Making Traditional rice Wine. Cheap, Fun, and Different

[wooda2008]

10 months old, and my jiu qiu is still getting better and better.

The alcohol fire has mellowed to a firm steady warmth, the vanilla and banana flavors are better blended and a little bit of caramel has started to come forward.

Served cold, it is still syrupy sweet, and is best enjoyed in tiny sips.

I prefer it heated to 105*F and consumed as shots, like sake. Much more noticeable and complex flavors.

That 5 gallon batch has been wonderful to me, got me through some tough days after work, and contributed to intense shenanigans.

 

[Descender]

10 months old, and my jiu qiu is still getting better and better.

The alcohol fire has mellowed to a firm steady warmth, the vanilla and banana flavors are better blended and a little bit of caramel has started to come forward.

Served cold, it is still syrupy sweet, and is best enjoyed in tiny sips.

I prefer it heated to 105*F and consumed as shots, like sake. Much more noticeable and complex flavors.

That 5 gallon batch has been wonderful to me, got me through some tough days after work, and contributed to intense shenanigans.

Would you post your recipe for 5 gallons?

 

[MarcusKillion]

It is definitely lemon sour. I tried that but its just not working.

I read on this website that you should keep it in 80 to 90 degrees for 24 hours before moving it to 70 or so room and shake it up some once in a while . both steps are to stop mold growth http://carolynjphillips.blogspot.com/2011/05/homemade-fermented-rice.html

 

[jak1010]

Not sure of the temps. But, I've been stirring/shaking my batches between days 7-15 to keep the top of the rice fresh. It has prevented mold and other growth.

As for temps, I've made batches in the upper 80s and as low as 68-72....so far, all the same end result.

 

[Bidwell]

I got tired of reading, left off at 125. Looking for yeast balls, called a dozen and all except one said no off the bat. Ordered online, got impatient and called more. Found these 2gram discs in North Hollywood. They are 2 grams each vs the 9 grams most here have used. About 50 for $2.50.

Asian lady told me Sweet Rice, not Jasmine.

One gallon Anchor Hawking jar, 5 cups of sweet rice soaked an hour etc. Steamed for 45 minutes according to directions. Cooled under cold water separating rice, drained. Two "tablets" crushed per cup of uncooked rice, 10 tablets. Layered yeast/rice/yeast/rice finishing off with yeast. Made a hole in center, mixed 1 tsp sugar/cornstarch to sprinkle on top and down hole. Covered in dark heated (unused) waterbed at 80 degrees.

Searching my yeast I found this on the amount of 2 tablets/cup. http://www.amazon.com/review/R7RAIS...4OUVEZ2&linkCode=&nodeID=&tag=#wasThisHelpful

 

[Leadgolem]

Cleaned my lid well rust came back o well gonna give go using an old strainer bag. Added some brown sugar to this back its fermenting nicely

Try scrubbing it off, and applying some oil after it's all gone.

I got tired of reading, left off at 125. Looking for yeast balls, called a dozen and all except one said no off the bat. Ordered online, got impatient and called more. Found these 2gram discs in North Hollywood. They are 2 grams each vs the 9 grams most here have used. About 50 for $2.50.
...
Asian lady told me Sweet Rice, not Jasmine.

One gallon Anchor Hawking jar, 5 cups of sweet rice soaked an hour etc. Steamed for 45 minutes according to directions. Cooled under cold water separating rice, drained. Two "tablets" crushed per cup of uncooked rice, 10 tablets. Layered yeast/rice/yeast/rice finishing off with yeast. Made a hole in center, mixed 1 tsp sugar/cornstarch to sprinkle on top and down hole. Covered in dark heated (unused) waterbed at 80 degrees.

Searching my yeast I found this on the amount of 2 tablets/cup. http://www.amazon.com/review/R7RAIS...4OUVEZ2&linkCode=&nodeID=&tag=#wasThisHelpful

She isn't wrong. You can make wine from jasmine rice of course. You can also make wine from sweet rice. The sweet rice actually yields more finished wine, but it isn't the same wine. The aroma and the flavor are both a bit different. You cannot make wine from long grain white rice.

 

[jak1010]

I got tired of reading, left off at 125. Looking for yeast balls, called a dozen and all except one said no off the bat. Ordered online, got impatient and called more. Found these 2gram discs in North Hollywood. They are 2 grams each vs the 9 grams most here have used. About 50 for $2.50.

