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Vinegar from Korea

Makgeolli vinegar (makgeolli-sikcho) and Korean rice vinegars막걸리식초

Makgeolli vinegar is Korean rice wine soured into vinegar. In the lab studies read here the wine is seeded with acetic bacteria and shaken warm until the alcohol has turned to acetic acid, at 30 °C for about 17–20 days, reaching about 4 % total acid, close to the Korean minimum for fermented vinegar. One study diluted the wine to 6 % ethanol first.

Fully documentedVinegar17 days – 20 daysFamily: Makgeolli (takju, nongju)

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedLab studies, not a fixed traditional recipe; the shown values are from acetifying rice wine in the lab.
Makgeolli or rice wine made with nurukWhite or brown rice; germinated brown rice in one study[kvin2025][park2010]
WaterTo bring the wine to about 6 % ethanol before acetification[park2010]
Acetic acid bacteria or seed vinegarAcetobacter pasteurianus isolated from natural vinegar in one study[lee2017]
Starterseed vinegar (jongcho) or selected Acetobacter pasteurianus; nuruk for the rice wine

Total time across the recorded steps: 17 days – 20 days

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
shapes, not to countAcetobacter pasteurianusAlcoholAcetic acid

What changes: Rice and nuruk ferment into cloudy rice wine

Step 1 of 4
Brew makgeolli from rice and nuruk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Acetobacter pasteurianus
Acetobacter

Output: makgeolli.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Makgeolli vinegar is Korean rice wine soured into vinegar. In the lab studies read here the wine is seeded with acetic bacteria and shaken warm until the alcohol has turned to acetic acid, at 30 °C for about 17–20 days, reaching about 4 % total acid, close to the Korean minimum for fermented vinegar. One study diluted the wine to 6 % ethanol first. Made in 4 steps over 17 days – 20 days. The longest step, acetic fermentation in warm, aerated conditions, takes 17–20 days (Park C.-S 2010) and runs at 30 °C (Park C.-S 2010). Acetobacter pasteurianus does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step17–20 daysReported[park2010][lee2017]Acetic fermentation in warm, aerated conditions
Temperature30 °CReported[park2010][lee2017]Acetic fermentation in warm, aerated conditions
AciditypH 4.3–4.4 → 3.2Measured[park2010]Acetic fermentation in warm, aerated conditions

What makes this one different

Makgeolli is drunk young, while makgeolli vinegar takes the same rice wine on to a second, acetic stage that needs air and about 17–20 days at 30 °C in lab studies [park2010, lee2017]. The commercial Korean grain vinegars in one survey were made from an alcoholic drink of brown and white rice and nuruk [kvin2025].

Related ferments

Variants

  • Brown rice vinegar (hyeonmi sikcho)Made from brown rice wine; one study used germinated brown rice with 10–50 % red pepper [park2010].
  • Makgeolli seed vinegar (jongcho)A rice wine vinegar made with a selected Acetobacter pasteurianus strain, which the study calls a seed vinegar [lee2017].

Safety

The Korea Food Code sets a minimum total acid of 4 % for fermented vinegar (2.6 % for persimmon vinegar) [kvin2025].

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

The Encyclopedia of Korean Culture (Kim Chan-jo, 1995) says it is not known when Koreans began to use vinegar, and that vinegar probably arose together with alcoholic drinks. It names the Joseon text Gosa chwaryo as the first with a vinegar method, a barley vinegar, and quotes a Gyuhap chongseo recipe that sours roasted nuruk powder in water with steamed glutinous rice in a sealed jar left in the sun [ek-sikcho].

  1. [lee2017] Lee H.-B., Oh H., Jeong D.-Y., Jun H.-I., Song G.-S., Kim Y.-S. 2017, Isolation and characterization of acetic acid bacteria for producing "Makgeolli seed-vinegar", Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition 46(10):1216–1224, doi:10.3746/jkfn.2017.46.10.1216paper
  2. [park2010] Park C.-S., Kim K.-S., Noh J.-G., Rho C.-W., Yoon H.-S. 2010, Quality characteristics of the germinated brown rice vinegar added with red pepper, Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition 39(4):567–572, doi:10.3746/jkfn.2010.39.4.567paper
  3. [kvin2025] Yu H.H., Jang S.-W., Kim E., Kim J.-C., Jang M. 2025, Quality status and skin-related functional properties of traditional Korean fermented vinegars, Foods 14(15):2728, doi:10.3390/foods14152728paper
  4. [ek-sikcho] Kim Chan-jo, Encyclopedia of Korean Culture (한국민족문화대백과사전), Academy of Korean Studies, article 식초 (vinegar), written 1995, last revised 2023, read 2026-10book
  5. [WP:Makgeolli] Wikipedia, Makgeolli (outline only)wiki