Accidic

Recipes 

@Zeapo,
The original posters clearly stated that it was ok per the recipe sources to stir even during the process. They also say that they don't bother. As Lead said, any time you touch it you run risk of contamination. I did not see anything about bacteria but there is Beni or Koji mold on the balls you use. I've still yet to read a single person getting sick from consuming the mold and some of them posted some amazing mold pics earlier in the thread.

Leadgolem

Recipes 

I'm thinking stirring may cause the activity level of the bugs making the tangy flavors go up. Like I said though, it's speculation.

I've only stirred one batch. That batch was a pita to get any liquid out of. That may have had another cause though. One observation does not a trend make.

Oh, I don't think it will hurt you. I was just thinking it might not taste as good.


I grew up in western Washington state. Mold is pretty much ubiquitous there. I never could understand why people freak out about it in other parts of the country. Besides, what do you think is flavoring your blue cheese?

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HopHeaven

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Getting pretty pumped. At a little over a week in, my 5 cups of rice has started to float on the liquid that has accumulated. Looking good so far...just hope that acetone smell goes away with time

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Primary: JAOM, RiceWine. Wine soaked raisin Apfelwein

Secondary: Skeeter Pee, Cyser, Tree Sap Cider,

Drinking: Milk Mead, Apfelwein, Grape Mead, Cranberry Pomegranate Cider, Cherry Berry Cider

Future: Strawberry/ Raspberry Cider , Apple Ginger Cider

SFGiantsFan925

Recipes 

Well, 3 more jars of all Jasmine started, and now all 3 have been in the dark, and all have an acetone smell so far. I am going to let them go the full 21 days and see if its just a phase. I have not moved them, opened them, swirled them or anything. It must be the yeast balls that I am using. Ill have to try a different one I guess.

bruin_ale

Recipes 

Just started a batch yesterday, 6 cups of jasmine.
What yeast balls are you using SFGiantsFan?

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San Jose Homebrew Club - The Grain Trust

SFGiantsFan925

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I posted a picture earlier in the thread. They are from a Ranch 99 Market in Concord, CA. Just the generic ones. Its a large bag with packages of 2 balls each. Not sure why i am getting this acetone smell.

Would it be a problem if I jarred my rice/ yeast blend while the jars were still damp from StarSan? Not sure if that would somehow cause the acetone smell. Do the jars have to be completely dry? I figured it was like my beer where it didnt matter. Maybe it does??

FYI: The picture of the ones I used is on page 80.

bruin_ale

Recipes 

thanks for telling me what page, I read about 50 pages then skipped to the last 10-20 pages so I missed the pic you posted. I'm using something different, so I can't rule out the yeast ball if mine turns out without the acetone smell. I didn't dry my container out, it was definitely still damp with StarSan, I don't think it should matter - but this is my first batch so I don't know for sure.

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San Jose Homebrew Club - The Grain Trust

Leadgolem

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Here's the update on the different grains experiment. It has now been 7 days since the rice was inoculated with the crushed yeast balls. I will admit I am rather surprised by the results.

Wheat Berries: Fairly vigorous white mold growing on them, no visible liquid in the jar.
Brown Rice: A small amount of liquid is visible in the bottom of the jar.
Basmati Rice: About 1/2 an inch of liquid separated from the rice.
Long Grain White Rice: Visible liquid in the jar, no separation of liquid and rice.
Jasmine Rice: About 3/4 of an inch of liquid separated from the rice.
Japanese Sweet Rice: About 1 inch of liquid separated from the rice, and visible mold growth on the top of the rice.

The first surprise to me is that the wheat berries are doing anything at all. I rather expected to get several kinds of unpleasant growths on the cooked grain and have to throw it out. Since it is growing only the white mold that I've seen on other batches of rice wine, I'm going to give it some time and see what it does.

The brown rice is also a surprise. It is clearly producing liquid, though slowly. I expected it to go nasty the same way as what I was expecting from the wheat.

The third surprise is the difference in the amount of liquid produced by the different rice samples. Out of the 4 samples of whit rices I've got results ranging from no visible separation to an inch of liquid. I rather thought that the amount of liquid yielded by the different types of rice would be fairly close.

The fourth surprise was the Japanese sweet rice. As I mentioned in my post with the cooked grain photo, it was basically a giant rice bogey. Stretchy, and sticky. A bit like a giant blob of rubber cement. I expected this sample to fail in some spectacular fashion. Instead, I would have to say that at this point it's my top performer. It appears to be converting to rice wine substantially faster then any of the other samples.

Of course, it doesn't matter how fast it converts if it tastes bad. We won't know that until the batches are harvested on day 21.

I hope everybody finds this as interesting as I do. Happy brewing!

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Ostomo517

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Awesome experiment! Since we never got a update on that one using the yeast balls in beer wort I may have to take this on myself next week.

Accidic

Recipes 

It's still kinda early for the one with the beer wort. My guess is if he has any residual starches left over it'll continually eat away at those and take longer to finish from the amylase and it'll finish very dry. Worst case scenario is if he gets a lacto infection. I'm guessing the lacto is frequently in the yeast balls after all since the rice has been either boiled or steamed typically which should kill the lacto.