Making Traditional rice Wine. Cheap, Fun, and Different

[Temptd2]

My first batch, which was harvested on 3/7, and of which there is about half a 750ml bottle left - is STILL hell-bent on producing copious quantities of CO2 - I have to decork it at least every other day and it always has a very hearty POP! when doing so. It's been in the fridge since I harvested it, so whatever it's doing in there - it's still having a good ol' time doing it!

 

[josephbernard66]

What I was saying is that I drink mine quickly.

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[Leadgolem]

Leadgolum, when you make RYR batches are you using only RYR or a mix with the balls? Either way how much RYR are you using?
Thanks

Both. I use 3 tbs of crushed RYR per 1 1/2 cup dry rice, and 1/3 of an oz, approximately, of crushed yeast balls.

Omitting the rice yeast balls resulted in the yield dropping by about 1/3 from what I would normally expect. In addition, the proportion of remaining solids and sugars was also much higher. Not a great wine. Not awful, but not really pleasant either.

On issues doing that large of a batch? I think it was Leadgolum that had an issue doing, I think, a 5 gallon batch.

I had two issues doing larger batches.

First, the rice took a rather long time to cool. That was annoying, but leaving it over night solves that.

Second, the rice formed a kind of fused rice cap with then floated on the co2 produced the fermentation. That cap wasn't continuing to break down, so I had to break it up so it would sink. The actual process solution is pretty simple. Form the rice into balls as you place it in the fermentor. That keeps the cap from forming.

My nephew asked me an interesting question yesterday about the yeast balls: "does that stuff work on wheat?"

My answer was, "I dunno. Bring me some wheat next time you swing by, and we'll find out."

Full disclosure: It isn't just an idle question. My parents ground their own flour and made their own cracked wheat for years (ever had cracked wheat, almond milk and honey slow-cooked overnight for breakfast?). When they died they left several hundred pounds of red winter wheat, that's sealed in 50 lb double bags and probably good for a thousand years...

My nephew was their live-in caretaker the last few years of their life, so he got custody of the wheat and the flour mill. And if the yeast balls work on wheat, we're looking at a lifetime supply of booze....

If they don't, we've lost a few cups of wheat and some yeast balls. Sounds like a good gamble to me....

I find it likely that the enzymes involved can address most types of starch. Provided they have been gelatinized first. I did try this with whole cooked wheat berries. I believe the fungus failed to penetrate the bran. What I ended up with was some very very moldy cooked wheat berries, and not wine. I would advise cracking the wheat and then cooking it before inoculating it.

I do know of at least one successful attempt to make red rice wine from cooked masa.

Question for you all.

I read the first 10-20 pages of this post and am very intrigued by this recipe. Since yeast balls are hard to come by, if i find some and make this recipe....can i take leftover rice mush at the end of a batch when bottling and use that to start a new batch?

Thank you in advance for your replies!

Yes. Doing so multiple times resulted in a progressively tangier wine with white rice wine though. In addition, attempting to preserve the lees either by air drying or refrigeration cause the subsequent batches to fail. It probably killed the fungus breaking down the starch. So, use them fresh. You are also looking at progressively higher risks of infection with every re-use.

Red rice wine with both RYR and yeast balls did not suffer from reuse in any way I could determine. Drying and refrigeration also failed to preserve the lees though.

 

[troy2000]

I find it likely that the enzymes involved can address most types of starch. Provided they have been gelatinized first. I did try this with whole cooked wheat berries. I believe the fungus failed to penetrate the bran. What I ended up with was some very very moldy cooked wheat berries, and not wine. I would advise cracking the wheat and then cooking it before inoculating it.

I do know of at least one successful attempt to make red rice wine from cooked masa.

Thanks for the reply. We're on the same page; I had already decided to crack the wheat before cooking. I hadn't thought of the bran, but I figured the yeast balls would work better on pieces of grain instead of whole kernels....

 

[Newsman]

Leadgolem...I wonder if it would help to chop up the rice after cooking in the food processor? Just a thought. Or maybe chop it up slightly prior to cooking to help it keep from clumping so badly or mix with the yeastballs/RYR more easily?

 

[Hoon]

So mine is about a week and a half in, about a third each, solid, clear and milky liquid. But it smells like acetone. Normal?


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[BBQB]

Should I harvest? 4 weeks of fermentation


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[josephbernard66]

Go for it... looks tasty.

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[josephbernard66]

I have had batches smell like acetone some don't I still drink it no matter what. Except when it really smells bad don't use grits or oatmeal. Rice only for me from now on.

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[BBQB]

Is cheese cloth the best way to strain?


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[Temptd2]

OK, recently harvested batches - neither KOTC nor I care for the one made with the jasmine rice - it has a "whang" to it that neither of us likes. It's also VERY "thick" and the solids are not settling out even after a week in the fridge.

OTOH - the batches of sweet rice wine I harvested yesterday are AWESOME! They have a very slightly pineapple, sweet taste. Actually I mixed the two containers into one container. I ONLY drained in a big sieve, I did not press out the solids much at all, and it's a MUCH better mouthfeel than the jasmine rice batch.

I think tomorrow I'm gonna bottle it in 16.9 ounce PET bottles, let it carbonate a day or three, then pasteurize it.

