FermenteaWhere food goes to change
Equipment · Tanks and vats
醋醅发酵缸 · cupei vat
An open ceramic vat holds the moist solid mash, or vinegar pei, during Shanxi aged vinegar’s aerobic acetic fermentation. A 2025 study records a Taiyuan example about 1 m wide and 1.2 m high.
At Shanxi Zilin Vinegar Industry in Taiyuan, ceramic vats about one metre in diameter and 1.2 metres high hold vinegar-pei during acetic fermentation. The sampling record spans the mash from its surface to the vat base, showing that workers handle a deep solid bed rather than a shallow layer. These dimensions apply to this documented factory, not to every Shanxi producer.
Vinegar pei (醋醅) is the moist solid fermentation material at this stage, not a vat filled with clear vinegar. Bran and rice husk are among the materials associated with the acetic-fermentation stage, but the reported ingredients do not establish one fixed mash formula. The vat’s open access lets workers reach the dense bed for turnover and sampling.
The acetic stage is aerobic and follows an earlier anaerobic alcoholic stage. Workers turn the vinegar pei during acidification to expose the mash to oxygen; turnover also reaches material through the depth of the bed. The vat’s open mouth lets workers work the mash as this stage proceeds.
Turning frequency varies by workshop. One producer describes daily turnover, while its account of a larger traditional workshop reports twice-daily turning. Those company-specific schedules should not be treated as a universal Shanxi method.
A company in Qingxu reports a traditional solid-state workshop with 10,000 ceramic vats and manual turnover twice a day. Its account attributes oxygen access to the earthenware, but this is a producer’s description, not a comparative test of ceramic against other materials. Dimensions are reported for the Taiyuan factory only; the Qingxu account does not specify the size of its vats.
The available descriptions establish ceramic construction and the open vat’s working role, but not a standard clay body, glaze, lining, firing method or supplier. They also give no cleaning or repair instructions. The generated image is an explanatory reconstruction, not a photograph of a named vat.
The inspected sources document current ceramic-vat use in Shanxi but do not date the origin of this vat form.
The 2025 study collected vinegar-pei samples from ceramic vats at Shanxi Zilin Vinegar Industry in Taiyuan; its reported dimensions apply to that documented factory.
Shuita locates its vinegar business in Qingxu and describes ceramic vats and turnover in its own traditional process; the sources do not establish that these are identical to the measured Taiyuan vats.
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Large ceramic jars hold distilled baijiu during maturation. Fenjiu documents rows of aging jars in Shanxi, including specially specified unglazed earthenware; available sources do not establish one universal shape, volume or closure.
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Foods 14(17), article 3095 (2025), via PubMed CentralForm · Dimensions · Documented use · Process · Geography
Insights into the Composition and Function of Virus Communities During Acetic Acid Fermentation of Shanxi Aged VinegarThe study documents traditionally handcrafted Shanxi aged vinegar fermenting in ceramic vats at Shanxi Zilin Vinegar Industry Co., Ltd. in Taiyuan, China.
It reports the vats as approximately 1 m in diameter and 1.2 m high.
Researchers sampled vinegar pei after turnover and from surface to base; the paper identifies the acetic-acid stage as aerobic.
The article identifies bran and rice husk among materials associated with acetic fermentation; it does not define one universal mash composition.
Cited in: A measured open vat; Air and turning; A living production vessel
Shanxi Shuita Vinegar IndustryTraditional use · Method · Process · Visual reference
Traditional FermentationShuita describes an open, oxygen-requiring acetic stage after alcoholic fermentation and daily turning of the vinegar pei to expose it to oxygen.
The producer describes its own process; its timing and operations are not universal specifications for every Shanxi vinegar maker.
Cited in: Air and turning
Shanxi Shuita Vinegar IndustryMaterials · Regional use · Present day use
企业简介 (Company Profile)Shuita reports a traditional solid-state vinegar workshop with 10,000 ceramic vinegar-pei fermentation vats and manual turning twice daily; this is the company's statement about its own operation.
Cited in: Air and turning; A living production vessel
Shuita MarketingVisual reference · Process
非遗太原｜清徐老陈醋酿制技艺：五艺精耕出珍味The page caption identifies a photograph of an apprentice turning vinegar-pei under a craft bearer’s guidance.
The photograph is an outside visual reference for the turning stage; reuse permission is not stated, so it is linked for reference only.