Making Traditional rice Wine. Cheap, Fun, and Different

nghtmre4u said:

I plan on trying this was looking for yeast balls locally but no luck will order online thanks

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I tried sending you a message but you have no room left. If you can message me with your email I would really like to share something.

Sara

Sara: please pm and share with me also. I am trying to find them too.

kevinstan said:

Sara: please pm and share with me also. I am trying to find them too.

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Kevin...check your messages.

Also, wanted to share with everyone that I had posed a question on the homebrewsake.com website, and Will gave me an answer. You can read his article and the question I asked if you visit http://homebrewsake.com/home/2010/04/25/koji-what/comment-page-1/#comment-9309

I have learned the red rice yeast, aka "Beni-koji" is Monascus purpureus mold growing on the rice as the substrate, and is a key part of recipe for CHINESE RICE WINE. While Japanese sake uses Aspergillus Oryzae cultivated on rice to make koji AND many yeast balls do in fact already have koji in them. Even more important is the RICE you choose to use for your wine...Chinese style uses glutinous rice, Japanese style uses non-glutinous short grain rice [three people at Ft Knox told me to use this: NISHIKI brand Premium Grade Rice, Sushi Rice for Japanese sake making--it is short grain, smaller/thinner than orzo and visibly different than THAI HOM MALI JASMINE RICE--longer grained, which I am using as my glutinous rice but I cannot confirm if it really is glutinous rice, going to contact company for confirmation]. SO, it turns out I am making Chinese-Japanese rice wine-sake, because I used equal amounts of both rices, the yeast balls and the red rice yeast....it will be called THE ORIENTAL EXPRESS. :rockin:

Sara my inbox is empty now. Thank you

nghtmre4u said:

Sara my inbox is empty now. Thank you

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Check your inbox.


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Sonofgrok,
Are you okay with me continuing with my current rice wine ferment on your thread?

And I must say the smell alone of this rice and yeast combo is amazing. My 2 gallon jar was cool to touch, so I just put it in a water bath. It normally sits perched under microwave light on high, but shielded from direct light, and it keeps warm...but I accidentally reset my home thermostat and the clue was ' I am freezing in this house! Duh. '

That's fine Sara. No worries.

I've never tried this way of making rice wine and can't wait to give it a shot. Recently tried the recipe for sake per the instructions and it was quite a pain. This looks much easier!

Will be trying this soon hopefully

The rice completely collapsed on itself, on its own, still smells divine, and it is BUBBLING. No water added, and I have a nice build up of sweet wine. I tasted the fermenting rice, grabbed a spoonful and chilled it....yummy.

Attaching some photos...
You will recall the photo taken 11/13 just after assembly, obvious rice vs the red of the red yeast rice/yeast ball blend powder.



And now, 11/15, colorful fermentation...



And a view from the top...

That is in only 2 days?!?

sonofgrok said:

That is in only 2 days?!?

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Yes, this is a few photos of the change in just two days. I have no intention of harvesting until Day 21-30. I have liquid seen from top to bottom.

Did yours not do this?

Nope. Mine has a little bit of liquid after 2 days and then slowly accumulates more as time goes on. The raft of rice stays floating on top the entire time for 3+ weeks and then starts to drop. It could be the rice you used though or the yeast... or maybe you used a lot of yeast and super fermented it. Can't say! As long as it ends up delicious right?

sonofgrok said:

Nope. Mine has a little bit of liquid after 2 days and then slowly accumulates more as time goes on. The raft of rice stays floating on top the entire time for 3+ weeks and then starts to drop. It could be the rice you used though or the yeast... or maybe you used a lot of yeast and super fermented it. Can't say! As long as it ends up delicious right?

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Used four cups dry rice, three yeast balls, 1/2 cup red yeast rice, both pulverized into powder. I think what helped kick this off is the combo of sticky, sushi rice and Thai Jasmine rice that was added to the yeast when the rice was just cool enough, but not too hot, to handle with clean, sanitized hands. Used a 2 gallon glass cookie jar, do not own a one gallon glass...and I really wanted to see this. I suspect the rice will rise, just like a cap does, but I need more liquidification to occur. Still quite early.

This weekend I am making this exact recipe but I am using 100% sweet, sticky aka sushi rice--have received notice that this is a glutinous rice and can be used for home sake making. And will eventually make some using sushi rice and only yeast balls. But what I really want to know is: the name and a US source for sake rice. Apparently it is its own monster and hopefully HomebrewSake can help me. Will share if/when I get anymore info.

Received confirmation that Jasmine rice is not glutinous rice.

Need to find out how to figure out PA and ACV, there has to be a way.

Here is another photo from today, and it shows the liquid at rest:

The red yeast rice also produces beta and alpha amalyse which would help with the liquefaction. I don't know what the yeast balls produce but if they only have beta amalyse for instance then this could be why we see the super liquefaction here. I think this looks really cool.

Sara how much liquid do you get from this size batch

Does this have to be made with a specific kind of rice? Swmbo has more (generic, store bought) rice in our kitchen than we can eat. I'm wondering if this with some wine yeast would produce anything like 13%+ and worthwhile...

Not trying to go the cheap route, but more curious since I have soooo much of this already in the kitchen.

Btw, your pics of it make it look amazing!

detlion1643 said:

Does this have to be made with a specific kind of rice? Swmbo has more (generic, store bought) rice in our kitchen than we can eat. I'm wondering if this with some wine yeast would produce anything like 13%+ and worthwhile...

Not trying to go the cheap route, but more curious since I have soooo much of this already in the kitchen.

Btw, your pics of it make it look amazing!

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I think the pics are quite interesting. Colorful for sure and wish we had smell share!

