The Great Makgeolli Experiment

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geniz

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I bought some makgeolli from the local Korean market and like it a lot. There have been a couple of threads here on making homemade makgeolli with varying levels of success. So I thought I'd give it a try and chronicle my experiences as I go along.

Makgeolli is made like a beer, and there are arguments as whether it is a rice wine or rice beer. Since most of the Makgeolli threads are here in the winemaking section, I decided to post this thread in the winemaking section.

Now from reading everything I could on the net about homemade makgeolli (a contradiction in terms since makeolli is really a homemade beverage), I know that what I make isn't gonna taste exactly like the commercial stuff. Im expecting it to be more sour. But I can counteract this by back sweetening after fermentation.

Also after scouring this forum, other forums and the web, I've found that there isn't really a universal recipe for this stuff. Proportions of the main ingredients vary widely, and often proportions are calculated by "feel". However, I wanted to try to nail down a recipe with proportions of ingredients that I can reproduce and tweak from batch to batch.

I want to thank SteveHoward who has an excellent thread on Makgeolli on this forum.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f25/makgeolli-272306/

Reading his posts made me want to try this. My recipe is different than his, but my methods will be closely based on (stolen from) his experiences.

So here is my great makgeolli experiment...
 
Makgeolli is made of rice, nuruk, water and yeast.

It is brewed/fermented kind of like a beer in that the starch from the rice is converted to sugar for fermentation. It is unlike a beer because instead of converting the grain starches as a wort and then fermenting, the rice starch in makgeolli is converted during fermentation.

Nuruk provides the enzymes to break down the rice starch for fermentation. Nuruk is made of wheat, rice and barley. Through its manufacturing process it provides the amylase enzymes necessary to break down the rice starches to simple sugars for fermentation.

Nuruk is added with the rice, yeast and water to the fermentation vessel and simultaneously breaks down rice starch while the yeast consumes the converted sugars to produce alcohol.

Nuruk is readily available from asian supermarkets or online. Here is what I bought at my local H-Mart. It is labelled "Enzyme" It comes in a 1lb package:

 
In order to develop a recipe for makgeolli, I need to see what proportion of nuruk:rice:water others were using. I found that these proportions were kinda all over the place, but commonly the proportions were 1 part nuruk to 4-5 parts rice to 6-10 parts water.

The FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) website did a study of cereal fermentaions in countries of the Asia-Pacific region which describes various rice wine/beer products and their compositions:

Fermented cereals a global perspective. Chapter 3.


They suggest the proportions of N:R:W to be 1:4:10. Putting these together with other recipes I read, I decided to use a little less water in my fermentation and so use a 1:4:8 mixture by weight.

I decided to measure the ingredients in metric since the weight conversions for water would be easy. I decided to base the proportions on 1 kg of rice. Here is my base recipe:

250g nuruk
1kg rice
2L (2kg) H2O
 
Ok so before I begin, here is the recipe and process that I will follow. I will demonstrate how I did things as I go along.

Makgeolli

1kg rice
250 g nuruk
2L water
1 pack Red Star Pasteur Champagne yeast


1.Wash. soak and steam rice

2.Cool rice to room temperature

3.Mix nuruk with just enough warm water to dissolve and break up clumps
Add nuruk to rice and mix thoroughly. Make sure rice is cool, do not add nuruk to hot rice.

4. Place rice/nuruk mixture in wide mouthed jar. Add water and yeast. Stir until incorporated. Cover loosely with clean cloth

5. Store in warm (70-80 deg F) dark place and allow to ferment for 5-7 days or until primary fermentation has stopped. Stir once or twice daily for the first 5 days to promote yeast activity

6. When primary fermentation is complete, strain liquid from spent rice solids. Dilute raw makgeolli with water 3 parts makgeolli to 2 parts water.
Store in plastic soda bottles

7. Backsweeten with aspartame or sugar (TBD later).

8. Store in fridge to prevent bottle bombs.


Apparently Makgeolli is best drunk fresh and should be consumed within a week or two.
 
