Kevin, Sue straightened me out about "compost vs. compost".
AmberLeaf said:... plain white vinegar ... malt white vinegar I'm not sure if thats the same thing?
I agree with Elaine: since they all have vinegar (dilute acetic acid), they will all acidify things.
1.
"Distilled white vinegar" is made from distilled ethyl alcohol, which is then fermented. So it is almost chemically pure.
2.
I see that "white vinegar" can also be made "by diluting acetic acid", which begs the question: "How did they make the acetic acid in the first place?"
3.
"Malt white vinegar" is made by malting barley kernels (to turn starch into sugar), then fermenting the sugar into beer, and then letting the fermentation continue until vinegar is produced. I assume that they then distill it to get the vinegar out of the mash.
The only difference, aside from flavor and tiny amounts of non-vinegar fermentation products, would be the
strength of the vinegar. Most "kitchen" vinegar is somewhere around 5% acetic acid and 95% water, with flavors etc probably making up much less than 1%. Maybe less than 0.1%.
If malt vinegar was, say, 4%, you might have to use an extra fifth as much to get the same strength as 5% vinegar.
(Edited "99%" to "95%")
