Wine diseases, due to which it takes on an unpleasant sour taste, accompany this drink constantly, due to technological errors during preparation, low-quality raw materials and non-compliance with temperature conditions during storage. As a rule, if a drink’s illness is identified in time, it is almost always possible to save homemade wine, without the possibility of deterioration in its quality properties.

It is much easier not to make mistakes that provoke the progression of any wine diseases than to try to correct them later. Generally accepted preventive measures will help avoid possible diseases and prevent the acidity of the wine from deteriorating:

Wine diseases that spoil the taste and quality of the product

Irreversible loss of the drink is possible if the pathogenic infection in the wine is not detected in time. But still, most often it is possible to quickly identify and act promptly in order to correct the current unpleasant situation.

Pathogenic bacteria can enter the mash due to unsterile equipment or dirt on your hands. If at the same time oxygen enters the wort, and the wort itself is kept in a warm place, then the situation will worsen somewhat.

Vinegar souring

Most often, the souring of the drink with the release of acetic acid manifests itself in wine whose strength is less than 14°. Favorable conditions for this disease are temperatures above 25° C, at which acetic microorganisms most intensively produce acid from alcohol-containing elements. Drosophila fruit flies are considered to be the spreaders of this infection.

Wine bloom or mold

Homemade natural wine, the alcohol content of which is 12% or less, is susceptible to mold and souring if stored at a temperature of 23–29 ° C. This disease is provoked by filmy yeast microorganisms, converting alcohol-containing molecules into carbon dioxide under the influence of oxygen .

Lactic acid fermentation

Most often, this disease affects wines that contain a fairly high proportion of sugar. The disease progresses in the temperature range from 20 to 25° C. A characteristic indicator of the disease are white thread-like stripes, which are noticeable if you look at the wine against the light. The result of the progress of lactic bacteria is that later the drink becomes cloudier, smells like pickled vegetables and has a sour taste.

Malignant fermentation of mannitol microorganisms

The souring of wine due to the activity of mannitol bacteria is caused by heating the pulp to improve the color quality of the drink. These microorganisms are quite thermophilic and, under the influence of temperatures, process fructose molecules into substances such as acetic and lactic acid and, accordingly, form mannitol alcohols. Affected wine takes on an unpleasant, nauseating aftertaste.

Propionic acid fermentation

Is this wine disease caused by characteristic microorganisms? propionobacteria producing acetic acid from tartaric acid. A characteristic sign of an affected drink is clouding of its color, the appearance of a bluish color and an unpleasant aftertaste of acetic acid.

Vinegar souring: how to get rid of it, and is it possible?

Any wine, after uncorking, turns sour and cannot be drunk further. In other words, the drink sours, turning into acetic acid. This is directly facilitated by acetic microorganisms, which, under the influence of oxygen and air temperature from 6 to 45 ° C, can produce acetic
acid elements and water.

You can detect the fact that the wine has turned sour by focusing on its organoleptic characteristics: the drink acquires an unpleasant, harsh aroma, and at the same time a sour aftertaste. After several days, the acidity of the wine increases, but the strength of the drink itself decreases. Referring to this, it becomes clear why wine cannot be stored in the refrigerator without corking it.

To avoid acetic souring, during aging of the wine product, you can add special preservatives to the drink that will stop the progression of acetic microorganisms. The most popular and widespread remedy is sulfur sulfite. But it is not advisable to do this, since sulfur in large quantities can harm human health.

To avoid the active processing of oxygen by acetic bacteria, you can use a sealed water seal. This device prevents air from entering the mash, but at the same time removes carbon dioxide from the wort. After the wine has fermented, it is removed from the water seal, poured into containers and sealed for further storage in a cool environment.

Unfortunately, wine souring due to acetic bacteria is an incurable process. It is impossible to correct the situation if the wine is already actively turning into acetic acid. But you shouldn’t give up, since the initial process is reversible; more precisely, the transformation into vinegar can be stopped by pasteurization. To do this, you need to heat the wine in bottles to 65 ° C and boil at this temperature for 20–25 minutes. This does not provide a 100% guarantee that the souring process will stop, but it is worth a try. You can always pour out the drink, or make a wine vinegar essence.