Step 1: Making the rice

I used 1 kg of "sweet rice"
6411621867_afae8dc0f1.jpg


I washed the rice several times until the rinse water was almost clear
6411623451_2dae94e247.jpg


After washing, the rice was left to soak for three hours.

After soaking, the rice was drained and left to dry for an hour. I emptied the rice from the soaking bowl into a new clean 5gal paint strainer and dried on a steamer basket
6415120347_72d5239396.jpg
 
After the rice had dried for an hour, I steamed it over a pot of boiling water for 1 hour
6415119023_47e1eefb70.jpg


After 1 hour in the steamer, the rice turned translucent and was quite sticky.

Step 2:
I let the rice cool to room temperature
6415122491_9efddd13c8.jpg
 
Step 3:
I measured out 250g of nuruk and mixed it in enough water to make a paste
6415118507_fc8e130767.jpg


I added the nuruk to the cooled cooked rice and mixed well
6415121309_d200d7a130.jpg




6415120847_f8d8bc6bc6.jpg
 
Step 4:

I put the rice/nuruk mixture into a glass jar, added 2L of water and the yeast and stirred.
I covered the mouth of the jar with a paper towel and put it in a warm dark place.
6415119707_6234bc2cf6.jpg
 
The next morning, the makgeolli was bubbling slowly and most of the solids were floating at the top of the jar. I used a sanitized spoon to push down this "cap" and stirred everything well. I plan on stirring twice a day for the first 3-5 days.
6418049577_8c325157a8.jpg
 
Day 3. Still bubbling away slowly. The rice "cap" is reduced in thickness. It smells yeasty and also a bit sour. I am still stirring this up twice a day with a sanitized spoon. At this point it tastes sour, reminds me of the sourness of kimchee as it ferments.

6430354695_5a4e2724a5.jpg
 
I'm watching with some interest to see how it's working for you. I'm drinking some of my own makgeolli tonight.

Sour like what stage of kimchi? Week old? month old? I'm thinking the level of tartness I have is about what I'd expect in kimchi that's just about a week old. It's difficult to guage, though because they taste so different to me.
 
I'm watching with some interest to see how it's working for you. I'm drinking some of my own makgeolli tonight.

Sour like what stage of kimchi? Week old? month old? I'm thinking the level of tartness I have is about what I'd expect in kimchi that's just about a week old. It's difficult to guage, though because they taste so different to me.


What I was trying to describe is that soury almost effervescent "tang" that kimchee has when it starts to ferment. I really don't know how to describe it other than that.
 
Day 5:

Most of the rice is now at the bottom of the jar. Bubbling has decreased to one bubble every several second. I think it time to bottle.

6441487483_a04c3b7484.jpg
 
OK, now we are at step 6.

I poured the makgeolli into a clean paint strainer bag in a bowl:
6441488495_35174b4a57.jpg


I squeezed the bag until all the liquid was removed:
6441488865_89408eb360.jpg


This is what I got:
6441487829_2b0a84c805.jpg
 
The total volume of the makgeolli was 2.6L
I tasted it.
It was great!
I was expecting it to be really sour, but it wasn't. Just a hint of sourness, but very refreshing.

I diluted it as per SteveHoward. Approximately 3 parts makgeolli to 2 parts water.
That was 2.6 L makgeolli to 1.7 L water. (close enough). Thats a total of 4.3 L

Into 2L plastic bottles and into the fridge.

I really like the taste of the makgeolli as is, but I plan on sweetening half the batch. Im gonna do some taste tests and I'll post the results this weekend.
 
Step 7.
Backsweetening

I looked around at other sites and other recipes and decided to back sweeten with sugar instead of aspartame.

1tbsp sugar / liter sweetened best to my taste.

Adding sugar will restart fermentation. Even in the refrigerator, pressure will build up in the soda bottles. I will just vent the CO2 daily. I do not see renewed fermentation in the unsweetened makgeolli

All in all I think that the makgeolli I made turned out excellent. Makgeolli is an acquired taste, but if you like commercial makgeolli, you shouldn't be disappointed with this recipe.

