Making Traditional rice Wine. Cheap, Fun, and Different

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Something a bit odd...

Didn't get around to cooking my rice last night, so came home for a long lunch today and cooked up 10 lbs of sweet rice. I have a gallon cider jug that I smashed 10 yeast balls down through the neck and into 1 qt of 75 degree water with a couple tablespoons full of corn sugar in it. I kept shaking and agitating the water to break up the yeast balls.

By the time lunch was over, the rice was still too hot to add the yeast balls, so I left it to work on the counter while I went back to work. 4 hrs later, there still didn't seem to be a bit of yeast activity going on.

So... is the yeast in these yeast balls targeted specifically to the simple sugar the starch is converted to and doesn't eat other forms somehow? I wanted this batch to take off early and avoid any chances of mold starting, but it didn't look like that was going to happen here. Anyone else try theirs? Mine have been out in the garage for a while, but they're sealed and in the cold, not hot.

Maybe next time, I'll add a bit of regular brewing yeast to it to at least get a layer of CO2 in there before the mold/yeast balls take off.I'd just hate for that yeast to take off on the converted starch and ruin the flavor. I wonder if it would kick it off any faster if you added some of the remaining rice material from the previous batch?
 
ChefRex said:
It is now in an improvised fermentation chamber at around 80F. Sound good?
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trbig said:
I've had trouble with batches that warm getting sour. Chinese friends told me the best temps for this stuff is @ 60 degrees, and said they don't even try to make it in the warm months because of this? As always, results vary.
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sonofgrok said:
Ditto. I find my cool batches take longer to produce but result in a better tasting product. The original recipe states to "stick someplace warm" but I have always done mine in the 65-75 range. I don't think you will have any issues with 80 but I certainly wouldn't go like 90 or above.
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captainskinnybeard said:
Anyway, regardless of the source of the amylase, amylase doubles it's rate of conversion of starch to sugar that is available to the yeast every 10 degrees C. Traditionally rice wine was made in the summer and aged over the winter.
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My experimental 2 cup batches ferment above the stove at a fairly consistent 72-75F all four seasons and to my taste turn out better than the scaled up batches that have lately been fermenting in the 60's. Perhaps this is just a function of personal preference in the way that some beer styles ferment at higher temps to get esters while others ferment at low temps to get more subtle flavors (I'm looking at you, Light American Lager). Perhaps it's because I haven't bothered to "puncture the cap" in the 8-12 cup batches.
 
sonofgrok said:
Someone at some point in time was going to try to brew beer with with these yeast balls but I don't think it ever happened.
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I thought someone tried and said it didn't turn out well. i could be wrong
 
I'm almost disappointed by the lack of drama in my jar. There's no funky fuzz, spots, black threads, or anything like that. The white rice just keeps on shrinking, and the clear liquid just keeps growing.

I took the lid off for the first time to get a good whiff of it last night. Wow. It was like sniffing a bottle of Everclear.....
 
Congrats, Troy. We could all deal with a little less drama in life. Sounds like yours is going according to plan.
 
I googled Chinese rice wine, to learn a little more about making it. One of the sites had 'Chinese wine biscuits' as an ingredient. Judging by the picture, they're just a somewhat flattened version of the balls we've been using....

The wine biscuits are usually a small ball of lees left over from the previous batch of rice wine making
which have been dried and resold as “Jiu-Bing” at the traditional Chinese medical stores.
According to some sources, the original Jiu-Bing was actually balls of rice flour, ginger and some other ingredients, left outside to attract the desired molds and yeast.

http://www.recipies.50webs.com/Making Chinese Wine.htm
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Sounds like it might be fun to try making my own yeast balls/biscuits, using the lees from my own batch.

The site also has a picture of a brown ceramic wine jar. It looks suspiciously like a plain old New England bean pot to me... maybe they sell them there for wine, and here for beans. :)

One other thing: they say fermenting the wine for more than 20 days can result in it tasting sour. If that's true, I'll be drinking mine this weekend; the timing's about right.
 
The first ones I bought looked like that and had ginger and other things in them. They worked fine as well.