Asian lady told me Sweet Rice, not Jasmine.

One gallon Anchor Hawking jar, 5 cups of sweet rice soaked an hour etc. Steamed for 45 minutes according to directions. Cooled under cold water separating rice, drained. Two "tablets" crushed per cup of uncooked rice, 10 tablets. Layered yeast/rice/yeast/rice finishing off with yeast. Made a hole in center, mixed 1 tsp sugar/cornstarch to sprinkle on top and down hole. Covered in dark heated (unused) waterbed at 80 degrees.

Searching my yeast I found this on the amount of 2 tablets/cup. http://www.amazon.com/review/R7RAISS69KW17/ref=cm_cr_pr_cmt?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B004OUVEZ2&linkCode=&nodeID=&tag=#wasThisHelpful

Very nice. Where did you get your yeast from online?

 

[Bidwell]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/130995912853?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649 Pretty fast shipping too.

 

[wooda2008]

Would you post your recipe for 5 gallons?

I read back through the thread, and it was actually closer to 3 gallons of cooked rice with a mediocre yield. After that I decided smaller batches were the way to go. Is just too much of a pain to press all the liquid out of a huge rice blob. The rice was also overcooked, and I haven't bothered to improve the process for such a large ammount of rice.

18c dry rice
5-7 shanghai rice balls

Rinse rice and soak for 3 hours

Drain and place in hotel pan
add 27c boiling water
Cover with tinfoil
Bake 30 minutes @350
Remove from oven and let cool to 80*F
Add to brew bucket, mixing in crushed rice balls.
Wait 25 days
Drain and press
Bulk pasteurize @145 for 10 minutes on stovetop
Bottle hot
enjoy.

If I were to do it again, I would skip the soak, add 20c boiling water, bake it at 450 until it started to simmer, then remove it, cover in plastic wrap and let it sit on the counter until it cooled.

 

[jak1010]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/130995912853?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649 Pretty fast shipping too.

Haha, that's ME selling on eBay. Thanks for the compliments!

I was looking at those smaller yeast balls in the picture. I followed the link and the site says they're out if stock. I haven't used those before. I'm always looking for new ways and new ideas.

Thanks again for ordering from me. You should also check out the Angel Rice Leaven.

 

[Mr_Sunshine]

Haha, that's ME selling on eBay. Thanks for the compliments!

I was looking at those smaller yeast balls in the picture. I followed the link and the site says they're out if stock. I haven't used those before. I'm always looking for new ways and new ideas.

Thanks again for ordering from me. You should also check out the Angel Rice Leaven.

When do you use the Angel Rice Leaven? Do you use at the same time as when you add crushed yeast balls? Why is it important? Sorry, I just don't have the patience to search through 300-plus pages for the answers to that.

I'm so thankful there are so many places to buy yeast balls here in the Portland area, I can get a package of 12 four $2.29.

 

[Leadgolem]

When do you use the Angel Rice Leaven? Do you use at the same time as when you add crushed yeast balls? Why is it important? Sorry, I just don't have the patience to search through 300-plus pages for the answers to that.

I'm so thankful there are so many places to buy yeast balls here in the Portland area, I can get a package of 12 four $2.29.

You would use the ARL in place of the rice yeast balls. It's very potent stuff. Here's an experiment I did to determine the optimal ratio of ARL to rice.

Setup
Week 1
Week 2
Harvest

 

[jak1010]

Exactly. Use Angel Rice Leaven as the yeast for fermenting the brew. I've found that the ARL has given me a "cleaner" end result that is less tart and more predictable and consistent product.

Thanks to LeadGolem and his experiments, I've improved my batches and have them in rotation. Drinkable wine in 3 weeks is great while waiting for other brews to age and mature.

 

[FatDragon]

Harvested two 1.5 cup (pre-cooked rice measure) batches last night. Both with (China) northeastern short-grained rice - 东北大米. The one with ARL came out nice enough, though probably not as good as my first batch, made with local yeast balls. The other 1.5 cup batch, made with the local yeast, got a bit of mold on it:

I harvested and squeezed it anyway and put it in a 500 mL bottle with a DIY swingtop (after a couple cheese-cloth filtrations), as I did with the ARL bottle. It smelled quite good at the time, but I wasn't prepared to give it a taste.

