Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Is spirit vinegar halal to consume?
Walaikum assalam wa rahmatullah,
Vinegar is permitted even if its origin is spirits or wine, and even if it did not transform by itself but required an external agent. [Ibn Abidin, Radd al-Muhtar]
And Allah alone gives success.
Wassalam,
The Encyclopaedia Britannica states:
Vinegar
sour liquid that is made by the fermentation of any of numerous dilute alcoholic liquids into a liquid containing acetic acid. Vinegar may be produced from a variety of materials: apples or grapes (wine or cider vinegar); malted barley or oats (malt vinegar); and industrial alcohol (distilled white vinegar). There are also vinegars made from beer, sugars, rice, and other substances. As a commercial product, however, vinegar was probably first made from wine (French vin, “wine”; aigre, “sour”).
Vinegar can be made from any liquid that is capable of being converted into alcohol in a two-step process. The fruit juice or other liquid contains sugar, which is converted into alcohol and carbon dioxide gas by the actions of yeast enzymes. The alcohol thus formed combines with atmospheric oxygen by the action of Acetobacter bacteria, forming acetic acid and water. Organic acids and esters derived from the fruit or other source material are also present and are responsible for the flavour and aroma variations of vinegar. Table vinegar contains approximately 4 percent acetic acid.