Most people let the wine go out to 28 days. I've left it in for several months before (Forgot about it with all my other brewing going on) and it was just as good as ever. Harvesting that early, you're not going to get all you can out, but you wouldn't be the first one to impatiently break into a batch. :D
 
Wow! Just harvested my first batch using ARL. I did a small batch just to see if my wife and I would like it. It is a hit! I only filled a 12oz bottle and a little left over that my wife and I had. I've got to say that it tastes a lot better than it smells! It's sweet and little fruity but is a little funky on the nose. I sampled it straight and mixed with a splash of cranberry/pomegranate juice at varying levels. I prefer it with a light splash of the juice. My wife didn't mind it straight! My wife doesn't drink beer so Ive tried experimenting with fermenting mead, apfelwine, Skeeter Pee, and now rice wine so she has something to drink. When I told her that I only made enough to fill a 12oz, she asked me why I didn't make more! Thanks to all for this new and interesting drink!

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Home Brew mobile app

1391132186047.jpg
 
The Chinese wine jar I was looking at the other day reminded me so much of a New England-style bean pot, that I ordered a 4.5 qt bean pot from Amazon yesterday afternoon. $23.99 plus CA sales tax - plus free overnight shipping with my Prime account, so it's here already. And I wasn't surprised to see the little 'Made in China' sticker on the bottom.... :D

I think if I just place a layer of sanitized cheesecloth under the lid, it's going to work just fine.... I'll start a batch in it this weekend.

The attachment is a stock picture, by the way; the lid on mine doesn't set crooked like that. :)

bean pot.jpg
 
I'm digging the traditional nature of that pot. Please post pics when in progress.
 
It'll dang sure keep the light out and keep any mold growth to a minimum.

Do you think they make those in a 7 gallon size? :D
 
sonofgrok said:
Someone at some point in time was going to try to brew beer with with these yeast balls but I don't think it ever happened.
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I remember that. I think the person doing it said it didn't go well. They had a blowout and ended with a beer they didn't like.

In another thread, I remember somebody trying to make a red beer with red yeast rice. The first attempt was with just a basic beer recipe, including yeast, plus the red yeast rice. No substantial color was observed. I suggested adding some unconverted starch, IE cooked rice, to the next batch. That batch produced much more color and a substantially fruitier beer.

I didn't see pictures or taste either, so I can't verify the results. I also don't have any inclination to run an experiment in that direction as I'm not that wild about beer.

Happy brewing!
 
Leadgolem said:
I remember that. I think the person doing it said it didn't go well. They had a blowout and ended with a beer they didn't like.

In another thread, I remember somebody trying to make a red beer with red yeast rice. The first attempt was with just a basic beer recipe, including yeast, plus the red yeast rice. No substantial color was observed. I suggested adding some unconverted starch, IE cooked rice, to the next batch. That batch produced much more color and a substantially fruitier beer.

I didn't see pictures or taste either, so I can't verify the results. I also don't have any inclination to run an experiment in that direction as I'm not that wild about beer.

Happy brewing!
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My first reaction to that was, "say WHAT??":p

Being mostly into the beer end of it myself, I tend to forget how many people on HBT are busy making other stuff, instead of (or along with) beer....
 
Has anyone tried using the leftover starch mass from one batch to start another? Wondering if it takes off any faster. Maybe an experiment with a normal batch with just rice and yeastballs, one with some yeastballs and some starch mass from a previous batch, and one with the starch mass and no yeastballs?
 
trbig said:
Has anyone tried using the leftover starch mass from one batch to start another? Wondering if it takes off any faster. Maybe an experiment with a normal batch with just rice and yeastballs, one with some yeastballs and some starch mass from a previous batch, and one with the starch mass and no yeastballs?
Click to expand...

If I understand properly, that's basically what yeast balls are: the dried leftovers from making wine. So I'm going to try making my own yeast balls, when my first batch gets done.
 
trbig said:
Has anyone tried using the leftover starch mass from one batch to start another? Wondering if it takes off any faster. Maybe an experiment with a normal batch with just rice and yeastballs, one with some yeastballs and some starch mass from a previous batch, and one with the starch mass and no yeastballs?
Click to expand...
I did a similar experiment, though it was aimed at red rice wine. Here are the links.

I've also done just straight reuse of the lees for both red rice wine and white rice wine. That works fairly well, but the white rice wine tends to get infected after a few reuses. Doing successive batches with the fresh red did not have any down side I could see. The process does not appear to be much faster using the lees then with a fresh batch though.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f243/m...un-different-361095/index230.html#post5283477

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f243/m...un-different-361095/index238.html#post5299144

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f243/m...un-different-361095/index242.html#post5318815

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f243/m...un-different-361095/index246.html#post5334547
 
mjwj12 said:
Bottled mind yesterday. A sweet flavor. Also noticed that it is carbonated too. View attachment 176640
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Nice! That was fast. Glad you like it.