Fast forward to this morning: the ARL batch was doing alright, but the moldy batch was a bottle bomb waiting to happen. I foolishly didn't cover the top with anything when I popped it open for pressure relief and ended up getting nasty-smelling, viscous rice wine all over. It was really stinking the place up, so I ended up dumping it.

On the positive side, I did some new batches as well this morning. 6.5 cups (pre-cooked) of the same rice. After it cooled, I made four small experimental batches and one larger regular batch:

The experimental batches were all 300 grams of cooked rice. One with 10 grams of Pu-er tea leaves and 1 gram ARL, one with 10 grams of golden eyebrow red (black) tea and 1 gram ARL, and identical batches with 300 grams of pre-boiled bottled water (a lot more than I expected in comparison to the rice; kind've wish I had used less). The larger batch is 3386 grams of cooked rice and the remaining 4 grams of ARL.

Since temperatures are dropping as winter comes on, I've got the four experimental batches in a water bath at 28 Celsius (water level below the cheesecloth under the lids to avoid contamination) and the larger batch in a 5 liter bucket with an airlock (lid's too tight for cheesecloth), on top of the tub with the experimental batches to catch some of the warmth as well.

 

[MarcusKillion]

that is very good looking mold . Perhaps you should try the shaking it up routine . Mine has no mold at all . I rock the jars back and forth gently like ringing a big bell . It causes the top to drop into the mix and keeps away the mold .
A couple jars of mine for some reason dropped the rice back into the liquid . two did that and one separated the liquid between two layers of rice . other than that they are going good although this stuff is horrible tasting and slimy .

 

[FatDragon]

that is very good looking mold . Perhaps you should try the shaking it up routine . Mine has no mold at all . I rock the jars back and forth gently like ringing a big bell . It causes the top to drop into the mix and keeps away the mold .
A couple jars of mine for some reason dropped the rice back into the liquid . two did that and one separated the liquid between two layers of rice . other than that they are going good although this stuff is horrible tasting and slimy .

I shook it a few times, and even scooped the moldy rice off the top once during fermentation, but it came back even more than before. Obviously, something was still eating sugar since the bottle was so heavily pressurized, so I'm thinking that I ended up with the rice wine equivalent of a beer infection.

Whatever it was, I never took a taste, and I don't really regret that.

Has anybody else tried tea in their rice wine, either during or after fermentation? I'm planning on doing something similar with some tea beers soon as well.

 

[jak1010]

With all of the experiments I do, I also go back to basics and brew a "standard" batch.

Sanitize all equipment, start the batch, cover it with the cheesecloth and lid, stash it in a dark place and don't touch, open, sample, shake, or bother for 21 days. With this, my success rate is near 100%. Always a drinkable and great tasting product.

I say near 100% because with the yeast balls, there's just no control with respect to what foreign bugs are already there.

I'd recommend that everyone do this and get success a few times. It's fascinating how it works.

 

[Descender]

Harvested two 1.5 cup (pre-cooked rice measure) batches last night. Both with (China) northeastern short-grained rice - 东北大米. The one with ARL came out nice enough, though probably not as good as my first batch, made with local yeast balls. The other 1.5 cup batch, made with the local yeast, got a bit of mold on it:

I harvested and squeezed it anyway and put it in a 500 mL bottle with a DIY swingtop (after a couple cheese-cloth filtrations), as I did with the ARL bottle. It smelled quite good at the time, but I wasn't prepared to give it a taste.

Fast forward to this morning: the ARL batch was doing alright, but the moldy batch was a bottle bomb waiting to happen. I foolishly didn't cover the top with anything when I popped it open for pressure relief and ended up getting nasty-smelling, viscous rice wine all over. It was really stinking the place up, so I ended up dumping it.

On the positive side, I did some new batches as well this morning. 6.5 cups (pre-cooked) of the same rice. After it cooled, I made four small experimental batches and one larger regular batch:

The experimental batches were all 300 grams of cooked rice. One with 10 grams of Pu-er tea leaves and 1 gram ARL, one with 10 grams of golden eyebrow red (black) tea and 1 gram ARL, and identical batches with 300 grams of pre-boiled bottled water (a lot more than I expected in comparison to the rice; kind've wish I had used less). The larger batch is 3386 grams of cooked rice and the remaining 4 grams of ARL.

Since temperatures are dropping as winter comes on, I've got the four experimental batches in a water bath at 28 Celsius (water level below the cheesecloth under the lids to avoid contamination) and the larger batch in a 5 liter bucket with an airlock (lid's too tight for cheesecloth), on top of the tub with the experimental batches to catch some of the warmth as well.