Next time, I probably won't dilute the makgeolli as much, I think it turned out a little thin. I might just up the amount of water in the primary to 2.5L (N:R:W = 1:4:10) and not dilute after fermentation. I might also try bread yeast vs wine yeast to see if I can get some more residual sweetness.

If you decide to try this recipe, please post your results and thoughts for improvement.
 
Round 2.
Decided to tweak the amount of Nuruk a bit. Maybe temper the bitterness a bit further.

Used:
200g Nuruk
1kg glutenous rice
2L water

Everything else the same

Ratios:

N:R:W = 1:5:10

Will report back when its done.
 
Round 2, day 5.

Most of the rice had settled and fermentation was slowing, so I decided to call it done.
I strained and bottled the Makgeolli

Wow.

This stuff is great.

It is not sour. Since I didn't let it ferment dry, it has a residual sweetness from the glutenous rice and a tang from the lacto that is just amazing.

I think that 1:5:10 is the magic formula.

Hope I don't develop bottle bombs in the fridge.

I haven't decided about diluting and sweetening yet. This stuff is pretty potent full strength. I like it, but it may be too strong compared to the commercial versions.
I'll probably play around with the dilutions and sweetening and post when Ive figured it out.

Again, this stuff isn't for everyone but if you have a taste for Makgeolli, this recipe shouldn't disappoint.

Im hoping that someone else will make this according to this recipe and report their thoughts/critiques
 
Awesome. I'm looking for the correct rice now and I will attempt to repeat your process using the reduced nuruk version.
 
dr_al said:
Awesome. I'm looking for the correct rice now and I will attempt to repeat your process using the reduced nuruk version.

Excellent. I look forward to your results
 
I diluted some of the makgeolli as before. 2 parts makgeolli to 1 part water and sweetened the same way as before. No changes here.

I still prefer it full strength.

I've also tried it diluted with 1/3 ginger ale or sprite to sweeten and cut the ABV. It's good this way too.
 
Thanks for posting your experience!

I have never homebrewed anything, but I love makgeolli and wanted to try it out. I just did a half recipe, though, because my jar only has capacity for that. Otherwise, I followed the recipe to the letter.

However, this morning I woke up and all I had was a big jar of moist rice with some residual liquid in the bottom. Any interpretation and help would be appreciated. Thanks.
 
bruptcymanor said:
Thanks for posting your experience!

I have never homebrewed anything, but I love makgeolli and wanted to try it out. I just did a half recipe, though, because my jar only has capacity for that. Otherwise, I followed the recipe to the letter.

However, this morning I woke up and all I had was a big jar of moist rice with some residual liquid in the bottom. Any interpretation and help would be appreciated. Thanks.

You'll be fine. At the beginning, all the rice will float to the top with only a bit of liquid on the bottom. Stir this up twice a day with a sanitized spoon. As each day goes by, less and less of the rice will float. Just keep stirring twice a day. You'll know it's ready when most of the rice is at the bottom of the jar. That will take about 5 days.

Please post your results.
 
Just whipped up my first batch of this using your recipe. The only differences are the following:

- the "steamed rice" portion in my batch consists of 1/3 flaked wheat, also purchased at the korean HK market
- using cote du rhone yeast, since it is supposed to be a lower attenuator (keep it sweet) and gives pear esters (like sake yeast)
- fermenting at 65F to hopefully keep it mild
- the 'nuruk' portion is substituted with red kome koji, which I have a buttload of in the freezer from my occasional sake making. got this from gemlabs.com

Have you any recent successes with the makkgeoli?

I'm on day 3 at the moment, and have been stirring it up 2x a day and its going well so far. It smells really good.
 
I haven't made any in a couple of months, been busy with beer. But I've been sticking to my original recipe and its consistently great.

Let me know how yours turns out!
 
i still have my nuruk but have not made this yet, i just need to pickup some rice and get to it, i hope i have not let my nuruk sit around to long.
 
