Beni-Koji. Red Yeast Rice. Old School... like really really Old School

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You could do what I do and put it in the Pantry. ;) I'm not much of a photographer though and I'd have to fumble through my camera to figure out how to reduce it from 16mpx for size issues.
 
So I started a 1 Qt jar of Jasmine Rice with RYR and Yeast balls 2 weeks ago. I smelled it last night and tasted it. I was amazed at how good it tastes. Definitely some alcohol heat coming through along with the fruit flavors. My girlfriend tried it and asked if we can flavor it with fruit.

Sounds like I got the OK to make some more!

Cheers for the idea. :mug:
 
This. :D Like I said, not the greatest idea. I had to punch holes in it again to let co2 out when I got home today. It had heaved up above the level of the dispenser.


This is the problem I had with my 20+ cup batch. Seems with a larger batch, the sticky rice forms a plug or glue and won't let the CO2 escape. At the 21 day mark of mine, there was really no liquid. I stuck a spoon in, and @ a gallon sized CO2 bubble burped out. Not sure what to do, so I added more water so the CO2 could actually work itself up and out. I went on a vacation cross country and have been busy as heck with work since then. It's been a few weeks since I added the water and closed it back up. It's either done.. or ruined by now. lol. Heading out on another bike trip tomorrow afternoon, so it'll be a few more days until I can check it again.


I've got a couple gallon sized containers (See-through) and will try making smaller batches. Three large batches now, and none of them have worked out as designed.
 
This is the problem I had with my 20+ cup batch. Seems with a larger batch, the sticky rice forms a plug or glue and won't let the CO2 escape. At the 21 day mark of mine, there was really no liquid. I stuck a spoon in, and @ a gallon sized CO2 bubble burped out. Not sure what to do, so I added more water so the CO2 could actually work itself up and out. I went on a vacation cross country and have been busy as heck with work since then. It's been a few weeks since I added the water and closed it back up. It's either done.. or ruined by now. lol. Heading out on another bike trip tomorrow afternoon, so it'll be a few more days until I can check it again.


I've got a couple gallon sized containers (See-through) and will try making smaller batches. Three large batches now, and none of them have worked out as designed.
I have been wondering if this problem could be alleviated by either using a container that was more flat. So the rice wasn't as deep. Or, by taking some perforated 1/2 pvc and sticking it down into channels in the rice. That would allow pathways for the co2 to escape.
 
Ha! I punched some more holes in the rice "cap" and it sank. I was then able to get the dispenser out of the bucket and get some photos.

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Does it taste better when you punch the cap? I've been leaving mine and the result is just a hair less sweet than people are suggesting.
I honestly don't think that makes any real difference. I just needed to get the co2 out so I could get my hands around the rim of the dispenser. That, and keep it from heaving out of the container.

I think the sweetness has more to do with the amount of water present. More water, means that you will ferment more of the sugar converted from the rice starch before you have a high enough alcohol content to halt the fermentation. In short, the more water you have the drier the wine.
 
Sorry, no pictures today. My camera battery was dead and it hasn't charged yet.

I got the large red rice wine batch harvested. I was looking at the beverage dispenser it was in. I think I misremembered. I think it's a 3 gallon dispenser. So I've got about 1 1/2 gallons of red rice wine. Back in the dispenser after removing the starch solids, and with 1 1/2 tsp bentonite powder in it.

I mixed the leftover starch mass with 15 cups of dry jasmine rice cooked with a 1:1.5 ratio of rice to water. I did this with my hands, the rice paddle thing wasn't cutting it. It's really red, like fatty ground beef red. That's hanging out in a food grade 5 gallon bucket with an airlock.

It looked like I tried to butcher a chicken on my kitchen counter before I cleaned up, and I've got a tea towel that isn't ever going to be white again. That's ok though. I've got plenty more, so I can dedicate one to the red rice wine.
 
The more water I get the more sour it tends to be. My most recent batch I ran at 1.25:1 which seems to be the sweet spot for the RRY batches for me personally but I should note that I presoak tho and some of that gets absorbed beforehand making the virtual ratio just a tad bit higher.