 

[josephbernard66]

Ive used a wifebeater before. I have used a coarse strain nylon bag. Muslin pillow case. Really I think cheese cloth or a nylon bag or wife beater are all just as good.

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[Leadgolem]

Leadgolem...I wonder if it would help to chop up the rice after cooking in the food processor? Just a thought. Or maybe chop it up slightly prior to cooking to help it keep from clumping so badly or mix with the yeastballs/RYR more easily?

In my opinion, that would help with the mixing but would probably make the starch cap issue worse.

I believe what is happening is that in larger batches you get a layer of starch that has partially saccharified. That layer has a consistency of jello, and traps co2 inside it. Then you have unconverted starch sitting on top of this buoyant layer.

Breaking up the rice into smaller pieces would likely cause this jello like layer to form much sooner in the process.

That being said, I don't know of anybody who has tried that. So, if you have a large batch planned, give it a shot and let us know what happens.

There are a couple of additional potential problems. First is the amount of extra work it would be to process all the rice through a food processor for a batch large enough to have the issue. The second is that with sweet rice I think what you would actually do is end up with something with the consistency of warm pitch. That's likely to be a pain to get out of the food processor, and might actually damage it.

For mixing, my preference is to toss the completely cooled loose rice in a food grade bucket with the powdered rice yeast balls, and the RYR if you are making the red. I've been able to coat virtually all the rice grains this way, and haven't actually gotten an infected batch since I started doing that and fermenting in the dark.

Is cheese cloth the best way to strain?


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Ive used a wifebeater before. I have used a coarse strain nylon bag. Muslin pillow case. Really I think cheese cloth or a nylon bag or wife beater are all just as good.

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I would probably not use cheese cloth. If you intend to squeeze at all I doubt you'd be able to get the lees out of the cloth.

I use an un-dyed tea towel. Not one of those absorbent hand towels, this is much more coarsely woven.

 

[trbig]

I would probably not use cheese cloth. If you intend to squeeze at all I doubt you'd be able to get the lees out of the cloth.

I use nylon "Cheesecloth" bags to strain mine, much like these, but I have found a larger size at my local homebrew shop.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007P6XE28/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

After straining, the lees go down the sink, I turn the bag inside out and hand wash well, then throw it in the washing machine (But not through the dryer.. they air dry quickly)

 

[mjwj12]

This is about 2 weeks now.



Brewed Not Bought!

 

[mjwj12]

This is about 2 weeks now.
View attachment 188029View attachment 188030View attachment 188031


Brewed Not Bought!

Has a very strong alcoholic smell already


Brewed Not Bought!

 

[ChefRex]

This is about 2 weeks now.
View attachment 188029View attachment 188030View attachment 188031


Brewed Not Bought!

No expert but every batch I have made the rice has remained defined, your's looks as a slurry, I believe I have seen other posts that look similar and where not good. I could be wrong, best of luck and make more one way or the other!

 

[josephbernard66]

Just drink the stuff and don't think about it too much.

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[josephbernard66]

Drinking like a sailor 101

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[501irishred]

I use nylon "Cheesecloth" bags to strain mine, much like these, but I have found a larger size at my local homebrew shop.



http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007P6XE28/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20



After straining, the lees go down the sink, I turn the bag inside out and hand wash well, then throw it in the washing machine (But not through the dryer.. they air dry quickly)

Paint department at Home Depot or Lowes (or paint store).


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[mjwj12]

Has a very strong alcoholic smell already


Brewed Not Bought!

I shake it up every so often


Brewed Not Bought!

 

[Fuzzymittenbrewing]

I shake it up every so often


Brewed Not Bought!

When I first started making this I did batches I stirred and ones I just left alone. The ones I left seemed to do better.

 

[mjwj12]

Pasteurizing rice wine link?


Brewed Not Bought!

 

[Temptd2]

We bottled the most recent batch yesterday, in 16.9 ounce PET bottles. They're already pretty dang firm. I'll pasteurize them in the next day or two, I'm sure.

Have revised my former tasting note - not pineapple, definitely pear flavor. Man it's good stuff! Time to start another batch. Only have two batches working right now. EEeeek!

 

[jak1010]

Hate to say I told you so but....ah who am I kidding. This stuff is friggin awesome! I knew you'd like it.

 

[Temptd2]

Oh, yeah, we like it! The first batch was good but man this most recently harvested batch runs circles around it. The only dif is the water ratio - first batch was 1:1.5 rice to water, IIRC, and this batch was 1:1. The difference is startling!

 

[DanzigsMISFITS]

I will be trying this very soon. Stepmom goes to asian store all the time and asked her to pick up some yeast balls and I always have rice.

 

[josephbernard66]

I want a drink im drinking some tonight.

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[AbstractBrewer]

Ill know more tomorrow, but..... I may have ruined my wine! I tasted it, and it tasted great. I decided to bottle pasteurize. I had a brain cramp and took it all the way to 177f before I realized where I was. I've never taken any homebrew that hot before, hopefully it's not ruined. Normally I make sure the brew hits 140 for a few minutes, this time the actual wine temp hit 177....... ouch!

 

[josephbernard66]

Got another just like it taste like grapefruit kicks like gin.