[brianc]

Hi all.
       New to preserving does anybody know if you can buy the vinegar that comes in pickled beetroot?
       It always tastes nice and sweet, is it a special type of vinegar.

[Mrs Bee]

It is not a special kind of vinegar, it is usually a mix of vinegar, sugar and spices and you can easily make your own.

I like to make pickled beetroot with lemon.
450ml vinegar must be 5% acidity. You can use cider, wine or distilled white vinegar. The latter being rather sharp!
2 lemons thinky sliced, pips and ends removed.
2 onions thinky sliced
2 x 15 ml spoons sugar
1 cinnamon stick
1 kg cooked beetroot sliced .

Put all ingredients except the beetroot in a large pan.
Bring to the boil and simmer for 1 minute.
Drain and reserve the vinegar.
Layer the beetroot with the lemons and onions in jars and pur in the beetroot to cover.
Seal with vinegar proof lids.

Or you can make your own spiced  vinegar to pickle the beetroot and add enough sugar to taste or to your liking.

I like this one. 2 litres of vinegar
1 tab each of black peppercorns, juniper berries,
allspice berries,  caraway seeds.
2 tsp dill or celery seeds.
2-3 bay leaves
2-3 garlic cloves crushed
2-3 dried chillies (optional)
2 tabs salt.

Put all the spices into a piece of muslin or a spice ball and bring to the boil in the vinegar. Boil for about 10 minutes
Leave to cool. I leave it over night and then remove the spice bag. If it is a little cloudy you can filter it through a coffee  filter.
If you like a sweet vinegar to can add sugar after the 10 minute boiling. I add it a table spoon at a time until I get the sweetness I like.

You can buy pickling vinegar which has the spices already in it, but I don't like these much and they don't have sugar  in any way. It is much more fun to use your own spices and make something that is unique.