I asked about the punched cap though since my last batch never really separated. The clarity of the liquid though was spectacularly clear at the end of 28 days (21 is just a bit too sweet for me).
 
The more water I get the more sour it tends to be. My most recent batch I ran at 1.25:1 which seems to be the sweet spot for the RRY batches for me personally but I should note that I presoak tho and some of that gets absorbed beforehand making the virtual ratio just a tad bit higher.

I asked about the punched cap though since my last batch never really separated. The clarity of the liquid though was spectacularly clear at the end of 28 days (21 is just a bit too sweet for me).
I think with the larger batches you do need to punch holes in the cap. Otherwise you end up with a lot of rice floating on co2 bubbles above the liquid level. I don't think that rice actually does much starch conversion.

Another method I saw involved rolling the rice into golf ball sized balls, and stacking those in the fermentor. That would probably also work, plenty of space between the rice for the co2 to escape. I would worry about contamination with the fermentor open long enough to do that in a larger batch though.

I've stopped rinsing and soaking myself. It just seemed like unnecessary work. I'm just cooking the rice with a 1:1.5 ratio of rice to water now. Oddly, that is exactly the ratio used by my rice cooker at full capacity. With soaking, I would think you are using about the same ratio of rice/water as I am.

I have noticed that my final product is much more murky now. Rinsing would probably help with that.
 
I've stopped rinsing and soaking myself. It just seemed like unnecessary work. I'm just cooking the rice with a 1:1.5 ratio of rice to water now. Oddly, that is exactly the ratio used by my rice cooker at full capacity. With soaking, I would think you are using about the same ratio of rice/water as I am.
I rinse and soak primarily for 2 reasons...

1) I rinse because looking at the amount of dust I find on things, I can only imagine that is the kind of awful crap on the rice in the first place and I figure if anything is going to give it an off flavor that'd go a long way in accomplishing it (plus I'm horrifically allergic to dust in general).

2) And I soak not because I firmly believe it makes any difference since judging by Grok's experience it doesn't seem to... But if I soak overnight then I have a giant pitcher and/or bucket of soaked rice and I can't as easily procrastinate and push making the batch if the rice has been soaking overnight without fear of letting it get contaminated.


That said, I've seriously considered positioning a pipe to give CO2 a solid escape route. I've been toying with two theories as to the best route to do this. One was to carve a diagonal cut like a stake on a PVC pipe which would be at the bottom, the singular outlet should either push any rice that made it's way in up and out over the edge or push it back towards the bottom. The other was holes at regular points up the tube but I fear clogging might come into play.
 
Take chopsticks, poke holes. No need to shove a baffle in it. Rinsing is recommended to get rid of any leftover husk dust from milling... it's usually just vegetable matter but some small percentage is insects, rodents, and droppings. Soaking is good to get the moisture content of the grains up prior to steaming, resulting in a more thorough penetration of moisture. You could prolly skip soaking, but I wouldn't skip rinsing well. My two cents.
 
I don't think the way my rice cooker cooks is considered steaming unless I'm supposed to get a screen to put in the steamer basket to make it work that way. It's frustrating because it's got what it calls sticky rice mode to cook with.
 
I don't think the way my rice cooker cooks is considered steaming unless I'm supposed to get a screen to put in the steamer basket to make it work that way. It's frustrating because it's got what it calls sticky rice mode to cook with.

I have a small Black and Decker, holds 4-6 cups combined rice/water max... it has a button like a toaster, load it up, push it down, when it pops it's done.... but when I made the red rice wine I used a 5 gallon stainless seafood pot, I put a plate face down on the bottom of the pot, and I used wooden skewers to rais that plate up a bit and release steam, it was ceramic and I didn't want it to pop up and down against the bottom, it might break. They just had to be under it enough to make a little space. Then I put in the insert, inside the insert was a collander, in the collander was the rice wrapped in a clean white t-shirt. I did all that because the old chinese dude said it was important.
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Judging from the results in the rice wine thread and this one, even allowing for some people to exagerrate a bit how good they did, I am starting to think all that isn't really necessary. I might just run that little toaster thingy a bit at a time and let it stack in a covered bucket, just keep dumping each new batch in. Waaaaayyyyyyy easier.
I can set it and forget it... dump it and start another whenever I remember. Never burns, never has to be attended or watched. Yeah, I'm lazy. But it will still work I think.
 