English translation on the swing top? That looks promising ...

 

[Bidwell]

I read somewhere that the containers need to be in a warm place for the first few days to prevent mold.

I'm curious, how many with a mold problem kept their "experiments" warm? I'm thinking warm being 80°F or so.

 

[FatDragon]

English translation on the swing top? That looks promising ...

The pictures pretty much tell the story. I started a new thread about them in the bottling subforum but nobody has responded.

They have two different variations for a total of four different options: C-rings vs. O-rings and Ceramic lids vs. PP lids. You put the two ends of the cage, which would normally be placed in dimples on the bottle neck with a traditional swingtop bottle, in opposite holes on the ring. Then you put the ring around the neck of the bottle - C-rings are supposed to hold on their own but I'm skeptical, O-rings go around the bottle and then screw together through two parallel ends of the O-ring (making it more like a Q-ring), which holds tighter and gives you a higher-pressure seal. The pictures on the (defunct) sale page pretty much tell all, though they don't have a shot of a C-ring in action, just a demonstration of how to install the ring.

I've tried these on a number of Chinese beer and soda bottles and they seem to work out pretty well. The cage doesn't clamp down as much as you might want, but my experience with the infected rice wine proves that they do seal and hold pressure. I'll be capping a few beers in my next couple batches with these, and if they're good I'll place a bigger order from my beer supply shop. In small orders, they're about 60 cents for the ceramic O-ring version, but they do bulk pricing on larger orders.

 

[Leadgolem]

Here's the picture of the rice wine water additions experiment harvest. It's to late for me to do the tasting/aroma review. I'll post that tomorrow when I have time to do it.

 

[jak1010]

Nice LG...thanks for doing and posting this!

 

[The13th]

I just tried my first batch tonight! I wasn't really sure what to expect, but it tasted better than I expected. Kind of sweet, kind of tart, kind of creamy, and it smells really alcoholic.

One pound of rice yielded 200 ml of liquid. I didn't have a chance to get to it last week, so it fermented for five weeks instead of four.

Question... are there any uses for the leftover rice? It seems a shame to just throw it away.

 

[Leadgolem]

Nice LG...thanks for doing and posting this!

You know, if I get another series like this I think I'll send them to you for tasting instead. Most of these samples where awful.

Here's what went in the batches:
1. 358 grams cooked sweet rice. 0.5 grams ARL. (Control)
2. 358 grams cooked sweet rice. 0.5 grams ARL. 179 grams water. (50%)
3. 358 grams cooked sweet rice. 0.5 grams ARL. 358 grams water. (100%)
4. 358 grams cooked sweet rice. 0.5 grams ARL. 465 grams water. (130%)
5. 358 grams cooked sweet rice. 0.5 grams ARL. 537 grams water. (150%)
6. 358 grams cooked sweet rice. 0.5 grams ARL. 4.5 tsp crushed RYR. (RYR Control)
7. 358 grams cooked sweet rice. 0.5 grams ARL. 179 grams water. 4.5 tsp crushed RYR. (50%)
8. 358 grams cooked sweet rice. 0.5 grams ARL. 358 grams water. 4.5 tsp crushed RYR. (100%)
9. 358 grams cooked sweet rice. 0.5 grams ARL. 465 grams water. 4.5 tsp crushed RYR. (130%)
10. 358 grams cooked sweet rice. 0.5 grams ARL. 537 grams water. 4.5 tsp crushed RYR. (150%)

Here's how they came out:
1. Rice aroma. Moderately sweet, smooth, very strong alcohol burn. Control.
2. Mild rice and moderate lactic acid aroma. No sweetness, alcohol harsh, strong alcohol burn. I would consider this suitable for aging, but not drinking fresh. The alcohol needs to mellow before you are going to be able to taste anything else really.
3. Mild rice and lactic acid aroma. No sweetness. Very little alcohol flavor. Intensely acidic. Has a strange "corn" after taste. Moderate alcohol burn. Dump, this is the worst batch of the series and is truly awful.
4. Mild rice aroma. Very little flavor of any kind. Mildly acidic finish. Watery. Has a strange "corn" after taste. Mild alcohol burn. Dump.
5. Very mild rice aroma. Very mild rice flavor. Very mild acidic finish. Really watery. Has a strange "corn" after taste. Negligible alcohol burn. Dump.
6. Rice aroma and moderate fruit aroma. Moderately sweet. Slightly tangy finish. Very strong alcohol burn. Red rice wine control.
7. Rice aroma and moderate fruit aroma. Very little sweetness. Slightly tangy finish. Strong alcohol burn. Pleasant, but fairly dry. Best for aging, but can be consumed fresh too.
8. Very fruity aroma. Very little rice aroma. No sweetness. Intensely acidic. Moderate alcohol burn.Dump.
9. Moderate rice and fruit aroma. No sweetness. Watery, acidic, little alcohol burn. Dump.
10. Mild rice aroma. Really watery, very weak acidic flavor. Negligible alcohol burn. Dump.

