Making Traditional rice Wine. Cheap, Fun, and Different

I don't know what the attraction is

 

Damn! I'm jealous.

 

My first batch fermented slower in my basement at about 63°. Perking about every 30 seconds. This second batch, is upstairs, at about 73°. I keep a thermometer on the bucket and temperatures don't fluctuate more than a degree in either place. But, at 73°, it perculates very fast.

 

I ignored this thread for a while, but something clicked last week and I started reading it. About a third of the way through the thread so far...Went to MT Supermarket in Austin after work today and found the yeast balls and some Thai Jasmine rice. Going to get my first batch started this weekend.

 

BGBC your going to get hooked!


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Do it!

 

Should I pasteurize all my bottles or let them age in the closet? I have a LOT of wine to go through.

 

It's wrong to leave it sitting around. Just because you are a fellow HBT-er I'll help out. Send them to me and I'll consume them.

 

I have been finding that what I have allowed to clear and then rack to another bottle does not seem to build pressure, If left cloudy and sitting on the solids it will build pressure. YMMV

 

Do it....it's damn tasty stuff.

 

Geez, I'm doing it. Already bought the supplies. Couldn't find any red yeast rice, but I'll start with a plain batch and keep looking.

About halfway thru reading the thread now. Great way to waste time at work...

 

LOL, sorry but I get excited when it comes to this stuff. Hey, after a few business trips, you'll have some darn good wine.

 

Day 3, reading through the whole traditional rice wine thread, moral is high, I've learned a lot though these pages, but theres always more that I can learn.

 

Do it. Very simple.



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I brew because I must.

 

I made a 5 cup batch using a mixture of Jasmine (3c dry) and sushi rice (2c dry) and it produced around 1,100ml of delicious milk colored rice wine. Though i think that if I had a better way to separate the liquid I might have squeezed out ~1,500ml. Honestly though I did not expect it to be so smooth and sweet, or have such noticeable alcohol content for only 3 weeks of fermenting time. My advice is just make some, love it or hate it, you're only spending a couple of bucks either way.

 

First batch started. 2.5c Thai jasmine rice, soaked and rinsed, cooked w/ 2.75c water w/ yeast nutrient. 1 Heng Lung yeast ball split between two quart jars.

 

Strain it with a large cheesecloth folded over a to give a few layers. Then twist the ball until it stops dripping. Keep doing it with breaks in between until the drip becomes thick and chalky. If you want to clear it afterward, bottle it, pasteurize it, then store it somewhere cold for a week

 

Paintstrainer bags from the hardware store rule. More consistent straining and since it is plastic, easier to clean and less chance of bacteria/funk transferring over on the re-use.



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I brew because I must.

 

Nice! 3 weeks and you'll be amazed.

 

Ok, so there weeks in and I'm wondering what I should do. I have a couple inches of sweet nectar at the bottom, but the thing that concerns me is the dark fuzzy stuff on top. Should I sanitize a spoon and scoop off the dark stuff? Should I mix it all together and let the ph level and alcohol take care of it? Should I sprinkle some more yeast on top?
I don't want to get sick, but I also don't want to lose this batch.
Thanks

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Kinda hard to see what's going on from that picture, could you take a picture with the lid off? I have never had dark growths, I am beginning to wonder if head room can cause issues, All mine have started as a completely full container.

 

Here's a better picture. I wanted to avoid taking the lid off, but I guess it wouldn't matter too much either way. It smells incredibly good. My first batch didn't have any dark stuff, but for all I know that could've been an anomaly.
I packed the jar up to the top at the start. It has settled considerably.

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What a weird process. Checked on mine this morning (2.5) days, and we've got liquid separation. About half an inch in the bottom.

 

I would remove it a harvest but I'm pretty sure it would be ok if it smells good, I'd drink it.

Oh, so weird but so good!

 

I sanitized a spoon and scraped off the top layer, then I mixed up the resulting rice goo and liquid. It looks great now, I'll give it one more week to finish up and make sure nothing else starts growing.

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Stuff is so good. My lady likes it too.... mmm we having a nightcap

 

That looks almost like a penicillium or something. Definitely doesn't look like something you want there...

 

My latest 16 cup batch of red was made from broken Jasmine rice. I wanted to see if broken rice made a difference. It looks like it did, the wine smells a lot stronger of alcohol and fruitful, and more of the rice has been broken down when compared to whole rice. I still have a week left to make 4 weeks, but it is fermenting vigorously still, I might push it to 5 weeks

 

The colour is really nice, it's like a clear ruby red

 

How did you break the rice? Do you think you will have an increase in yield?

 

I bet it does increase the yield. This is such a crazy process that I wouldn't be surprised by anything. Never thought that cooked rice and yeast would produce any yield in the first place. I was very skeptical when I "brewed" my first batch. It has been all down hill from there.

 

Killed my 1st batch, bottled second, brewing 3rd soon

 

I happily hooked on this stuff!
And I'm not complaining about the yield as is.

 

So I've been trolling these forums for a few years now but never really had a lot to add but I found an article that may be of interest to some people here so I figured I'd make an account and post it. The name of the article is:

Effect of Temperature on Chinese Rice Wine Brewing with High Concentration Presteamed Whole Sticky Rice

http://www.hindawi.com/journals/bmri/2014/426929

You can pretty much just read the abstract that notes the temperatures at which certain chemicals are produced to the greatest extent (i.e. 23 celsius for maximized ethanol production, etc) but I found it generally informative. They, however, only have 5 temperature data points (Room Temp, 18, 23, 28 and 33 celsius).

As I have no good way of controlling the temperature myself it was just an interesting read, but those of you with more advanced setups may find it useful. As it stands I will just hope the 22-26 degrees my rice ranges between will produce a reasonably tasty product.

Apologies if this article has been posted before, I did a search and it didn't come up.

 

The rice was bought that way. It was half the price of regular Jasmine, probably because nobody wants it. Besides being broken, the quality of the rice is the same. The pieces are about 1/3 of a full grain. The yield looks like it is better quality and quantity. The smell it's much stronger, definitely more booze and fruity smell. The less at the bottom have settled in more separate layers. The very bottom is a fine grain sediment, the middle is really soft looking grains, the upper layer is very soft looking and it breaking apart with the bubbles rising up. The top cap is still in tact, the very top is like soft grains and the bottom is very soft loose grains breaking apart and falling when bubbles hit there. I can't wait for this batch, it looks really promising

 

This is pretty interesting. Skimmed it and bookmarked it for later, but the process they used was interesting. Added extra water to the ferment (2x the weight of the rice), then only measured the fermentation characteristics for 4 days. This is referred to as the 'main stage' and they mention the 'second stage' briefly, but they don't talk about harvesting or what is done between the main and second stages.

Also mentions offhand that "The concentration of ethanol can thus be high and even more than 20% (v/v) in the final mash at the end of the main stage fermentation"

 

Cooked rice, MOLD, and yeast.

 

Got ten cups in my 2 gallon mr. Beer fermenter.


Brewed Not Bought!

 

1 week in on my first batch. More liquid, but looks like there is a cap forming with some mold on top (the white spidery kind w/ black tips). Might punch it down tomorrow.

Picked up a 1 gal Anchor Hocking jar at Homegoods today for $6 for the next batch. Also tried to find RYR and/or other yeast balls at a big local Asian market today and struck out. My wife was surprisingly patient as we walked around most of the store, then tried to ask a clerk if he could point us to them. Hilarity ensued.

 

Pictures?