It will carb and if I were you, I'd keep an eye on it. There's one person who had a bottle bomb in the fridge and it blew through all the glass shelves. Take a look at the bottom of page 17 of this thread for pics.
 
I need help please I made a small batch 5 days ago and still have no change in the jar. Zero liquid. Yeast still dry. I used 2 cups sushi rice and 2 yeast balls.

1391366367353.jpg


1391366398951.jpg
 
kako187 said:
I need help please I made a small batch 5 days ago and still have no change in the jar. Zero liquid. Yeast still dry. I used 2 cups sushi rice and 2 yeast balls.
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Did you let the rice cool before adding the yeast balls, and did you powder them first?
 
kako187 said:
I need help please I made a small batch 5 days ago and still have no change in the jar. Zero liquid. Yeast still dry. I used 2 cups sushi rice and 2 yeast balls.
Click to expand...


Give it time. It will do something. It did the same for me
 
Off to making a new batch . rice and ryr . I used 1 cup rice 1.5 cups water after soaking . I am not going to rinse this after cooking to cool it but let it sit . It has plenty of extra water in with it that did not soak in during cooking that is nice and thick and I am leaving that in . going to use 1 yeast ball per 500 grams rice plus 1 extra . going to make it in fridge at 61 degrees . Should have far less fusel alcohols that seem to dominate this stuff at higher temps . that would be the stinging in the throat I think after swallowing . I fixed up the last stuff with a nice 60 proof finish and it tasted pretty good .
I filtered a small jar of the black rice wine . It tasted good . the large jars are still fermenting along with some large jars of white rice . Will let them go till they stop bubbling .
 
so i finally went for it. i used 2 lbs of long grain rice [it's what we had], and about 8 cups of water. i didn't rinse/ wash it, as i read that washing it removes starches, and we want those starches to convert to sugars. could be pseduo-science, but it's already done. i used two yeast balls and it's been in my room which is around 70 degrees. the left picture is right after i assembled my 1 gallon jar, and the right picture is about 72 hours in. i'm excited, it looks like i already have about a quart of wine. it smells amazing, and the little bit i tasted was pretty sweet.

day 1 and 3.jpg
 
jak1010 said:
I'm digging the traditional nature of that pot. Please post pics when in progress.
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OK, put the pot to use this weekend. I soaked 5 cups of Thai jasmine rice overnight, cooked and cooled it, and mixed 3 powdered yeast balls into it.

It's in my fermenter, along with the batch I started a while back. That one's probably ready to bottle; it doesn't seem to be doing anything.

And why is there room in my fermenter? Because the batch of grain I was assured by telephone would definitely be here by Friday at the very latest is apparently going to get here Tuesday instead, according to FedEx tracking. !@#$%^&.....







 
It seems a lot of people make mistakes that sometimes work, but reduce either the quality and reliability of their results.
There are reasons why the Chinese do what they do, they have perfected the process. I have been reading more about how and why they make it the way they do:

1) Always wash your rice thoroughly before and after soaking. This removes a lot of the stuff that can hurt your results, protein, fat, harmful organisms,... Sure you are loosing some starch as well, but not much.

2) Do not make your rice too wet. The water should be fully absorbed by the rice. Wet rice encourages growth of unwanted organisms.

3) Water should be very slightly acidic to discourage mold growth. Many recommend adding lactic acid if the water source is alkaline. Other acids should work as well, but I haven't tested.
If you want to get fancy, test the PH.
 
I've tried two asian food stores and have had no luck finding yeast balls...they're Korean food stores so maybe that's why? The yeast balls seem to just be a chinese product. I did however find a bag labeled enzyme. The ingredients just say enzyme and there's a warning that says "It is prohibited to make wine for sale by the law." So I figured I must be able to make something with it, right?? Anyone know if I can use this in place of the yeast balls, how much I would use, and do I still need mold in addition or is just the enzyme necessary?

Oh, and I have a rice cooker...is that the same as a steamer? I'm guessing it's not since the water just gets put in with the rice and then I hit a button.

DSC04664_zps825a7409.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]
 
trbig said:
Is it just liquifying, or can you smell alcohol in the noodle/potato mix?
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not a mix. 1 jar is noodles, 1 jar is potato. They are both liquefying. The liquid in the noodle jar looks funny. Looks almost like oil. I took the lids off and smelled them. They both smell very alcoholic. The potato one definitely smells better than the noodle.
 

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