- Season
- Available all year; used most in the summer and autumn pickling season
- Price
- Low
- Nutrition per 100 g
- 18 kcal
- 0 g protein
- 0 g fat
- 0 g carbs
Fermented Vinegar
Oils and vinegars
Fermented Vinegar
Ocet kvasný (in full ocet kvasný lihový, "fermented spirit vinegar") is the cheap, everyday table vinegar sold in every Czech supermarket, typically in 1-litre plastic or glass bottles at 8% acidity. It is made when acetic acid bacteria, mainly of the genus Acetobacter, ferment diluted agricultural ethanol (distilled from grain, potatoes or sugar beet) into acetic acid.
In practice
How to store
- On the counter
Store it closed, at room temperature, in a dark cupboard away from direct sunlight. Producers recommend 1–25 °C. Its acidity keeps it stable, and producers describe its shelf life as practically unlimited. Still, follow the best-before date on the label. A light, harmless sediment or a cloudy 'mother' film can sometimes appear; the law permits fine sediment.
- In the fridge
Not necessary. Refrigerating does no harm, but it gives no benefit for unopened or opened bottles.
- In the freezer
Do not freeze. It does not need it, and the liquid can crack glass bottles.
How to choose
Read the label for the acidity, which must be stated as a percentage (m/V). Czech law allows the real acetic acid content to fall below the declared figure by no more than 0.2 percentage points. 8% is the household standard that recipes assume. 10% is stronger and uncoloured, and 5% is a ready-to-use, uncoloured version often sold for catering. Check the ingredients if colour or flavour matters. Many 8% bottles contain caramel colouring and tarragon aroma, which can tint and flavour a clear pickle brine. Choose an uncoloured 10% or 5% vinegar if you want a neutral taste or colour. The word "lihový" means spirit vinegar. "Vinný" (wine) and "jablečný"/"ovocný" (apple/fruit) are different, more aromatic products. "Ochucený" means flavoured, for example with garlic, herbs or chilli. Vinegar sold "na úklid" is meant for cleaning; for food, buy only bottles labelled as food.
What to swap in
Best swap
Uncoloured 10% or 5% Czech spirit vinegar, adjusted to the same acidity. Outside Czechia, any white spirit vinegar (sold as 'distilled' or 'spirit' vinegar) is the same product type. Check its percentage and dilute to match 8%.
In a pinch
Apple (jablečný) or white wine vinegar, usually 5–6% acidity: use more and expect a fruitier taste. Lemon juice works in salads and sauces, but not in pickle brines, whose acidity must be reliable.
Preparation
Czech household vinegar is almost never used neat. For pickle brines (nálev), it is mixed with water, sugar and salt to a recipe's ratios; a common ratio for salad dressing or table use is roughly 1 part 8% vinegar to 4–5 parts water. Dilute to taste, then add sugar and salt, which soften its sharpness. If a recipe was written for 8% and you have 10% or 5%, adjust the amount to the same quantity of acetic acid. For example, 100 ml of 8% equals about 80 ml of 10% or 160 ml of 5% (reduce or increase the added water accordingly). Safety: concentrated vinegar irritates the eyes and skin, so keep bottles out of children's reach. Use glass, stainless steel, enamel or food-grade plastic. Avoid holding vinegar mixtures in aluminium, copper or chipped enamel, as the acid reacts with these metals. For home canning, follow a tested recipe's acidity and heat-processing steps; vinegar alone does not replace proper pasteurisation of jars.
Don't toss it
A diluted solution of food-grade spirit vinegar removes limescale from kettles, taps and shower heads. Leftover pickle brine can be reused once to marinate onions for tlačenka, or to sharpen a potato salad dressing, as long as it is kept in the fridge and used within a few days.
In the kitchen
Cooking
Pickling and preserving is its main use in Czech kitchens: sterilizované okurky (pickled cucumbers), red beetroot, pickled mushrooms, mixed vegetables and peppers. It also makes the sweet-sour brine for utopenci (pickled sausages with onion). Vinegar diluted with water, sugar and salt is the classic dressing for Czech cucumber salad (okurkový salát), cabbage salad and potato salad. It is also served on tlačenka (Czech brawn) and on sliced onion with sausages. In cooked dishes, a little vinegar sharpens sauces such as svíčková, lentil and bean dishes, and sweet-and-sour sauces. It also goes into marinades for meat and fish. Add it towards the end of cooking if you want a noticeable sourness, because long boiling drives off some of the aroma.