I have a small Black and Decker, holds 4-6 cups combined rice/water max... it has a button like a toaster, load it up, push it down, when it pops it's done.... but when I made the red rice wine I used a 5 gallon stainless seafood pot, I put a plate face down on the bottom of the pot, and I used wooden skewers to rais that plate up a bit and release steam, it was ceramic and I didn't want it to pop up and down against the bottom, it might break. They just had to be under it enough to make a little space. Then I put in the insert, inside the insert was a collander, in the collander was the rice wrapped in a clean white t-shirt. I did all that because the old chinese dude said it was important.
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Judging from the results in the rice wine thread and this one, even allowing for some people to exagerrate a bit how good they did, I am starting to think all that isn't really necessary. I might just run that little toaster thingy a bit at a time and let it stack in a covered bucket, just keep dumping each new batch in. Waaaaayyyyyyy easier.
I can set it and forget it... dump it and start another whenever I remember. Never burns, never has to be attended or watched. Yeah, I'm lazy. But it will still work I think.
That's why I bought the big rice cooker. :) I will be interesting to know what becomes of the masa.

Oh, the reused starch mass for the second batch of RYR seems to be going well. I'll know for sure in about 8 days when it's ready for harvest.
 
So I kind of lost track of how many cups, but it was 7 Lbs dry, and now it's about 3 gallons by volume cooked. A little less after I ate some with my grilled chicken. Pretty easy, I did notice each batch had a different "doness" to it, but oh well. Letting it cool overnight, it's still pretty hot. Tomorrow I'll mix in yeastballs and red yeast rice.

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Alright, I let it cool overnight, then mixed by hand, 7 yeast balls crushed and 1 lb red yeast rice. **** is sticky as hell! Anyways, hoping for a couple gallons yield, we'll see. Waiting on some yeast for the masa thing... I was using Hogdsons Mills bakers yeast and getting 12-14%, used Flieschmans and my yield dropped to 5% and didn't taste as good... apparently not all bakers yeast is created equal. Waiting for my case of Hogdsons to arrive (48 packs 8.75g ea 22.07 usd on Amazon.

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Please tell me you left the toasted part out. I had a tiny piece sneak in a few batches ago and it was very forward in the final product.
 
No, many toasted parts went into the making of this bucket o' rice. In 3 weeks I'll let you know about the flavor, although I may just run it anyways once it's wine. I still don't know if it will run red or clear. Last time I just drank it all with some steak tips.
 
I've admittedly never used the toasted parts with RRY so it might come out great. After a little misfortune with the yeast ball batch and the big pot I went out and bought a rice cooker anyway and never looked back. It's not steamed like some people say (or maybe they consider it steaming, I don't) but I've yet to have toasted rice in any batch since. As dynamic as the cookers have become with Fuzzy Logic acquirable for $75ish shipped it's getting mighty hard to beat.
 
I don't think I even paid 75 for mine. The only time I get toasted rice with mine is if I try to hurry the batches up by using hot water. Using cold water it's perfect rice every time.
 
I think I was overstuffing it but the water was cold going in... And I left it sometimes after the toaster thingy popped.. my ricemaker was 20 bucks at walmart,, it's a small 6cup black and decker. Say Lead I just ordered some DADY, your review from last August was still there at amazon. I didn't order there but I saw it when I wa shopping.
 
I think I was overstuffing it but the water was cold going in... And I left it sometimes after the toaster thingy popped.. my ricemaker was 20 bucks at walmart,, it's a small 6cup black and decker. Say Lead I just ordered some DADY, your review from last August was still there at amazon. I didn't order there but I saw it when I wa shopping.
Huh, cool. It's been a while since I wrote that. :)
 
I'm going to try DADY, ryr, and nixtamilized masa for some red corn brew. Can't go any worse than last try with whole corn, which was total Epic Fail. Probably stage it, add the dady after about a week of ryr ferment.
 
