Is 'distilled malt vinegar' the same as 'white vinegar'?
This was a question raised in a local community thread, prompted by the labelling of Sainsbury's (cheap) colourless malt vinegar.
The simple answer is: 'yes', which I discovered by reading a section of the Wikipedia article about vinegar: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinegar#Spirits
This is the relevant paragraph:
"The term "distilled vinegar" as used in the United States (called "spirit vinegar" in the UK, "white vinegar" in Canada) is something of a misnomer because it is not produced by distillation but by fermentation of distilled alcohol. The fermentate is diluted to produce a colorless solution of 5% to 8% acetic acid in water, with a pH of about 2.6. This is variously known as distilled spirit, "virgin" vinegar, or white vinegar, and is used in cooking, baking, meat preservation, and pickling, as well as for medicinal, laboratory, and cleaning purposes. The most common starting material in some regions, because of its low cost, is barley malt, or in the United States, corn. It is sometimes derived from petroleum. Distilled vinegar is used predominantly for cooking, although in the UK it is used as an alternative to brown or light malt vinegar. White distilled vinegar can also be used for cleaning, and some is actually sold specifically for this purpose. "
[As an aside, if you are ever offered "non-brewed condiment" for your chips, the acetic acid has been produced using chemical processes rather than fermentation. It's kind of 'artificial vinegar'!]
The simple answer is: 'yes', which I discovered by reading a section of the Wikipedia article about vinegar: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinegar#Spirits
This is the relevant paragraph:
"The term "distilled vinegar" as used in the United States (called "spirit vinegar" in the UK, "white vinegar" in Canada) is something of a misnomer because it is not produced by distillation but by fermentation of distilled alcohol. The fermentate is diluted to produce a colorless solution of 5% to 8% acetic acid in water, with a pH of about 2.6. This is variously known as distilled spirit, "virgin" vinegar, or white vinegar, and is used in cooking, baking, meat preservation, and pickling, as well as for medicinal, laboratory, and cleaning purposes. The most common starting material in some regions, because of its low cost, is barley malt, or in the United States, corn. It is sometimes derived from petroleum. Distilled vinegar is used predominantly for cooking, although in the UK it is used as an alternative to brown or light malt vinegar. White distilled vinegar can also be used for cleaning, and some is actually sold specifically for this purpose. "
[As an aside, if you are ever offered "non-brewed condiment" for your chips, the acetic acid has been produced using chemical processes rather than fermentation. It's kind of 'artificial vinegar'!]
