To Make Alegar:

Take some good sweet wort
before it is hopped,
put it into a jar,
and a little yeast
(when it becomes lukewarm),
and cover it over.

In three or four days
it will have done fermenting;
set it in the sun,
and it will be fit for use
in three or four months,
or much sooner,
if fermented with sour yeast,
and mixed with an equal quantity of sour ale.

Ain't nobody got time for that! Not these days, especially considering the ease of obtaining a good quality malt vinegar. Or, possibly even better, a nice sour ale, like Monk's Cafe Flemish Sour. There are plenty of other brews in the craft beer category of sours that would work equally well, both as a condiment on their own or as an ingredient in a vinaigrette or marinade for example. Just find one with the same, or complementary, flavors as the dish for which it is intended. (And, to drink along with, too!)

Source:
The Cook and Housekeeper's Complete and Universal Dictionary; Including a System of Modern Cookery, in all its Various Branches,
Adapted to the Use of Private Families: also a Variety of Original and Valuable information
by Mrs. Mary Eaton 1823

205

Al"e*gar (#), n. [Ale + eager sour, F. aigre. Cf. Vinegar.]

Sour ale; vinegar made of ale.

Cecil.

 

© Webster 1913.

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