 

[Bidwell]

After making a 5 cup batch with true steamed sweet rice and yeast "discs" I had to try more, that was 4 days ago, it has some liquid so far.

I made a 3 cup batch, soak 2 hrs, 2 yeast balls, then stove top with 1:1 rice/water. This turned out more of a glob of rice than the steamed rice with it's individual grains. I had my doubts. Today after only 2 days I have wine, no mold. I believe the constant 80° is responsible.

 

[jak1010]

Haha, No thanks...I'm very familiar with that experience.

FWIW, I've never had a good result from any water addition experiments. They all turn out just as you described. The one that was "drinkable" was just not pleasant.

 

[Leadgolem]

Haha, No thanks...I'm very familiar with that experience.

FWIW, I've never had a good result from any water addition experiments. They all turn out just as you described. The one that was "drinkable" was just not pleasant.

Oh I don't know. I might repeat batch 7 for a dry red rice wine. The rest, no.

 

[MarcusKillion]

Bidwell ;
to take care of that globbed rice thing what you do is after cooking rinse your rice with hot water this will break it up . I use the spray hose on my sink as it works well for this . I then wash it with cold water just a little to cool it down .

EDIT:
I have come to realize that cold water works better . I just flood the strainer right from the tap and stir with a rice paddle . Cools it down , breaks it up and you can pitch yeast right away

 

[Bidwell]

Bidwell ;
to take care of that globbed rice thing what you do is after cooking rinse your rice with hot water this will break it up.

This turned out like oat meal and any rinsing would wash everything down the drain. I just picked at it with a fork and spread it in the jar with yeast balls powder.

The first (steamed) batch that I rinsed, was dryer and just starting off, and it's 2 days older, and used yeast discs.

 

[FatDragon]

Oh I don't know. I might repeat batch 7 for a dry red rice wine. The rest, no.

Dang, now I really wish I had kept the ratio down with my two watered trials. My rice wine is super smooth and has almost no alcohol burn, which I believe is because it's extremely sweet. I think a moderate water addition will be good for my wine as it'll allow the yeasties to work out some extra sugars, but 100% by weight looks like it'll prove to be way too much.

Here's hoping the dry batches with tea come out good. If nothing else, the big batch should produce 2-3 liters.

 

[Fossey]

I've done a few batches now by cooking the rice in store bought apple juice. Adds a nice colour to the wine and a very pleasant tang to the taste. The rice just needs a little extra time to cook in the juice (and maybe a tad more liquid to cook in) but otherwise I stuck to the basic methods.

 

[jak1010]

After making a 5 cup batch with true steamed sweet rice and yeast "discs" I had to try more, that was 4 days ago, it has some liquid so far.

I made a 3 cup batch, soak 2 hrs, 2 yeast balls, then stove top with 1:1 rice/water. This turned out more of a glob of rice than the steamed rice with it's individual grains. I had my doubts. Today after only 2 days I have wine, no mold. I believe the constant 80° is responsible.

Looking good. I have quit soaking and just do a rinse until it's clear. I've found that soaking does produce more product but it tends to end too tangy for my taste. Over the months, I've come to prefer the sweeter rice wine. Still very strong and alcoholic but enjoyable.

Please post when it's done and let us know how it is and what you think of it.

 

[FatDragon]

Looking good. I have quit soaking and just do a rinse until it's clear. I've found that soaking does produce more product but it tends to end too tangy for my taste. Over the months, I've come to prefer the sweeter rice wine. Still very strong and alcoholic but enjoyable.

Please post when it's done and let us know how it is and what you think of it.

