Ok, so I read this really interesting post about fermenting grains, now I have been soaking, sprouting and making fodder but let me tell ya, fodder needs alot of space, so the idea of being able to ferment some of the grains in a big old 55 gallon drum in a full bag at a time sounds so easy compared to the work involved in some of the ones above
Now the issue I am really having with this is that, its old timer knowledge and so I can find lots of folks online talking about it but what I can’t find is some really rock solid studies to back some of the claims being made, the one that I really want to track down is the idea that a fermented grain is higher in protein then just soaked or sprouted grains are.
Having said that, ferment grain does make sense to me, the research does seem to very much support the idea of increasing digestable, overall increase in health and it is no surprise to me at all that they are talking about a “bloom of health” and in much less proven terms upward of up to ten percent increase in growth..
I question how many folks split a litter or two or ten into two groups, raised them out with tracking involved to really see this but none the less, anything that can increase growth and overall health is something that I am interested in learning if its true or not.
So the way in a nut shell you need whole or cracked grains, a big old tub/barrel or bucket, water and mother.. now the top ones are easy enough to get, and normally I would tell you getting mother would be fairly easy as well but its late winter, and almost all my homemade vinagers are done and there is little to no fresh fruits, so making vinager has not been on my mind..
No problem right, Braggs all natural vinager to the rescue, love LOVE this apple cider vinager, had some in the cupboard but for the volume I would need, I went shopping and I am stunned to see that after hitting every single store for days, I can find all kinds of vinager but not my wonderful Braggs, I have one last place to check locally before I need to pick it up in the city (which is nuts, I should not have to drive an hour to get this!)
So today I said, hmmm, fresh fruit to make homemade vinager.. well I have a huge ripe mango, that will do. nice little crock of mango, water and mother added together and placed on the top of the fridge to get the right warm temps for her to grow and grow..
A second batch going into grain itself, because once you get the grain started, you should be able to get the mother from the grain buckets if you do it right..
Do you ferment grain and if so, do you make your own homemade mother starter or do you always buy and use something like Braggs? And second, anyone else notice the lack of braggs in their local food stores? I really don’t understand it, there was every kind of dead vinager you can get, but none with live culture..
Just another Day on the Farm 
Hey FarmGal, I attempted to make my own ACV by adding the left-over mother from the last jug into 4L (well, more like 3 by the time I stopped drinking it; ) of fresh cider. Not sure if my experiment was a success, or not… Have you ever made your own in the fall?
Not cider, as I have limited apples but do make grape, elderberry and chokeberry vinagers, have even done rhubarb, perhaps in another ten years, I will have enough apples on the farm to be able to do something like that but right now, we wild pick to suppliment what we grow and I need what I have into apple sauce.
So, how hard is it to make vinegar when you already have a good chunk of mother? Have you written about this already?
If you already have the mother, its just a matter of a container, warmth and food.. its alot easier to make a vinagar then it is to make wine, or at least I find it so.. I don’t know if I have written about it in detail before but i can certianly do so with details in regards to my own grapes.
As for your question on ruining the current batch, if you add mother and some sweetener to feed it, as long as the apple is good (no mold etc) then I don’t see why you could not restart it, depending on temps, it can take months to turn into a good qaulity vinager.
I’m wondering if I’ve already ruined this batch (or if I can resurrect it with a little sweetener to get things going again)?
Lots of people, myself included, are adding to water for their chickens. They really like it and my dog and cat slip into the run to drink from the chickens water. It is great for gut health and slows the slime growth in the water.
I read the same article and want to change from sprouting to fermenting. Could we use whey as the culture to add to the barrel? When I soak grains for my family whey is what is used. I have some homemade ACV but did not want to use it all up on the animals. On the other hand, I have lots of whey.
Well, I think it would work but I guess the only way we will find out is to try it, I have lots of whey around these days, I am going to be doing it with whole barley, and I will report back to you on how it worked, would love to hear who yours goes as well.
I am not sure I am willing to take it all to fermenting, sprouting appears to have other good things, I think of it more as a add to, raither then a replace idea.. I hear you about the ACV, which is why I think figuring out how to make a different easily available vinager with mother from things that are very much available on the farm is the way I want to be able to go..
I am assuming your whey is from raw milk products and not heated or cooked?
Yes, it is from raw milk cheese. I have studied quite a bit about making grain more nutritious for my family and it makes sense I can use the same processes for the animals. In the house we use sourdough, soaking (fermenting), and sprouting interchangably. While we use sprouting to make the grain more digestable, I can’t possibly get enough sprout growth to make it worthwhile for increasing fodder. I just don’t have time nor room for the quantity we go through. I feed about 1/2 ton per month.
I don’t ferment grains but I make all kinds of vinegars – here’s a link to a post I did about learning how to make a mother. I’ve kept a couple jars going this winter so I have a stock of mothers at the moment. I’m currently trying to make honey vinegar from the mead I made before christmas!
http://backyardfarmsto.blogspot.ca/2011/01/probiotics-part-3-making-vinegar.html