Goes well with
- Cucumbers
- Onions
- Sugar
- Mustard Seed
- Dill
- Allspice
- Bay Leaf
- Black Pepper
- Beetroot
- Cabbage
- Špekáčky And Sausages
- Tlačenka
- Potatoes
- Sunflower Oil
What it is
Ocet kvasný (in full ocet kvasný lihový, "fermented spirit vinegar") is the cheap, everyday table vinegar sold in every Czech supermarket, typically in 1-litre plastic or glass bottles at 8% acidity. It is made when acetic acid bacteria, mainly of the genus Acetobacter, ferment diluted agricultural ethanol (distilled from grain, potatoes or sugar beet) into acetic acid. Czech law (vyhláška 248/2018 Sb.) defines kvasný ocet as an acidifying food made only by the biological souring of alcohol by acetic acid bacteria. Synthetic acetic acid cannot be sold under the name "ocet". The law sorts vinegar into groups: lihový (spirit), vinný (wine), ovocný (fruit) and the subgroup ochucený (flavoured). The plain spirit vinegar is what Czech recipes mean when they simply say "ocet". The common 8% version from major brands such as Pikant, Bzenecký and Kávoviny usually contains water, spirit vinegar, caramel colouring (E150c) and tarragon aroma. This gives it a pale yellowish tint and a faint herbal note. Uncoloured 10% ("bílý ocet") and 5% versions are also sold.
How it tastes
Very sharp and clean. It is pure acidity with almost no fruit or wood character, unlike wine or cider vinegar. In the common 8% coloured version, the tarragon aroma adds a faint herbal, slightly anise-like note, which you can taste in pickle brines. The 10% and 5% uncoloured versions taste neutral. Straight from the bottle it is too harsh to taste; in dishes it is always diluted with water, sugar, salt or oil.
Common questions
What is the difference between ocet kvasný and synthetic vinegar?
Why is my 8% vinegar slightly yellow?
Can I use 10% vinegar in a recipe written for 8%?
Does ocet kvasný go off?
Is it the same as 'distilled white vinegar'?
Is ocet kvasný gluten-free?
Deep dive
3 min read
Varieties
By acidity.
8% is the standard household vinegar, often coloured with caramel and flavoured with tarragon aroma. 10% (often sold as "bílý ocet") is uncoloured and unflavoured. 5% is uncoloured, ready to use, and made by diluting the stronger fermented base vinegar with water. Vinegar makers ferment to higher strengths, around 12–14%, and dilute this base for sale. Czech law caps acidity at 25%.
Ochucený (flavoured) spirit vinegar.
This is spirit vinegar flavoured with spice or herb extracts, for example garlic, chilli or herbs. Weaker flavoured salad vinegars are also sold.
Related but different products.
Vinný ocet (wine vinegar) and ovocný ocet (fruit vinegar, including jablečný/apple) are made from wine or fruit wine. Under Czech law, no more than 49% of their acidity may come from added spirit vinegar. They are more aromatic and usually weaker. Balsamic vinegar and Asian rice vinegars are separate products and do not replace plain ocet in Czech pickling recipes without adjustment.
Not food.
Vinegar sold for cleaning, and concentrated acetic acid (kyselina octová) sold as a chemical, are not the food product described here.
History
Vinegar has been made since ancient times, from whatever alcohol each region had: wine in the south, beer and fruit wines further north. In the Czech lands, cheap spirit distilled from grain, potatoes and sugar beet became the usual raw material, and spirit vinegar became the standard household acidifier. Traditional vinegar works used the slow method, in which diluted spirit trickles over beech shavings colonised by acetic bacteria. Some producers still describe this method today. Today a handful of Czech producers, among them Pikant in Ostrava, Burg Ocet in Bzenec and Kávoviny, supply the market. Under current Czech regulation, only fermented vinegar may be called "ocet".
Science
Acetic acid bacteria, mainly Acetobacter, oxidise ethanol to acetic acid; they need oxygen. The raw material is diluted agricultural ethanol enriched with nutrients for the bacteria. Production uses either the traditional generator method, where the liquid trickles over beech shavings that carry the bacteria, or submerged fermentation in aerated tanks. Synthetic alcohol may not be used.
The finished vinegar is diluted with drinking water to the declared acidity. The acidity is expressed as grams of acetic acid per 100 ml (m/V), so 8% means about 8 g per 100 ml.
Vinegar preserves vegetables mainly by lowering pH, which together with salt, sugar and heat treatment inhibits spoilage organisms. This is why pickle recipes specify the vinegar's strength. Caramel colouring (E150c) and tarragon aroma in the 8% product affect only colour and flavour, not acidity.
Sourcing and ethics
Czech spirit vinegar is made domestically from agricultural ethanol made from grain, potatoes or sugar beet. It is a low-impact, long-keeping staple sold mostly in 1-litre PET or glass bottles. Some zero-waste shops and producers also sell it loose or in refillable canisters. Some products carry Czech quality marks such as KLASA or "Český výrobek".
Allergens: none of the EU's 14 listed allergens are typically present. EU rules exempt cereals used to make distillates, including ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin, from allergen labelling. Coeliacs should still check individual labels, especially for flavoured vinegars.