Status

Date

Open
04. / 05. April 2025

There are a limited number of participants, so that each participant can make the analysis and preparation of vinegar by himself.

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Vinegar Making Classes of Dr. Schmickl – the Original

since 1998 in Klagenfurt on Lake Wörthersee

Original seal

Learn how to produce high quality vinegar (e.g. apple cider vinegar, wine vinegar, sloe vinegar, balsamic vinegar, beer vinegar, raisin vinegar, etc.) yourself in the vinegar course. In the vinegar making workshop the entire production process – from harvesting, crushing, alcoholic fermentation, vinegar fermentation, analysis – is covered in great detail, please refer to the seminar program to learn how to produce vinegar. 2 different kinds of vinegar are produced, 3 other kinds of vinegar are analyzed. We ourselves have already produced more than 60 different kinds of vinegar, a selection is available for tasting and taking away at the vinegar course.

Start and finish a surface and generator process with our vinegar generator by yourself. Participants work independently with all necessary vinegar making equipment to analyze the acidity and residual alcohol content. Tasting of about 30 different types of vinegar. Limited number of participants.

Instruction will be thorough and easy to understand, encompassing the entirety of this specialized subject. The vinegar course is aimed at interested producers, farmers, small businesses, etc. Each class begins on a Friday with theoretical instruction; the practical segment takes the whole Saturday.

Vinegar Making Classes led by

Bettina Malle, DScTech, MScEng, BBA
Helge Schmickl, DScTech, MScEng, BBA
Authors of the books The Artisanal Vinegar Maker’s Handbook and Essig herstellen als Hobby.

Biography of Malle and Schmickl
Dr. Bettina Malle
malle
Dr. Helge Schmickl
schmickl

Bettina Malle and Helge Schmickl graduated from the Vienna University of Technology in 1991 with a master of science in chemical engineering and received doctorates in technical sciences in 1993. Each earned a bachelor of business administration degree from the Graduate School of Business Administration Zurich while designing, engineering, and commissioning industrial plants and managing research and development projects. Thereafter they worked as technical and business consultants until 1998.

Malle and Schmickl believe it should be possible for everyone to produce exquisite spirits with fruit and herbs right from the garden. In 1998, they developed their first still, designed to maximize the flavor of alcoholic distillates. That same year, they launched their first webpage and online store and began to host small-scale distilling workshops. They published the results and conclusions of their experiments as well as detailed instructions and many recipes for crafting distilled spirits in their 2003 book Schnapsbrennen als Hobby (The Artisan’s Guide to Crafting Distilled Spirits). It became the standard reference book for home distillers in German-spoken countries and is now in its eleventh Edition.

In the meantime they designed and constructed an optimized still for producing essential oils and hydrosols on a small scale. Due to its special designed condenser and adapted shape, the still makes it possible to obtain plenty of oil and intense hydrosols with only small amounts of base material. The two have hosted essential oil workshops and an online store since 2002 and published the reference book Ätherische Öle selbst herstellen (The Essential Oils Maker’s Handbook) in 2005. The book is now in its sixth edition, and Malle and Schmickl’s still is the preferred device among small-scale users in the fields of phyto-aromatherapy and herbology throughout the German-speaking region. It is widely used in many other courses, workshops, and seminaries as well as in research institutes, universities, colleges, and other educational Services.

In 2008 Schmickl and Malle engineered and constructed a small-scale, modified vinegar generator that is a fixed-bed reactor with immobilized vinegar bacteria. The construction enables the use of miscellaneous packing materials, especially fruit, herbs, and spices, to improve or change the taste of the resulting vinegar. Additionally they developed a method to analyze the residual alcohol content in vinegar, which is simple, cheap, and accurate enough to determine a concentration of 0.1 percent. Their book Essig herstellen als Hobby (The Artisanal Vinegar Maker’s Handbook) was published in 2010, they have hosted vinegar workshops and their vinegar webpage with online store since 2011.

Bettina and Helge have been married since 2002. That same year they moved to Klagenfurt, Carinthia (Austria), where they host their seminars and conduct research and developments in fermenting and distilling. They have two children.

Costs

420.– Euro per student (including value-added tax of 20%).
For services included, see the Vinegar Making Workshop – Program

Vouchers

If you would like to order the distilling seminar as a gift, mark the checkbox I would like a gift certificate in the registration form, and state the name of the recipient in the field underneath. If you would like the recipient to choose the date themselves, select open date under the date. Unless you request otherwise, we will print the gift certificate on special colored paper and send it by regular mail.

Venue

We are located in Klagenfurt on Lake Wörthersee in Carinthia (Austria/Europe), a famous holiday area within the Southern Alps. See our contact page for the address. We will provide a list of nearby accommodations of all prices along with your confirmation of course registration.

approx. 1 km distance from highway exit “Klagenfurt Nord”
  approx. 1 km distance from the Airport Klagenfurt
  approx. 5 km distance from the Klagenfurt central railroad station for long-distance trains, also accessible by urban bus

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Registration

For a gift certificate, mark the respective checkbox in the registration form, and state the name of the recipient in the field underneath. If an open date is selected, the recipient can choose the date themselves. Unless you request otherwise, we will print the gift certificate on special colored paper and send it by regular mail.

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Cost: 420.00 euro per person (incl. 20% VAT.)

General terms and conditions of business

  • Registration is binding and will be booked in the order of receipt. If the event is already fully booked, we will contact you immediately; otherwise we will send you the confirmation of your registration.
  • The fee for the course is due upon receipt of the confirmation of registration. The payment shall be made within a period of three weeks following the confirmation of registration; otherwise the reservation will be automatically cancelled.
  • Participation in the seminar is transferable.
  • To change a reservation: You can rebook for a different date or another event at any time; please notify us in writing. Rebooking fee:
    • Up to 4 weeks before the start of the event: free of charge
    • 4-2 weeks prior to the start of the event: 100.-- EUR
    • 2 weeks or less before the start of the event: 200.-- EUR
  • Cancellation or failing to appear: You can withdraw from the contract at any time. This is only possible if you notify us ahead of time in writing. Please note that we charge the following fees:
    • Cancellation more than 4 weeks before the start of the event: 100.-- EUR
    • Cancellation 4 weeks or less before the event begins: full participation fee
    • Nonattendance of a registered participant: full participation fee
  • Gift Cards:
    • The same rebooking conditions as above apply for gift cards.
    • A cancellation or cash refund is not possible.
    • Gift cards remain valid indefinitely. If the seminar price has risen a year or later after the date of issue, the participant must pay the difference.