Making Traditional rice Wine. Cheap, Fun, and Different

[emwinna]

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1420734192.843215.jpg

Here's another recipe for using the lees:

Amazake (kind of)

60 grams of lees
1.5 cups water
1/4 cup cooked rice (stole it from some rice I had cooling to make another batch of wine)

Leave the above to soak overnight.
(About 8 hours for me.)

If you want it smooth, put it through a blender or food processor.

Add 4 tablespoons sugar and another 1.5 cups water and a pinch of salt.
(You can add grated ginger, too, if you'd like.)

Stir well and heat on medium low until it thickens a bit and looks like translucent white gravy.

Can be served hot or cold, but leftovers should definitely be kept in the fridge.

 

[danmerk23]

Is it normal for white fuzz to grow on day 1?

 

[emwinna]

Is it normal for white fuzz to grow on day 1?

White fuzz should be fine. Even mostly white with very small black specs in it should be ok. Dark brown, predominantly black or green, or red (unless you've used red yeast rice) can be a sign of infection.

 

[ChefRex]

View attachment 247352

Here's another recipe for using the lees:

Amazake (kind of)

60 grams of lees
1.5 cups water
1/4 cup cooked rice (stole it from some rice I had cooling to make another batch of wine)

Leave the above to soak overnight.
(About 8 hours for me.)

If you want it smooth, put it through a blender or food processor.

Add 4 tablespoons sugar and another 1.5 cups water and a pinch of salt.
(You can add grated ginger, too, if you'd like.)

Stir well and heat on medium low until it thickens a bit and looks like translucent white gravy.

Can be served hot or cold, but leftovers should definitely be kept in the fridge.

I've never been opposed to throwing some lees into my morning smoothie

 

[danmerk23]

Why drink the lees? Probiotic?

 

[ChefRex]

Why drink the lees? Probiotic?

Waste not, want not? Nutritional value? Tastes good? Why the **** not?

 

[FatDragon]

Does anyone here drink their rice wine warm like sake? Here in Wuhan it's a common winter warmer - go out to hotpot with a bunch of friends and order a kettle of huángjiǔ with the meal (not to be mistaken for the dozen other alcoholic beverages that may be called huángjiǔ depending on where you go in China). It's typically warmed in some kind of closed bottle or jug so the alcohol doesn't burn off, and it's a great way to drink this stuff. Like warm sake, the taste is enhanced by the warmth, and like warm sake, you get the double punch of alcohol up your nose and down your gullet at once for a quick and pleasant buzz.

 

[wc1376c]

Does anyone here drink their rice wine warm like sake? Here in Wuhan it's a common winter warmer - go out to hotpot with a bunch of friends and order a kettle of huángjiǔ with the meal (not to be mistaken for the dozen other alcoholic beverages that may be called huángjiǔ depending on where you go in China). It's typically warmed in some kind of closed bottle or jug so the alcohol doesn't burn off, and it's a great way to drink this stuff. Like warm sake, the taste is enhanced by the warmth, and like warm sake, you get the double punch of alcohol up your nose and down your gullet at once for a quick and pleasant buzz.

Mine is very good warm!

 

[pdxal]

Waste not, want not? Nutritional value? Tastes good? Why the **** not?

Sake lees also make a great marinade for fish, kasu-sake or kasuzuke, or can be used to make pickles, shiru-kasu-zuke or Narazuke.

 

[emwinna]

Straining, pasteurizing, and bottling my monster batch of RYR wine today! I'm so excited!


ETA:

It's quite tart, and a bit chalky.
I've decided to throw it on some oak cubes and age it for 6 months to see what happens. The aroma is fantastic, so I'm bummed I won't be able to drink it right away. Oh well. Time to try again! Less RYR and more ARL this time, I think. I've really had good results so far with ARL.

 

[cujocon]

Why is America drinking Beer, when this stuff is the nectar of gods, easy to make, and cheap as my ex-wife?
Are there any commercial Rice Wineries in North America?

I'm mixing with Ginger Libation right now and it is, as the young folk say, "On Point".