You need Japanese sushi rice or Japanese sake rice to do it properly...though Thai Jasmine rice will ferment. I am currently using sushi plus Jasmine. Must use the yeast balls with or without the red yeast rice. Common U.S. parboiled, aka Uncle Bens, aka white long grain rice is not the one to use. It is the short grained sweet, sticky rice that is preferred.

nghtmre4u said:

Sara how much liquid do you get from this size batch

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First time making this, and I just started this in the evening on 11-13....far too early for a harvest of wine. That will be done somewhere between Day 21 and Day 30. This morning the rice is now floating on just over one inch of liquid. My vessel is one of those two gallon Anchor Hocking glass cookie style jars from local WalMart. I still have a lot of liquid thru the rice itself and I suspect the liquid level to rise each day.

This thread has been an absolutely fascinating. Thanks to both @sonofgrok & @saramc for the how-to!

@sonofgrok - Would you mind sharing the process you used to flavor yours with the pomegranate? Did you steep the seeds, just add some juice, how much did you add, etc. Thanks!

BattleGoat said:

@sonofgrok - Would you mind sharing the process you used to flavor yours with the pomegranate? Did you steep the seeds, just add some juice, how much did you add, etc. Thanks!

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Much more simple than that! I actually had a Ziploc in the fridge with seeds from about 1/4 of a pomegranate that my wife had been snacking on. I took two identical bowls (so they fit inside each other perfectly), and smashed the seeds together between them. I then took a spoon and smashed some individual missed seeds. Took the seeds into my cheesecloth and strained them out into the finished wine before bottling and putting in the fridge. No steeping or sanitizing or anything (I figured the ~20% alcohol in the wine would be enough to kill anything off).

I was extremely impressed with the amount of flavor it imparted on the wine. It tasted kind of like a Starburst candy. My wife, who doesn't drink, went through my entire bottle of wine in a week and demanded I make more!

I bottled mine today. I think "intense" sums it up nicely. Extremely potent, with a nice light sweetness to it. I clogged up a brita filter trying to make it a bit less cloudy...which it is, now, but still pretty cloudy. I would think a proper filtering regime for this stuff would involve a relatively coarse filter to start out with..like 50 micron or something, before proceeding to more fine filters.

Never tried filtering it before! Interesting idea though the cloudiness has never bothered me.

If you cold stabilize it I bet it will clear PDQ and you could rack it, if need be.

Yeah I already thought of that. After I racked it to a bottle, I noticed it had started separating out a bit over an hour or two. So, I stuck it the tiny spare spot in my kegerator hoping that will improve the clarity even more.

Finished a big batch yesterday that I flavored with blueberry. I ended up with 1 liter. Pretty darn tasty. I really enjoy the flavor the Thai Jasmine rice gives you.

I would never ever buy store bought sake because I have never been able to stand the stuff, but this homemade stuff is awesome.

I might just have to try this rice wine.

Cheers

Sonofgrok: how did you flavor with blueberry ? I am curious since I read the post about the pomegranate already.

kevinstan said:

Sonofgrok: how did you flavor with blueberry ? I am curious since I read the post about the pomegranate already.

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Threw some frozen blueberries in the microwave then squeezed them out into the final wine using cheesecloth. I am a simple man.

Boy is the creation I started the other day soupy. Rice grains are quite broken down. Will take a photo later tonight...since I just stirred it. I tasted the spoon afterward and it is insanely fruity! Arpolis told me the red yeast rice will lend fruity-ness.

Also, soaked two cups of dry sushi rice for eight hours, then strained and rinsed until clear...thinking this may contribute to some cloudiness (failing to rinse?)...then in the rice cooker it went with 1.5 times the water, and 30 minutes later into a rectangular glass dish it went. I powdered two yeast balls and sprinkled on top, and covered. I want the still warm yeast to create condensation that will drip off the top onto the yeast powder. I anticipate bubbling rice within 36 hours.

Next up...same recipe but using Thai Hom Mali Jasmine rice. Have to do that tomorrow, DH gave my rice the evil eye. I responded " it was $1.48, seriously?!? "

So a trip to target yielded this...



And a google search found me this...

http://importfood.com/nrhf0401.html
And since their local i ordered. Should have my yeast next week.

static said:

So a trip to target yielded this...

And a google search found me this...

http://importfood.com/nrhf0401.html
And since their local i ordered. Should have my yeast next week.

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I think those are the exact same jars I use...

I've used those same jars for pickles. Unfortunately the lids rust really easily.

1 gallon cracker jar from Target for 6 bucks.

static said:

So a trip to target yielded this...

And a google search found me this...

http://importfood.com/nrhf0401.html
And since their local i ordered. Should have my yeast next week.

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You are almost there! I just went and looked at my bag for comparison, and it is 8oz for $7.50, product of China, Hop Lee Trading Co., and in upper left corner says FLOWER. Shipped from East Coast US. FWIW, you will be hooked on eating Jasmine rice, if you like rice.

That is pretty amazing. I never knew making sake is so easy. I am officially on the hunt for sushi rice and yeast balls. Thanks!

I'm going to have to try this

@saramc: Any new pics of your batch?

What a fascinating thread! Thanks to sonofgrok and saramc.

Quick question to both/any of you: any suggestions for doing a large scale batch? If I keep the yeast ball rice proportions the same, doing a few gallons of this wouldn't be an issue, right?

And would doing hydrometer readings on this be impossible or just contrary to the general blue-collar atmosphere? How can you estimate sugar and ABV levels otherwise?

FYI, my friend who would know such things says this is called "farmers' wine" in Korea.

I hope to start mine soon. I was wondering if anyone that had done this has tried clearing it once completed ? I know it's just fine cloudy, but would like to try and make some and clear it up. Anyone tried this before ?

How can I make like a three gallon batch of this stuff?

Go big or go home.