The most reliable remedy against vinegar souring of wine is your vigilance. That is, before you engage in winemaking, you need to take a responsible approach to the choice of raw materials, check them for rot and try to avoid low-quality berries getting into the wort. It is very important to ensure that the container is clean and sterile. As for storage conditions, this is a separate, no less important issue. The drink should be stored in a dark and cool place, maintaining the desired temperature.

Those who are involved in winemaking know that this is not an easy task. Growing grapes and learning how to make wine is only part of what is needed. It is very important to be able to recognize wine diseases, for example when alcohol has gone sour. What kind of disease is this, what are the causes and what can be done if the wine has gone sour?

Acetic souring, or souring, is a common and dangerous wine disease that affects both young and aged wines. Noble alcohol turns into vinegar in a short time and becomes unfit for consumption. The container in which such a product was located also becomes unsuitable for subsequent use.

To begin with, you should pay attention to what amount of acetic acid is considered normal for wine, and what indicates that it has become sour. A small amount of acetic acid is an integral part of wine, as it is formed during the fermentation stage of the wort. White wine varieties, for example, Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling, release 0.5-0.8 g/l of volatile acids after fermentation, and red wines - 0.6-1 g/l. Wines with a volatile substance content of up to 1 g/l are considered healthy.

In aged wines, the normal amount of acetic acid is slightly higher due to the fact that the volume of essential substances increases over time. For example, aged alcohol with indicators up to 1.5 g/l is the norm, while in young alcohol indicators more than 1 g/l will indicate that the fermentation conditions were violated, which resulted in the alcohol becoming sour. However, such standards are relative, since even a laboratory determination establishes only the approximate amount of acids in wine, without taking into account the content in esters.

You can tell whether alcohol has gone sour by the characteristic smell of acetic esters and the taste of acetic acid. When tasting such alcohol, a burning sensation is felt in the mouth, and a stabbing and scratching sensation remains in the throat.

If the process of acetic fermentation in alcohol has already begun, then it becomes impossible to save it. It can be restored only at the very beginning of the process, before it gets stuck.

One of the characteristic signs of the appearance of this disease is a grayish film that forms on the surface of the drink. At first, such a film is thin and transparent, but as acidification progresses, it becomes denser, may have a pink tint, and also form folds near the walls of the container. When disintegrating, parts of the film sink to the bottom and form mucous masses called a vinegar nest.

In what cases does oxidation occur?

Acetic acid bacteria are part of fermented wine must, but they do not always lead to sourness of the drink. There are several types of such bacteria: acetobacter aceti, acetobacter xylinum, acetobacter kutzingia, acetobacter pasteurianum. Acetobacter aceti usually plays the main role in acetic souring. Acetic bacteria, which cause wine to become sour, develop for several reasons.

• High temperatures, above 36°, and a constant flow of oxygen have a beneficial effect on the development of these harmful bacteria. They actively multiply and break down molecules of wine alcohol into ordinary water and acetic acid.
• The vinegar midge, which actively reproduces during the winemaking period, is a carrier of acetic acid bacterial spores. The fly carries germs of bacteria, leaving large clutches of eggs in the cracks of vats, tongues, barrels and rubble. The best remedy for insects is fumigation of premises with sulfur.

• The bacteria are found on the grapes and from there they get into the must. Sick and damaged berries, grape pulp and pomace that remain in the press, slowing down fermentation - all this creates a favorable environment for souring to develop.
• A high degree of contamination is created in vats with an open floating cap.
• Free space in barrels that are not filled to the top is great for the development of bacteria and increases the risk that the wine will go sour.
• Violation of sanitary and hygienic conditions and the use of dirty containers are a common cause of alcohol souring.

Souring occurs quite quickly, within three to five days. When the alcohol content is less than 2%, bacteria cease to function. Such processes can occur both during the production of homemade wines and during industrial production.