 

[pdxal]

Why is America drinking Beer, when this stuff is the nectar of gods, easy to make, and cheap as my ex-wife?
Are there any commercial Rice Wineries in North America?

I'm mixing with Ginger Libation right now and it is, as the young folk say, "On Point".

There are several sake breweries in America. No rice wine breweries I know of though.

 

[swedgin]

So I checked in on mine today, which I noted before, smelled like acetone, and the smell of the acetone has greatly diminished. The underlying scents are starting to poke through. I'm no longer worried about this batch. I think it's going to turn out fine.

 

[emwinna]

There should be a public service announcement for how smoothly this stuff goes down....

I had 22 oz just a few minutes ago, but now it's gone. ;-;

 

[AndytheBeave]

subscribing to this thread - all 1 million pages of it....

 

[swedgin]

Anyone have any experience with the rice ball method? Care to explain it?

 

[ChefRex]

Anyone have any experience with the rice ball method? Care to explain it?

Seems like extra work to me, how big of a batch are you doing?
After dinner I'm cooking rice, need to get a batch going

 

[swedgin]

Seems like extra work to me, how big of a batch are you doing?
After dinner I'm cooking rice, need to get a batch going

Just 6 dry cups in a 1 gallon jar.

 

[ChefRex]

Just 6 dry cups in a 1 gallon jar.

I can barely fit 6 cups in a one gallon never the less trying to make balls

 

[swedgin]

I can barely fit 6 cups in a one gallon never the less trying to make balls

Really? My 6 cups dry, when cooked, only filled my jar about 3/4 of the way full.

 

[ChefRex]

Really? My 6 cups dry, when cooked, only filled my jar about 3/4 of the way full.

I guess I cook a fluffier rice

 

[Nogud247]

I have everything to make a batch but never could decide how much rice to cook for the 1 gallon container. I have a small bag of Thai jasmine rice. I was thinking 3 cups but now I'm wondering if I need to cook more. It says on the bag that one cup yields 3 cups cooked or some bs. Idk.

 

[ChefRex]

I have everything to make a batch but never could decide how much rice to cook for the 1 gallon container. I have a small bag of Thai jasmine rice. I was thinking 3 cups but now I'm wondering if I need to cook more. It says on the bag that one cup yields 3 cups cooked or some bs. Idk.

Five cups and you will be safe, what's your cooking technique?

 

[emwinna]

My pitcher *barely* fits 6 cups dry. It compacts pretty well, though, after only a couple days as the rice breaks down.

 

[Nogud247]

Five cups and you will be safe, what's your cooking technique?

Well I don't have a rice cooker so either stovetop or microwave.

 

[biodiesel]

I bought koji a year ago but haven't made my Sake yet. How long does Koji last in the fridge before it dies?

 

[swedgin]

Here's how I cook my rice to eat on the stovetop and it turns out perfect every time. I also use this method for my rice wine.


Add 1 cup of dry rice to 1.25 cups of water in a pot. Obviously you can scale this up. Most I've done in a single pot so far is 4 cups of dry rice, but my pot is tall, not wide, so your results may vary. The important thing is that the water covers the rice.

Bring the rice and water to a boil, while stirring occasionally, over medium-high heat (you don't want full on high or your rice may burn; just under high works on my stove).

Once the rice is boiling, lower the heat to between low and warm, cover the pot, and let it simmer for 10 minutes. After ten minutes passes, remove from heat, fluff contents of pot quickly to make sure none is sticking to bottom, cover again and let it sit another 10 minutes to continue steaming itself.

You should now have pretty great rice.

 

[ChefRex]

My rice for wine, 5.5 cups jasmine rice, rinse till mostly clear, cover with water till fingertip touches rice ,water at first joint, high heat to boil turn down to low, simmer 25 minutes, remove from heat and allow to cool overnight undisturbed.
Easy and perfect

 

[ChefRex]

Another batch in the jar

 

[MasterCrook]

So I have been going at it pretty regularly, having at least two big batches and at least two smaller ones going at any time. The big ones on average yield three to six litres. The small ones, three. Brewing in those amounts has given me the flexibility to experiment.

