CaptainAsparagus

Recipes 

Today is day 20 of my fermentation process. I can smell a faint & slightly sweet wine smell around my jars. They're still bubbling a bit, should I still bottle tomorrow on day 21? They've been sitting in my closet which is about 60F apart from the first 2ish days when they were wrapped in an electric blanket.

nerdivore

Recipes 

I made my first batch in a one-gallon glass jar from Target. After soaking 5 cups of sweet rice for 24 hours, I drained it and cooked it with 10 cups of filtered water in a stockpot, which in hindsight was too much after a full day of soaking. The rice came out to a paste-like consistency. Next time I'll start with 8 cups of water and add more if necessary. Five cups of rice is about 1 kg, so I used 1 crushed up yeast ball and half a packet of Angel Rice Leaven. I transferred the rice to the sterilized glass jar, mixing in the powdered starter at the same time. Then I covered the jar with the glass lid that it came with and wrapped the whole thing in a towel and heat pad, just to bring the temperature up a bit from the ambient 60 °F.

After 24 hours, there wasn't much difference except a thin layer of liquid on top:
Pic 1
Pic 2

By the third day, the bottom third of the jar was filled with a cloudy liquid. The rice mass was floating on top, and a fuzzy mold with black spores was growing on the surface:
Pic
Mold
The liquid at this point was tangy and sweet, with no alcohol that I could taste. I broke up the mat of moldy rice on top and stirred it well, then left it alone until day 15.

There was now a sweet boozy aroma coming from the jar. The rice had separated into a floating mass that looks like cheese curds, and a layer of fine sediment on the bottom, with yellowish liquid in between:

This time, there wasn't any visible mold on top. I stirred the rice around and sampled the liquid. It had a strong kick and very little residual sweetness.
Now, I'm going to stir it daily for a few more days and then strain it with jelly strainer bags.

jtrage

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I'm about 23 days in. Seems like the color is turning a little yellow. I can't tell if the smell is simply a strong alcohol or a slight vinegar. There is still a hint of sweet to it. I can't do anything with it tonight but should I filter and refrigerate tomorrow?

CaptainAsparagus

Recipes 

Rice wine is filtering now. The initial taste is strong and tangy but there is a pungent aftertaste. Not sure if something off happened during fermentation, or maybe I just don't like rice wine?

bottlebomber

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Tangy makes me think that maybe you got a Lactobacillus or Aceto bacteria. Could any fruit flies have gotten to it or anything? I'm going to make my first batch in a couple days.

CaptainAsparagus

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I wouldn't think so. Wisconsin winters keep most bugs in hiding. I feel that I was thorough with sanitation as well. I did take the jars out once a week to stir, but I sanitized my spoon, too. Bah.

I have so much of this stuff.

weirdboy

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Why did you stir them? I leave my stuff alone. I don't see what stirring accomplishes.

nsrooen

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Agreed. No stirring required.

sonofgrok

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Can't vouch for the stirring. Can't remember where that came up. I don't stir.

Maybe stir caused oxidation to vinegar? Is it vinegary?

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blefferd

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I made a 5 cup dry batch of this about 3 days ago and it looks like nothing has changed at all in the jar. I soaked the rice for maybe an hour and steamed it for about an hour. I am new to steaming rice. I usually boil rice and can tell when it's done by the crunch or lack there of. I think it might be to dry? It was a translucent color and had no crunch.

Any one have this issue? I am making another batch tonight I let the rice soak for 2+ hours this batch I added 1 cup dry jasmine to 2 cups dry sushi rice.

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