What to do if the wine goes sour

When preparing at home, you should strictly follow the wine production technology. Acidification is a disease that is much easier to prevent than to try to treat it. To do this, preventive measures should be taken at the stage of preparation of ingredients and directly during the fermentation process.

Prevention

• It is good to sort the components - remove rotting and damaged berries.
• Maintain sterile cleanliness in the room, keep all instruments and utensils that will come into contact with the wine material clean.
• Several times a day, the floating wine cap should be immersed in the wort to prevent the wine from becoming sour.
• To prevent air from entering the wort, high-quality seals should be used. You can either buy them or make them yourself. A properly selected and installed water seal perfectly removes carbon dioxide from the container and is considered a reliable barrier to oxygen.

• Wine should be bottled in standard bottles and then hermetically sealed.
• Homemade wine should be stored in a cool cellar or refrigerator.
• To prevent wine from becoming sour, it should be fixed with alcohol or vodka.

Adding preservatives

The use of chemical preservatives by wineries is considered to prevent the development of harmful bacteria. Special substances are added to wines in minimal doses, as they are dangerous to human health. The most common preservatives are sulfites. At wineries, sulfitation is done three times - during fermentation of the wort, at the end of fermentation and before bottling.

It is not recommended to use such substances at home. If there is still a need for such a procedure, then this should be done very carefully, strictly observing the proportions.

Sulfur was used in winemaking as an excellent preservative by the ancient Greeks. It prevented the wine from becoming sour, and the sulfitation process itself gave the drink a fresh and lasting aroma. Unprocessed gray alcohol quickly loses its original odor. Sulfur preserves the rich hue of the drink and makes it more transparent.

How to fix homemade wine if it's soggy

You have found out why homemade wine turns into vinegar, and now you will find out what to do to correct the situation, if it is not too late. The optimal period for rescue is the first 24-48 hours. The sooner it is discovered that souring has already begun, the greater the chance of saving the drink.

Pasteurization is considered the best way to save. The procedure is carried out as follows:

• You should first carefully remove the resulting grayish film;
• then pour the alcohol into sterilized bottles until they are completely filled. This is done so that the drink does not come into contact with air;
• place such bottles in one large vat, at the bottom of which there is a wooden stand. The vat is filled with water, but so that the plugs rise above the surface;
• the vat is placed on the stove, heated to 60-65 degrees and kept for 15-20 minutes;
• The last step is to place the bottles in a cool place where the temperature is kept at about 9°.

How to remove vinegar from homemade berry wine

Dessert wines made from different berries (raspberries, strawberries, blackberries) turn sour very quickly if the temperature is disturbed. In such conditions, bacteria stop the fermentation of yeast and, accordingly, spoil the drink itself. Spoiled berry alcohol has a light transparent film and tastes like vinegar.

As soon as you notice changes in the fermentation of your homemade drink, it should be pasteurized and provided with yeast starter. Then leave it to ferment again. You can also mix spoiled wine with fresh marc and leave this mixture to ferment.

How to use spoiled wine

If time has passed and the wine has already become sour, it is used to make something that will be useful in the household - vinegar. This culinary ingredient is pleasantly refreshing and adds flavor to some dishes. The spoiled drink is uncorked and left in this form for a couple of weeks. The temperature in the room where the wine is located should be 20-22 °C. Then it is poured into a new container and used for its intended purpose.

Many novice winemakers very often encounter this characteristic problem. Most often, this happens due to violations of the drink production technique, non-compliance with proportions and sanitary conditions. Even wine made from high-quality raw materials can turn into vinegar if the process is not taken seriously. Have you encountered such a problem? Be sure to share your experience in the comments.

Good store-bought wine is a rather expensive drink, but made at home is a product of considerable labor. Making wine requires sufficient experience and knowledge. After all, the process of obtaining it must take place using a certain technology, in compliance with a number of requirements.

Therefore, it is important that it does not spoil. The main reason why wine spoils is vinegar fermentation. Acetic fermentation is the proliferation of acetic acid bacteria, which reduce the strength of the drink, oxidize it and make it unfit for consumption.