I keep both of the known yeasts on hand as they seem to produce different wines. I have tried the starter method several of those times with both yeasts and have not noticed any difference (I haven't given up on this yet). As mentioned in a previous post, the tablets seem to produce a sweet wine and the balls a dry. My red yeast rice batches have not panned out, kinda disappointed. I still have more so I will try again.

My batch sizes do present differently. The smaller ones (usually in some type of one gallon container) have varied in rice quantity, from just five cups cooked up to ten, both always yielding approx three litres. Yeast amount versas cup amount is still a running experiment. The smaller ones also seem to mature faster, about two to two and a half weeks.

I stopped agitating after about batch number six or so. I bag my mixture in paint filters and they are submerged after the first week, always. I found what are supposed to be Soy Bean filters, and they are the bee's knees. They are cloth and a little smaller than the typical five gallon paint filter from Home Depot. You should boil them every time before use to ensure they are clean (I do this anyway with all filters). The filter make clean up and straining soooo much easier! By the way, my big batches are done in either five gallon pails or Big Mouth Bubblers. Wide openings for the win.

Oak cubes work very well, definatly one of my favorite flavors for rice wine. I soak mine in some type of spirit to sterilize and/or to add flavor, put them in a smaller filter bag and toss them in the bottom. Regular raisens are another win, have not tried the golden ones as I remember reading they have some additive that will damage the wine itself or flavor of.

Clarifying and Pasturization are a whole other post for some of you more experienced wine makers to tackle. I have been using bentonite with some success and just picked up some isanglass and sparkolloid to experiment with. Still conflicted about that week to two week wait time for those two.

Anyway lost track of where I was headed. I have two big batch with 64 oz of strawberries and another with 48 oz of blueberries going. I'll let you know at the end of January how they taste.

Happy New Year all!!

You don't need to use dried fish swim bladders to clarify your wine, (isinglass). There are other methods

 

[swedgin]

Just made another batch and this time could only get about 5.5 cups of Jasmine in my jar. I think the 6 cups last time was due to using a medium grain rice.

 

[emwinna]

Just found some golden lion balls at my favorite international market!!

Too bad we've recently moved and I'm only back here to visit. -.-

Picked up 3 bags, though. Probably will go back before we leave to get more.

 

[z-bob]

I just bottled the gallon of crabapple wine that i fermented with a yeast ball. The previous batch made with champagne yeast still had a little sweetness to it; it couldn't ferment out the last little bit of sugar (I think because the ABV was so high) This is totally dry.

I saved the lees. If I can clean it up, it might be good for brewing barleywines and double imperial whatevers.

 

[Nogud247]

I just bottled the gallon of crabapple wine that i fermented with a yeast ball. The previous batch made with champagne yeast still had a little sweetness to it; it couldn't ferment out the last little bit of sugar (I think because the ABV was so high) This is totally dry.

I saved the lees. If I can clean it up, it might be good for brewing barleywines and double imperial whatevers.

Please post pics and tasting notes from the wine. Sounds like an awesome experiment.

Just melted my fermenting jug by mistake. Fml I have everything else ready.

 

[emwinna]

I just bottled the gallon of crabapple wine that i fermented with a yeast ball. The previous batch made with champagne yeast still had a little sweetness to it; it couldn't ferment out the last little bit of sugar (I think because the ABV was so high) This is totally dry.

I saved the lees. If I can clean it up, it might be good for brewing barleywines and double imperial whatevers.

Can't wait to hear how that goes!

 

[danmerk23]

Any thoughts about using this in conjunction with a wine yeast to do the same thing? With rice, or corn?View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1421369625.681695.jpg

 

[ChefRex]

Any thoughts about using this in conjunction with a wine yeast to do the same thing? With rice, or corn?View attachment 249032

Woof, GGRRRRR,WOOF WOOF WOOF!

 

[emwinna]

Any thoughts about using this in conjunction with a wine yeast to do the same thing? With rice, or corn?View attachment 249032

What is that?

 

[danmerk23]

Argh. Image won't upload

 

[danmerk23]

Oh it's digestive enzyme but it's mostly alpha amylase