Using the 1-10-16 recipe I was able to make some AWESOME macoli...zero acidity, rice flower bouquet, milky smooth and dry. I used sweet rice...less than fully cooked (new crop), walmart yeast (2 table spoons) and low temp...18deg celcius...in a Coleman water cooler (slightly pressurized). My parents were blown away with the quality. They are from Pochun north of Seoul where the worlds best macoli is made.

Other things I tried and failed...too much water...yuk
wine yeast...yuk
too hot temp 30+C...yuk
brown rice...nutty but yuk.

I saw a documentary on Macoli and it seems to be temp control that is the secret...some also use raw rice powder and steamed flour.
 
Using the 1-10-16 recipe I was able to make some AWESOME macoli...zero acidity, rice flower bouquet, milky smooth and dry. I used sweet rice...less than fully cooked (new crop), walmart yeast (2 table spoons) and low temp...18deg celcius...in a Coleman water cooler (slightly pressurized). My parents were blown away with the quality. They are from Pochun north of Seoul where the worlds best macoli is made.

Other things I tried and failed...too much water...yuk
wine yeast...yuk
too hot temp 30+C...yuk
brown rice...nutty but yuk.

I saw a documentary on Macoli and it seems to be temp control that is the secret...some also use raw rice powder and steamed flour.

Excellent! Can you give your exact recipe with the rice powder and flour?
I have always let mine go at room temp. Abt 20C. Thought the nuruk might need higher temps but I think I'll try fermenting colder.
 
Excellent! Can you give your exact recipe with the rice powder and flour?
I have always let mine go at room temp. Abt 20C. Thought the nuruk might need higher temps but I think I'll try fermenting colder.

It is pretty much the same as the others but here are the tricky parts..

Don't over cook the rice ...results in liquidfied wort.
Lower the temperature the less sour it appears 15-18C can not detect any sourness. The macoli factory mentioned that their brew always taste better in the winter. They would not reveal their exact temperatures though.

Cool the rice and nuruk well. I always rushed this step as it appears that the warm pockets activates the bacteria in the nuruk leading to sourness.

I am paranoid about contaminants so I use a semi-sealed coleman cooler where I shut the valve 90 percent which only allows air out when the cooler has a small pressure inside...during fermentation, I hear a constant hissing sound. I shake it 2 times a day like others.

I used smaller amount of nuruk than others not ground up in a blender. I saw on youtube that the guy grinds his nuruk...but I have not had a good experience doing that...it just liquifies the wort. I heard people using even less than me with good results. I guess all nuruk is not created equal because some nuruk actually contain hops...this is probably why there are so many variations.

As well H-mart also sells a macoli kit that you just add water and wait. It turned out ok but mine was 100x better. The macoli kit tasted funny with the taste of cotton bag that it reside in overpowering.
 
I'm looking to use Lentils in a recipe and remembered Mahkli might have a similar profile..

So thats for this great write up.. I may try this process if an all grain beer process doesn't work..

Have you tried this process as a "Primary"

Then sit it into a secondary with the sugar you sweetened up with

Then bottle after it cleared..?

That maybe the process I go with the Lentils.. Start as Wine.. Finish as a Beer..?
 
I havent tried to stabilize and then backsweeten this. It might be something to try. I like it effervescent so I havent tried it this way.

The lentil sounds interesting.Please post your results
 
What I like about makoli is that you can drink it after 3 days for that raw unfiltered fresh taste or wait weeks on end and let it clear like wine. My makoli is now clear as any beer and it tastes much better than the "rice wine" from LCBO. I like to add a bit of glucose or maple syrup to give me lots of fiz. I was spending $100 on beer a month but now less than $20/month. I have also found out that you don't need so much "nuruk". Just use a few table spoons is fine...I think if you vitamix it you need even less)...even says so on my nuruk package (didn't believe it until my wife read the korean...my wife is Korean).
 
It's true! You don't need a lot of nuruk. I just completed my third attempt at makgeolli and finally, success! Good thing, because I think I would have lost all hope if I'd made another ****ty batch.