I figured you'd been sampling some rice wine when you wrote that.
Haha! Not then, I'd never made rice wine when I wrote that. It could have been some of the 23.1%, dear lord I don't know how that happened, cider though. I had barely 2 months brewing experience though, and the only other yeast strains I'd played with were some muntons ale, pasteur champagne, and bread yeast. :p

I'm going to try DADY, ryr, and nixtamilized masa for some red corn brew. Can't go any worse than last try with whole corn, which was total Epic Fail. Probably stage it, add the dady after about a week of ryr ferment.
After the rice wine experiments, I'd throw in some rice yeast balls and maybe leave out the DADY. I think the RYR produces only one type of amylase, and the mold in the rice yeast balls produces the other.

In any case, the masa being ground up should be much more accessible to the RYR then the whole corn was. :mug:
 
Yeah I could try that I guess, then add dady if it doesn't work out... this guy on Amazon said it's wicked agressive, lols...then maybe throw down a 5 gallon 15 lbs sugar dady with Gerber... I want to try for that 22% a few times, if it tastes like crap I can always run it again and clean it up. I really want to get a red corn brew that tastes good enough to put away in an oak barrel (see my avatar). Eventually. I got the barrels in a set of three, by winter I hope to fill one with red rice wine furthered into Scochu, and one with a red corn drinky. I'm still thinking about the third, maybe something for the Ladies.
 
Rainy day, no work... let's put down some Buckets! Holy Crap, I underestimated the Masa... 1 package, 4.4 lbs, into 3 gallons boiling water... It's so thick! Like I made 3 gallons of grits or something

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Pitching the yeasts like.... well, like yeast. Rehydrating, water 80f , couple spoons of the masa wash, 2lbs ryr, I bag yeast balls 113.5 grams total, crushed.

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The Masa and water mix cooled to 100f, mixed in the asian yeasts. Capped, airlocked, fingers crossed.:drunk:

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Oh, the DADY will throw out a lot of sulfur compounds if it goes nutrient short. I don't know if that matters for your application though.
 
The Gerbers first three ingredients are flaked grain, DAP and TAP, so it should be ok. Plus if you wait long enough, as they die off they reabsorb most of that. I'm worried about the masa ryr mix though, specifically oxygen levels. I don't know if I should aerate it or not. Most of the ryr was submerged in my last rice wine and fermented fine, but I'm going to wait a week and see. And if the masa doesn't liquefy it will be too thick to do anything with. No bubbles today from the masa, my two sugar washes are bubbling away nicely, one 18lbs sugar w/dady, one 10 lbs sugar with hogdsons mills bakers yeast. It was a productive day off, then the Bruins got the sweep to cap it off.
 
Only 3 days in and I couldn't help myself, I just had to look... the masa/ryr/yeastballs mix is actually making progress! It's literally boiling with bubbles, and judging from the pigment the ryr is propagating... The liquid seems thinner on top, but I didn't stir it. For the only the fifth or sixth time since I started the red corn project, I feel some hope. Wah! No but seriously, it's looking GOOD. Smells good too. Like Fruit Punch and Booze.
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This is actually the first time I am certain the monascus is definitely feeding directly on the corn.:mug:
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I suspect that the same nixtamilization process that makes the nutrients in corn accessible to Humans also makes the Niacin and B vitamins accessible to these and other yeasts.
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Regardless of wether or not this batch eventually works out, I've at least already been able to prove that the Monascus, and most likely the Aspergillus, CAN be coaxed into using thier awesome amylase powers on corn instead of rice.
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Everything else is just details.
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Soon I will achieve Legend Status when I create the Awesome Red Corn Brew of Awesomeness. The EVIL Awesome Red Corn Brew of Awesomeness. Muahahahahaha!!!!!:ban:

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Only 3 days in and I couldn't help myself, I just had to look... the masa/ryr/yeastballs mix is actually making progress! It's literally boiling with bubbles, and judging from the pigment the ryr is propagating... The liquid seems thinner on top, but I didn't stir it. For the only the fifth or sixth time since I started the red corn project, I feel some hope. Wah! No but seriously, it's looking GOOD. Smells good too. Like Fruit Punch and Booze.
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This is actually the first time I am certain the monascus is definitely feeding directly on the corn.:mug:
.
I suspect that the same nixtamilization process that makes the nutrients in corn accessible to Humans also makes the Niacin and B vitamins accessible to these and other yeasts.
.
Regardless of wether or not this batch eventually works out, I've at least already been able to prove that the Monascus, and most likely the Aspergillus, CAN be coaxed into using thier awesome amylase powers on corn instead of rice.
.
Everything else is just details.
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Soon I will achieve Legend Status when I create the Awesome Red Corn Brew of Awesomeness. The EVIL Awesome Red Corn Brew of Awesomeness. Muahahahahaha!!!!!:ban:
Excellent, I'll look forward to hearing more about the Evil Awesome Red Corn Brew of Awesomeness.

It may interest you to know that the batch I started from the leftover starch mass from a red rice wine batch went at least as well, if not slightly better, then the batch I made from fresh RYR and rice yeast balls. So, you should be able to do successive batches without purchasing anything other then the actual fermentables. :)
 
I'm glad you suggested leaving out the DADY. It seems to be working out really well. Seriously dude..... Boiling! Like slow motion boiling, but still. Props for that, and for the whole nixtamilization clue, that was your find too.
 
Just a couple of educated guesses. I've not had a problem getting some pretty serious alcohol levels from the yeast in the rice yeast balls I've been using. That, and the RYR only batch I ran was a real disappointment. The nixtamalization was based off of some interesting history of vitamin deficiencies in cultures eating a lot of corn, that hadn't been processed that way. I'm glad it's working out. You never really know until you try. :mug:
 
Sweet Sweet Lyssa.... Always with me, but never truly mine... She will NOT be told what to do, or how to act... I can only go along, and get the sweetness she allows to me. Can't make her go faster.... she refuses. Sitting with her takes hours and hours, no way around it. You still want to sit there with her.

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She is mounted on her chariot, the queen of sorrow and sighing, and is goading on her steeds, as if for outrage, the Gorgon child of Night, with a hundred hissing serpent-heads, Madness of the flashing eyes." (The Theban Elders (chorus) in Euripides' The Madness of Heracles 880).
"Lyssa: Of noble parents was I born, the daughter of Nyx (Night), sprung from the blood of Ouranos (Uranus, Heaven); and these prerogatives I hold, not to use them in anger against friends, nor do I have any joy in visiting the homes of men; and I wish to counsel Hera, before I see her err, and you too, if you will hearken to my words. This man, against whose house you are sending me, has made himself a name alike in heaven and earth; for, after taming pathless wilds and raging sea, he by his single might raised up again the honors of the gods when sinking before man's impiety;
I seek to turn your steps into the best path instead of into this one of evil.
I call Helios the sun-god to witness that here I am acting against my will; but if indeed I must at once serve you and Hera and follow you in full cry as hounds follow the huntsman, then I will go; neither ocean with its fiercely groaning waves, nor the earthquake, nor the thunderbolt with blast of agony shall be like the headlong rush I will make into the breast of Herakles; through his roof will I burst my way and swoop upon his house, after first slaying his children; nor shall their murderer know that he is killing the children he begot, till he is released from my madness. Behold him! see how even now he is wildly tossing his head at the outset, and rolling his eyes fiercely from side to side without a word; nor can he control his panting breath, like a fearful bull in act to charge; he bellows, calling on the Keres of Tartaros. Soon will I rouse you to yet wilder dancing and pipe a note of terror in your ear. Soar away, O Iris, to Olympos on your honored course; while I unseen will steal into the halls of Herakles.
Chorus: Alas alas! lament; the son of Zeus, flower of your city, is being cut down. Woe to you, Hellas! that will cast from you your benefactor, and destroy him as he dances in the shrill frenzy of Lyssa (Madness). She is mounted on her chariot, the queen of sorrow and sighing, and is goading on her steeds, as if for outrage, the Gorgon child of Nyx, with a hundred hissing serpent-heads, Lyssa (Madness) of the flashing eyes. Soon has the god changed his good fortune; soon will his children breathe their last, slain by a father's hand."
Also...... Obvious Hammered is Obvious Hammered. Wah!
 
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