Rinsing clear seems like it should reduce your sweetness. You're getting rid of extra starches that will be converted to sweet sugars over the whole process. Then again, if you're not soaking and thus ending with a lower yield, that means you already have a higher sugar ratio in the wine than before, so you'll end up sweeter than before.

 

[DavidLiebeHart]

Finished my batch a little while ago, got a little more than 750 ml. out of 4 cups of rice. It was cloudy at first but settled out pretty quick in the fridge. Tastes pretty tangy, not as sweet as I was expecting but still real good. I dropped a couple cinnamon sticks in and they gave it a subtle warmth that I really like. Definitely gonna make this again.

 

[jak1010]

Rinsing clear seems like it should reduce your sweetness. You're getting rid of extra starches that will be converted to sweet sugars over the whole process. Then again, if you're not soaking and thus ending with a lower yield, that means you already have a higher sugar ratio in the wine than before, so you'll end up sweeter than before.

Exactly! Either way, when it's done and I harvest, the remains of the rice appear to have given their all. There's not much left and it just about disintegrates when touched.

 

[Leadgolem]

Dang, now I really wish I had kept the ratio down with my two watered trials. My rice wine is super smooth and has almost no alcohol burn, which I believe is because it's extremely sweet. I think a moderate water addition will be good for my wine as it'll allow the yeasties to work out some extra sugars, but 100% by weight looks like it'll prove to be way too much.

Here's hoping the dry batches with tea come out good. If nothing else, the big batch should produce 2-3 liters.

Yeah, I was a little surprised at how fast things went bad. Based on the directions some people have gotten I suspected the sweet spot for water addition was about 130% the cooked rice by weight.

Something I found was just about perfect was actually blending the 50% and control batches. That gave me just the right amount of sweetness for my tastes.

The next time I do another series of batches I'll try one with an extra 25% water by weight.

Finished my batch a little while ago, got a little more than 750 ml. out of 4 cups of rice. It was cloudy at first but settled out pretty quick in the fridge. Tastes pretty tangy, not as sweet as I was expecting but still real good. I dropped a couple cinnamon sticks in and they gave it a subtle warmth that I really like. Definitely gonna make this again.

Careful with how long you leave those in. They will continue to extract into the wine for a couple of months. At least they do in cider.

 

[FatDragon]

Yeah, I was a little surprised at how fast things went bad. Based on the directions some people have gotten I suspected the sweet spot for water addition was about 130% the cooked rice by weight.

Something I found was just about perfect was actually blending the 50% and control batches. That gave me just the right amount of sweetness for my tastes.

The next time I do another series of batches I'll try one with an extra 25% water by weight.

How much wine do you typically get out of a dry batch per cup of pre-cooked rice? How sweet/cloudy is it? I'm getting about 1/3 of a liter per cup of rice, and it's sweet and super-cloudy - my first batch is still weeks away from fully settling out the starches after five or six weeks in the fridge. Since I've got so much extra sugar there I suspect my wine's tolerance for extra water might be higher than others are getting, probably because of the amount of convertible starch in the rice I'm using.

 

[red_skittles]

Harvested my first batch today! Here are just a few observations. 4 cups of dry rice and 4 cups of water (no pre-soak) yielded very close to 2 liters of wine. I was actually pretty shocked at how much I ended up with. Looking at my containers, I would have guessed only about 1/3 of the rice converted, but after straining the rice pretty much compacted down in to nothing. My rice was also undercooked and dry. My compacted rice balls still had many individual grains that were completely solid. Stirring/agitating the rice during ferment did absolutely nothing. I split my batch between 2 fermenting containers and stirred one at 1 week, 2 weeks, and 18 days and left the other undisturbed. Both yielded almost the same amount of wine. Any difference could probably be contributed to me splitting the batches unevenly

My wine is in the fridge right now and I still haven't tasted it yet. As far as the smell goes, it is sweet, alcoholic, and slightly yeasty. In a blind smell test, my first thought would be cheap white wine I have an exam to write soon but after that a thorough taste test will be in order

biggest regret: starting a second batch only a week ago

 

[MarcusKillion]

I think the stirring is just good for keeping down the mold .

I have sweet and sushi . they both taste about the same , nasty in my opinion . last night I put some wine yeast in the sushi jar to see what would happen . maybe give it a different flavor . It is doing something . kind of clumped up and a sort of krausen I guess . I just put in some yeast nutrient to give it something to eat besides rice .

 

[Roughster]

Here is the jar at 18 days