However, homemade wine, even if the preparation rules are fully observed, can have pronounced sourness, which can be eliminated using several time-tested methods. But more details about everything in this article.

Reasons why homemade wine goes sour

When wine is created, a species of Drosophila fly multiplies (in small numbers, but they are always present on fruits or berries) carrying acetic acid bacteria. When they sit on rotten fruits, they leave behind bacteria, which then start the fermentation process.

These bacteria work like this: in warmth and with sufficient oxygen, that is, when favorable conditions for their life are created, they begin to multiply. The process starts the process of splitting wine alcohol - the output is water and vinegar.

The process of souring the drink proceeds quickly; it can completely deteriorate in 3 days, a maximum of a week. When there is almost no alcohol left, the sour wine produces full-fledged wine vinegar.

According to experts, a successful homemade wine should have a taste in which sweetness prevails over acidity. This is the ideal taste.

Often, the appearance of excessive acidity in the taste appears for the following reasons:

• excessively sour berries were added during the cooking process;
• insufficient amount of sugar in the raw materials for wine;
• fermentation occurred due to insufficient sealing of the container.

As a result, the composition sours to a greater extent than expected by technology due to greater activation of fermentation bacteria. These conditions can cause excessive acidity in the taste of the final product.

If you find out why your homemade wine has become sour, you can easily correct the situation and return the desired taste to the drink.

Options for Preventing Acetic Fermentation

Prevention is always a better option than correcting the situation later. The same rule applies to souring homemade wine.

The following measures will help make wine more resistant to souring:

To prevent oxygen from getting into the wort, winemakers often use a “cheap and cheerful” option - a rubber glove pulled over the neck of the container. However, this is not the most reliable option.

The losses from spoiled wine are much more significant than the cost of a water seal, the average price of which does not exceed 150 rubles.

A wine drink is preserved better in a closed container, but it should be stored in a cool room without temperature changes (cellars, basements, subfloors) or in the refrigerator, but not in the freezer.

The listed recommendations will help prevent the appearance of acidity in the final product and preserve its taste for a long time. After all, such a preservation method as adding preservatives is extremely rarely used in home winemaking.

Being a hazardous substance to health, any preservative is contraindicated for use in home winemaking.

But when produced on an industrial scale, the process of vinegar fermentation can be a real downfall of the enterprise. Therefore, large winemakers use effective, but not always safe, methods.

These methods include adding the strongest preservative - sulfur - to wine. Sulfur sulfides are added in small quantities and it is customary to warn about their use on the label. Despite the questionable safety of food use of sulfur, the method is still used.

Besides the negative aspects, adding sulfur sulfide helps preserve the original aroma, and in a good wine, aroma is no less important than taste. Even the ancient Greeks figured this out and preserved the original aroma by sulfitation.

Another thing is that the method requires precise dosage and is difficult to follow at home. Therefore, to prevent homemade wine from souring, it is better not to use a preservative, but to strictly follow the preparation technology.

Determining if a wine has gone sour

There are several options for determining the appearance of excess acid in the taste of homemade wine. The most effective study should be considered to determine the pH level. This method of identifying excessive acidity of a drink is the most effective, but tasting it by taste is also considered an effective option.

You should pay attention to the fermentation process of wine. If a film of bacteria of significant thickness and activity has formed on its surface, then we can talk about the beginning of the fermentation process. Unfortunately, once the activation of fermentation bacteria has begun, the process is no longer reversible.

Signs that the wine has begun to sour:

• a film of bacteria on the surface of the wine;
• reddish color;
• air bubbles (the result of bacterial activity);
• specific smell of vinegar;
• high level of acidity when determining pH.

How to fix wine if it has become sour?

The initial process of acetic fermentation can only be slowed down. This will prevent the appearance of excessive acidity in the taste. According to experienced winemakers, the fermentation process that has begun cannot be completely stopped.

In this case, you can soak the meat in sour wine and cook kebabs. However, there are two effective ways to correct the situation before it reaches a later stage where the correction has little or no effect.

