjoy being able to watch the instructor and practice along beside her to get the same results.”

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“Once again I enjoyed this chapter, learning the different methods of making vinegar. Very interesting to use the methods to test out your acidity level, I enjoy being able to watch the instructor and practice along beside her to get the same results.”

→Read Less

Dana Petteys

5 star rating

“I really enjoyed this course. I have several projects going and I have no doubt that I learned more by completing the course along with my own experimentation than if I were just going it alone. I donʻt have anything that I consider a complete suc...”

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“I really enjoyed this course. I have several projects going and I have no doubt that I learned more by completing the course along with my own experimentation than if I were just going it alone. I donʻt have anything that I consider a complete success just yet, but I think Iʻm getting closer!”

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Meet Your Instructor

Instructor Bio:

Hi, I'm Kirsten and I ferment things. I began fermenting on our 40-acres small holding of wooded hillside on unceded Takelma territory over 2 decades ago. I didn't have the language to say that was what I was doing, I just taught myself to preserve everything that we grew. I didn't have a clue or the internet but I had plenty of passion and idealism to figure out how it was done "old school" and maybe, most importantly, I had nobody that told me I couldn't do this. My passion for food systems has been with me for over 3 decades and at some point, the two collided and as my responsibilities to raising children waned. I found myself sharing the passion and joy of working with microbes to create delicious healthy food first locally then globally. In this desire to see everyone have access to fermentation I've co-written (with my husband Christopher) the books Fermented Vegetables, Fiery Ferments, Miso, Tempeh, Natto and Other Tasty Ferments, The Big Book of Cidermaking and Homebrewed Vinegar. I have a lot of great fails. I think working with tempeh has given me the most humility as I've learned to push it past soy beans. The most expensive fail was the 30 gallons of sauerkraut that was fine in all ways except the texture--which was spreadable like butter. There is no market for spreadable kraut--yet. I am delighted to be able to share what I know with you here. Feel free to reach out through this platform or at [email protected].

Kirsten K. Shockey

Fermentation Educator & Author

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