Korean rice beer Makkoli

Tonight at my work party one some one brought this, they were saying it is a cheep beer like beverage, that they used to drink in collage in Korea. It appears to be an un filteres Sake with lactobacilis. And kinda tastes like an over the top Berlinerweisen.

Any one ever make this? how did you do it?

And yes it is in a plastic soda bottle.

I made a very rustic version several years ago while I was in the US. There's some background information on the process here. A Korean friend of mine told me my version was typical for a homebrewed version. I bought the nuruk (누&#47337, the combined source of both the aspergillus fungus for saccharification of the rice and yeast for fermentation (and evidently lactobacillus as well as mine was very sour), at H-mart. I remember soaking rice overnight, steaming it in a steamer for much longer than one usually does for cooking rice, letting it cool, and then mixing in nuruk and water. I think I did 1 kg rice:200 g nuruk:1600 ml water. Mine smelled like sourdough and bananas while fermenting. I also remember that I needed to store it in the refrigerator as it continued to sour even after fermentation ceased. Definitely a strange beverage between the rather high alcohol, strong acidity, and the milk-like consistency. I remember I wanted to tweak some parameters, but I never got around to it. The experiment did give me the inspiration to add koji to my fermentation repertoire.

I just finished making Makgeolli. It turned out well, a little more sour than the commercial versions, but pretty comparable.

Here is the link:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f25/great-makgeolli-experiment-283608/

There are others trying to make it in the Wine Section. Search Makgeolli.

My proportions were a little different than Glossolalia, His prob would be a little less sour because he used less nuruk, but more alcoholic because he used less water. I backsweetended mine after fermentation. He is correct this needs to be refrigerated after fermentation. It'll keep about 2 weeks in the fridge.

Thanks! We have a large Korean community here In San Diego, and quite a few markets. I was wondering where to get the Nuruk, but it sounds like I should be able to get it at one of these markets.

Ill be reading up on your thread and the ones you linked.

Good Luck

The homebrewed stuff is a little more sour than the commercial and its got more "tang". But I think it tastes better and certainly more complex than the commercial stuff.

Looking forward to your results.

I guess the other difference between mine and SteveHoward's and geniz's is that I didn't add any yeast. Evidently, there's yeast resident to the nuruk. Pitching a beer or wine yeast, though, might rid it of that banana-like taste and aroma. I've been itching to do this again, but using sweet potato instead of rice.

I'm drinking a glass of this as we speak. Not sure if I like it or not. It's pretty sweet and strange.

Makgeolli is definitely an acquired taste. It helps to have it in it's native environment as well, namely a Korean bar alongside a green onion pancake.

My third batch is just ready to drink. I used 2.5 cups dry white sushi rice, .5 cups black rice and 1 cup brown sushi rice. The black rice gave it a lovely lavender hue and I like the character added by the brown rice. I am thinking about adding some crystal malt next time for some body and sweetness. It is pretty unstable because without added sweetness it is a bit sour, but the yeast chews up any sugar you add. I generally sweeten on a per glass basis or drink it sour. I have been using the Lalvin K1V-1116 yeast, as it has high alcohol tolerance and I can get if for a buck a pop.

I finished it, but not sure I'd buy it again. Kind of looked like milk about 2 weeks pasts it's prime.