The following methods can be used in the early stages of souring homemade wine:

Warming up to a temperature of 60°C. This pasteurization deactivates fermentation bacteria, resulting in the restoration of the taste of the drink. The heating time is at least half an hour.

It is more convenient to heat if the drink is bottled in standard bottles. For large containers you will need a fairly large pan. First, filter the drink and pour it into convenient sterilized containers, for example bottles heated in the oven at 160°C.

The bottom of the pan should be covered with a soft, dense cloth in several layers. A towel will do. Place the bottles on top and fill with water just above the wine level. The water is heated to 60 degrees, and then the bottles are left to warm up at the same temperature for 20 minutes.

The main thing is to clearly maintain the temperature. A lower temperature is not suitable for pasteurization, and at a higher temperature the wine will lose its beneficial qualities. Therefore you need to use .

For convenience and accuracy of measurement, it is placed in a separate bottle, as shown in the photographs above. The lids on wine bottles are not tightly closed, otherwise the container may not withstand the pressure created during heating.

After pasteurization, cool the bottles at room temperature before storing them in the refrigerator or cellar.

You can save the drink by dissolving soda in it. , in the proportion of 1 gram of powder per liter of drink. A level teaspoon contains approximately 7 grams of soda. Calculate how much powder you need for the available volume of wine, dissolve it well separately in a glass, pour the resulting solution into the total mass of wine and mix.

However, you should understand that this will affect the taste of the wine. It is best to avoid the appearance of vinegar by following the technology for preparing homemade wine.

Making vinegar from fermented homemade wine

Continuing the souring of wine allows you to obtain a high-quality homemade product - wine vinegar. To do this, fermentation is not stopped, but conditions are created for the further life of bacteria.

Wine vinegar will turn out even if you just leave the souring wine open for a certain period of time. Typically the complete process takes 15 - 20 days. But if you want to make good vinegar - to achieve its high quality and more pleasant taste, then you need to fulfill a number of simple conditions.

• close wine bottles with a breathable stopper, for example made of light fabric or gauze;
• store bottles in a cool and clean room, in a wine cellar;
• once every 3-4 weeks, open all bottles, release accumulated gases, it is advisable to replace the caps;
• Store the prepared wine vinegar tightly closed with a tight stopper and in a cool place.

To improve the taste of the final product, you can add a small amount of sugar. It will become a breeding ground for bacteria, which will enhance vinegar fermentation.

Homemade wine vinegar differs favorably in taste from its store-bought counterpart; its use has a more positive effect on human health.

"It's not wine, it's vinegar." Stills from the film "Kin-dza-dza".

What affects the acidity of wine?

Although bacterial acidification of wine is a sure sign that it is spoiling, acidity itself is not such a sign. Each fermentation product has a certain level of acidity and it depends on the raw materials from which it is made.

Acid is no less important characteristic of the taste of a product than sweetness or aroma. Good taste is achieved through a combination of sweetness and acidity of the wine. Wines that are too sweet and have low levels of acidity seem bland and lack a refreshing note.

Some people prefer a wine with more acidity because it pairs perfectly with many dessert dishes.

In a cooler climate, there are more acids in the raw material and the wine is more acidic. However, in warm climates, sometimes the fruit harvest is deliberately harvested earlier in order to obtain wine with sourness.

Wine contains more than just tartaric acid. In addition to it, acids play an important role in the acidity of wine: malic, tartaric, citric, etc. High levels of acid can be found in all types of wines - red and white, dessert and sparkling.

Which wines have low, medium and high acidity?

The most famous wines with high acidity are Champagne, Madeira, Sauvignon Blanc and Burgundy.

There are simply no sparkling wines with medium and low acidity levels, but there are many red, white and dessert wines. Cabernet Sauvignon and real Chardonnay are considered medium in acid content.

There is very little acid in Muscat, Merlot and the so-called California Chardonnay.

In general, we can say that tartaric acid is very important for wine; do not be alarmed when it is mentioned. However, like any uncontrolled process, oxidation can lead to product spoilage. Therefore, compliance with production technology and storage rules is so important.

