Troubleshooting red wine vinegar --mother issues

I'm bottling my red wine vinegar. I started with an organic commercial starter and the resulting "mother" is the consistency of beefsteak, not the livery, slippery, lovely mass I hear others talk about. I also make kombucha which has a very solid mother like the one I have in this vinegar. Have I made wine-bucha?

arcane54
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Susan W. August 9, 2015
I think it may have to do with the season (hot in most places) and the fact you started with a commercial starter, so it's robust. I know when I first started making Kombucha, I bought a SCOBY from Kombucha Kamp. It grew into a monster. The same thing happens to my SCOBYs in summer. They practically need their own room. I imagine the same thing can happen with vinegar mothers. Here's a link to a photo of one that looks like what you are describing.
http://www.eattheweeds.com/vinegar-your-own-unique-strain/
 
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