Why it works: Hops and malt work together. They rank in the top 49% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓
Treacle Vinegar
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Combine 1 lb of treacle with 2 quarts of boiling water in a 3‑gallon vessel, and stir well until the treacle is fully mixed.
Add 6 quarts of cold water and 1 teacup of yeast.
Ferment
Transfer the mixture to a clean cask and seal it.
If fermentation is vigorous, leave the bung out for a day or two.
Let it sit for 2 to 3 days before drinking.
For improved flavor, add a few hops and a little dry malt if kept longer.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Hops + malttop 49% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1 recipe
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Treacle
- Provides the sugar that the yeast ferments into alcohol and gives the drink its sweetness and flavor.
- Yeast
- Ferments the sugars into alcohol and carbon dioxide, driving the fermentation.
The step that matters
Leave the bung out during vigorous fermentation. Active yeast releases carbon dioxide quickly. If the cask is sealed tightly while fermentation is vigorous, pressure can build up and the vessel may burst or be damaged. Letting gas escape keeps the cask safe.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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