In order to become a professional and experienced winemaker, it will take not only a sufficient amount of time, but also a lot of effort aimed at research and practical experiments related to the nature of wine and its production. Also, during his training, the user must master and study each stage of making the drink, including maturation, fermentation and aging. But if the training time is not wasted, then the result of the home winemaker’s activities will be high-quality, tasty and enjoyable wine.

Despite the fact that many winemakers have extensive experience, even they have difficulties and difficulties caused by some of the characteristics of the alcoholic drink. One of the serious problems is the appearance of vinegar in wine, when the drink acquires an unpleasant odor that discourages anyone from drinking it. Vinegar in wine is a common disease that accompanies the preparation of homemade alcohol. Wine can turn into vinegar in a fairly short period of time. Moreover, not just some part, but the entire volume of wine becomes unsuitable for consumption.

Why does homemade wine turn into vinegar? How to avoid this problem? And what needs to be done if it has already occurred?

Vinegar in wine - causes and methods of control

In order to preserve homemade wine of high quality and suitable for consumption, it is important to observe certain technological features during its preparation. Since the main causes of wine souring are bacteria, the appearance of which in wine cannot be avoided, it is worth taking some precautions to prevent them from causing harm. Bacteria can negate the high quality of homemade wine in two cases:

• When the storage temperature of the drink varies between 15-40 degrees;
• If there is a large amount of oxygen in the fermentation tank.

Bacteria, under one of the listed conditions, begin to actively multiply and destroy alcohol molecules, due to which the process of souring begins. Within 3-6 days, wine can turn into vinegar, which will not only be unpleasant, but simply impossible to consume. The presence of a white film on the surface, as well as the appearance of a sharp sour odor, helps determine that souring has already occurred. There is practically no alcohol in this wine.

The problem of wine turning sour into vinegar haunts not only home winemakers, but also manufacturers of famous world brands of wine products. At the production level, this problem is solved by adding special additives, the most common of which is sulfur dioxide. This additive prevents the growth of bacteria and microorganisms, preserving wine from spoilage, but home winemakers are not recommended to use this method, because even a slight overdose of the additive can turn wine into a drink hazardous to health.

If the wine has completely turned into vinegar, it becomes impossible to change the situation. Wine can only be saved if it is noticed in the earliest stages of vinegar fermentation, which means 1-2 days after the start of souring. The appearance of alarming signals of souring requires immediate action from the home winemaker. What exact steps need to be taken accurately and quickly?

• The container with wine must be placed in a cool place where the temperature does not exceed 9 degrees Celsius;
• Carefully remove the formed film from the surface of the drink;
• The wine is poured into glass bottles, which are pre-sterilized. All bottles must be filled to the very top to avoid contact with oxygen;
• Bottles of wine are placed in a large container on a wooden base and water is poured to the level of the corks;
• The water in the pan is heated to a temperature of 65 degrees and the bottles are kept in it for 10-15 minutes, after which they are cooled.

If this approach does not help and the wine still smells strongly of vinegar, it is best to use it for some other purpose rather than for consumption. Any type of wine, both red and white, can produce excellent vinegar that can be used for household purposes. To obtain high-quality vinegar, you need to leave the container with sour wine open and keep it in this state for several days. It is important that at this time the room temperature should be 20-22 degrees.

Despite the fact that vinegar in wine is a problem that can befall any winemaker, with proper handling of raw materials, careful approach to the equipment used and adherence to preparation technologies, it is still possible to reduce this situation to a minimum. And if vinegar has already formed in the wine, the situation is not hopeless; everything can still be corrected.

Becoming a good winemaker is not easy. This will take months, if not years of constant practice. Creation of different varieties of wines: white, red, rose and sparkling. Fermentation, ripening... But then - the pleasure of your own success. Praise from family and friends.

But even professionals have failures. It happens that wine turns into vinegar after cooking. The characteristic smell and sour taste completely discourage the desire to drink such a drink. And the long-awaited “masterpiece” goes straight into the sink.