I don't have a scale, because I don't brew other things, so this is what I did.

sterilized fermentation container by wiping thoroughly with soju
add cup of soju to container to inhibit nasty growths (I think it makes a big difference to use soju instead of vodka, but if vodka is all you can get your hands on, use that)
10 cups of cooked short grain rice, new crop (sticky rice, glutinous rice, etc)
*I know a lot of recommendations say not to cook the rice all the way. I cooked it and let it sit in the water after it was done, because I was busy. It was fine.
4 liters of cold water (I was making a double batch, so you'll see I used 4L and 10 cups), mixed in with the rice, let it sit until the whole mixture is cold
10 tbsp of coursely ground nuruk (straight out of the package from the international store) and one tbsp bakers yeast - I mixed this in with my sterilized (with soju) hand, once I was sure that there were not warm pockets. It's really important that things are cold before you add the nuruk. I used bakers yeast because it's what I had
Put a cheese cloth on top of the fermentation container (I used a glass behive), and let it go to work at 65 degrees. We kept our house at 65 the whole time so this could happen correctly, and we kept the container in a place that got no sun. Some recommendations suggest a warmer temperature. Previous experimentation tells me warmer temperatures will increase the sourness and make it taste awful. Colder, with less nuruk, is the answer.
Fermented for 5 days, filtered before the rice cap fell back down. This was for two reasons: 1) I was under a time constraint. 2) It started to smell sour on the fifth day, similar to the last batch I had made, which was awful, and I didn't want it to get to sour.

The results were GREAT. Not sour. Really mild taste. Probably lower alcohol content, but no problem. Because of the delicious taste, there's no need to dilute it, so I ended up with what was basically a high gravity beer (maybe even higher? I've had two cups and I'm feeling pretty toasted.) I backsweetened with Korean maltose (kind of like corn syrup, but it doesn't raise blood sugar in the same way) because I happened to have it around. I think I ended up backsweetening with about 3 oz of maltose per liter. It's so delicious. I'm going to flavor two of my liter bottles- one with almond, and one with vanilla.
 
Hey guys, so I made a few batches and noticed that my bottles get fizzy and sour after about 4-5 days. How do the commercial breweries make it so their product stays stable? Do they pasteurize it to kill the yeast and any bacteria? Is it okay to pasteurize the finished makgeolli?

Edit: I forgot to mention I keep the bottles in the fridge and it still gets fizzy.
 
Put in a container that can vent. Sounds like it wasn't finished fermenting before you bottled..
 
The sugar that you add continues to ferment, so the makgeoli will get sour over a few days, and the bottles will build up pressure. I think commercial breweries use aspartame to work around this issue. I like to add more sugar a few days later. I also like to add almond extract - a lot of the high end makgeoli we drank in korea was chestnut flavored.
 
I just registered to say thanks for this thread! I love how simple you make everything and you explain it all. Most of the time I'm ready threads like this and they assume the reader knows something that I don't know. You explained everything. Great job!
 
I am on day 5 of my makkoli and I don't have a rice cap like pictured in your makkoli fermenter. The entire jug of mine is almost a homogenous mixture of the liquid and soft rice

What did I do wrong?
 
I haven't been on here for several years I think, but for some reason I was notified of this message on this thread :).

Since I was on here, my wife, our youngest and I have moved back to Korea. I don't make makkeolli anymore because it is so easy and cheap to get really good makkgeolli here. One of my wife's brothers, his wife, and I go out to makkeolli houses occasionally where they make their own stuff, and usually serve food, too. If you get to Korea, I have to recommend finding one of these as this is SO MUCH BETTER than what you buy in the bottle. They have some interesting recipes and variations, too. One of my favorites that I found while out with some work colleagues (all Korean folks) had ginseng in it. That actually added quite an interesting flavor.

In answer to stever1000, has it fermented? If it has, then you probably haven't done anything wrong. It's just time to strain/filter the big stuff out after about 5 - 7 days. The finished product should have some fine sediment if you let it set for a while, though. You have to mix it up to drink it as it doesn't have much flavor if you leave the sediment out.
 
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