Wine souring is a fairly common wine disease. It can affect any wine, including those with long aging. An alcoholic drink can turn into vinegar in a very short time. In this case, the entire container will become unusable.

Why does homemade wine turn into vinegar? Possible reasons, how to find out about the beginning of the process and what to do to avoid souring - read on.

Reasons for souring

To ensure that wine does not have to be disposed of, first of all you need to observe the correct technological conditions when creating it.

The main culprits of vinegar souring are bacteria. It is almost impossible to exclude their appearance in wine. Even if all equipment is thoroughly sterilized, they will remain on the surface of the fruit. But they can harm the drink only in two cases:

• at high storage temperatures (from 15 to 40 degrees Celsius);
• with a large amount of oxygen in the fermentation container.

Such conditions create a favorable environment for the active activity of microorganisms. In addition, they begin to multiply quickly. Bacteria destroy alcohol molecules, starting the process of vinegar fermentation. It will take about 3-6 days for the wine to turn into vinegar. It all depends on the amount of oxygen, the characteristics of the wine drink and temperature. After this time, the volume of alcohol in the liquid will be no more than 2%.

It’s not difficult to determine that you have vinegar in front of you. A thin white film forms on the surface of the wine. A pungent odor and sour taste appears. The alcohol content is almost gone.

This happens not only with homemade, but also with factory wines. Large manufacturers, as a rule, solve the problem with additives. The most commonly used preservative is E220 (sulfur dioxide). It is added to almost every bottle of store-bought wine. It prevents the development of microorganisms, therefore, preserves alcohol from spoilage. At home, adding such a substance to wine is not recommended. Violation of the dosage will make the alcoholic drink hazardous to health.

How to save

It is impossible to correct wine that has already become vinegar. You can save the drink only at the initial stage of vinegar fermentation, in the first day or two. How do you know that the process of turning into vinegar has started? Main features:

• light vinegar smell;
• unpleasant taste;
• light bluish film on the surface.

If you notice such warning signs, you should not hesitate. Because bacteria won't wait. So what needs to be done.

1. Immediately remove containers with wine to a cool place, with a temperature no higher than 9 degrees Celsius.

2. Carefully remove the film from the surface of the liquid.

3. Pour the drink into clean, sterilized bottles. All containers must be filled to the top to avoid contact of wine with oxygen.

4. Place all containers in a large saucepan on a wooden stand and pour water to the level of the plugs.

5. Heat the water to 65 degrees Celsius and soak the bottles in it for about 10–15 minutes. Cool.

If pasteurization does not help, and the wine still tastes like vinegar, it is wiser to find another use for it. Both red and white wine will make quality vinegar. To do this, you need to leave a glass container with sour wine open for several weeks. All this time, you should maintain a temperature of 20–22 degrees Celsius.

Note to winemakers

In order not to encounter wine diseases, it is necessary to strictly observe all stages of wine production. Any mistake in the recipe will result in its damage. As a result, you will transfer good products and waste your energy.

A few tips to prevent wine from going sour.

• When making wine at home, use clean and dry equipment. All containers and equipment must be sterilized with boiling water.
• Sort the grapes carefully. Throw away rotten or moldy berries.
• Monitor the quality of water and sugar used.
• Dilute the wort as little as possible with water. This can reduce its acidity and spread bacteria.
• Use a water seal during fermentation. It prevents the penetration of oxygen into the wort and removes carbon dioxide. A rubber glove will also serve as a water seal. It is placed on the neck of the bottle and one finger is pierced.
• Wine should be stored in a cool room no higher than 10 degrees.
• Do not neglect any of the manufacturing stages. Violation of any point can lead to the formation of vinegar.
• Consume wine within the specified time frame. Homemade alcohol should be drunk within one and a half to two years from the date of its production.

Many winemakers make mistakes. Therefore, it is worth protecting yourself from vinegar poisoning in advance. An alcohol meter will help you distinguish wine from vinegar essence. If the device indicates the absence of alcohol in the drink, this is clearly not wine. Be sure to remember exactly where you made a mistake and only then try again.