Making Traditional rice Wine. Cheap, Fun, and Different

[wongjau]

Theres also this fermented tofu that it's needed for.

Red yeast rice wine lees are good for red fermented bean curd. I specifically made red rice wine so I could make red fermented bean curd because I couldn’t find any that was non-China produced.

 

[TexasTea]

This jar is what my Chinese mother in law used to make rice wine, and other fermented foods /drinks. Apparently the upside down bowl on top is the airlock (you fill the rim with water). I may try this.

 

[Time2Retire]

My latest effort after 5 weeks. (It's warm here). It has the dreaded acetone smell, so I'm going to give it a couple of weeks in "secondary" and see if that dissipates.

The trick of adding more rice and water a couple of days in, definitely improves the yield and ABV. It does seem to make the fermentation process little more temperamental.

 

[Rish]

I'm at one month on my first batch. Visible liquid levels haven't changed in a couple of weeks. Emptied and pressed a one quart jar today and got 2 cups of wine. It tastes and smells good, sweet and a little tart, pretty much the same as last week. Do y'all think I should go ahead and get it off the lees? Are there benefits or risks to leaving it longer? TIA
btw, it's potent!

 

[Miraculix]

I see no risks in leaving it longer but it also looks like it's done and can be extracted.

 

[wongjau]

I see no risks in leaving it longer but it also looks like it's done and can be extracted.

Agreed. My nicest one sat on lees for a few years because life got in the way. I was pleasantly surprised when I finally strained it.

 

[ICanSeeBeerlyNow]

Really cool thanks for the inspiration!

 

[Rish]

If you dilute this for more volume to a lower abv/sg will fermentation start again? What if you add another yeast (Champagne maybe)?

 

[Rish]

Damn, did I kill a 6400+ comment thread?! The final product is pretty sweet so I was just wondering (in my cups a bit) if there's a way to ferment those sugars that are left to get more ethanol out of this. I strained and pressed mine and got about a gallon out of 2 kilos of rice.

 

[wongjau]

Damn, did I kill a 6400+ comment thread?! The final product is pretty sweet so I was just wondering (in my cups a bit) if there's a way to ferment those sugars that are left to get more ethanol out of this. I strained and pressed mine and got about a gallon out of 2 kilos of rice.

I’d expect champagne yeast to do something. I’ve not tried doing that though.

 

[Miraculix]

Damn, did I kill a 6400+ comment thread?! The final product is pretty sweet so I was just wondering (in my cups a bit) if there's a way to ferment those sugars that are left to get more ethanol out of this. I strained and pressed mine and got about a gallon out of 2 kilos of rice.

The trick is to manage the fermentation with additional water at the right time. There is information about that specific topic within the posts i have linked to quite recently. It is tricky though, as you have to hit the right timing. Otherwise it will sour the wine.

 

[Rish]

Started a 2# (dry wt) jasmine rice batch. Want to try the jasmine instead of sweet rice since it's available locally and pretty inexpensive. I used 50% more yeast balls than I did with sweet rice since I read that jasmine rice might not be as "digestible" to the enzymes. Not sure if that will make a difference. It'll be held in the mid-70's. I'll post on progress. Pretty easy way to make alcohol!

 

[Rish]

Day 6: liquid about 3/4 up to the top of the rice. Smells good!

 

[passedpawn]

Man, I must admit I made the best rice wine ( I call it sake, but you pedants won't stand for that). I make it clear, and I make it milky (nigori). It's all really good! No koji. Just rice and enzymes. The latest is slightly carbonated ( I made a big batch and kegged lol).

 

[Lampy]

No koji. Just rice and enzymes.

What kind of rice and what enzymes? I am curious about the process.

 

[passedpawn]

It's really easy. Well, if you read about making real sake the old way with koji and multiple additions, it's incredible complex. I have tried that and ended up with either weak or strong vinegar. This one I made here is really tasty. I'll also say it must be fairly high ABV, based on how I feel the next morning lol.

• Cooked Rice 10# (from BJs)
• Enzymes (amylase and gluco, but you probably only need gluco). I vaguely remember a couple of tsp of each. Homebrew shop will have both of these
• Yeast (a high ABV white wine yeast I picked up at the HBS)

1. I cooked the rice the normal way, in water in a big pot. put in bucket with airlock.
2. Added Enzymes when it was warm but not hot. Stir.
3. When cool, mix in yeast.
4. Rice will completely melt in a couple of days. It will be look like mostly liquid. No mold growth in this process.
5. I think I waited about a week, then filtered the rice solids from the liquid. I just poured it into my AIO brewing system. The mash basket worked really well as the filter. Opened the valve and the liquid ran out into a fermentor. There is still a lot of white thin solids that get through, but not actual rice.
6. I let mine ferment at room temperature. I waited several months before I even tried it. It's likely ready way before that.
7. I did not filter it, though I had planned to (I do have plate filters and carbon that would have made it water-clear I think). The rice solids will eventually settle to the bottom. If you bottle and include these solids, it'll be milky and is referred to as nigori. It's got an interesting sweet banana-y flavor that I do like. If you filter the solids away, it's lighter-flavored and mostly clear.

 

[Rish]

This from @Miraculix which helped me a lot.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/thread...-cheap-fun-and-different.361095/post-10381353

Short version: cook sweet or jasmine rice, powder yeast balls (you can get these at Asian markets) in a spice grinder (I use one ball per pound of dry rice), sprinkle over warm rice that you spread out on a sheet pan, mix well, put in a container with a loose lid, set it somewhere that is around 70°F, wait a month, strain, press the lees, bottle, chill, enjoy.

 

[Hoochin'Fool]

It's really easy. Well, if you read about making real sake the old way with koji and multiple additions, it's incredible complex. I have tried that and ended up with either weak or strong vinegar. This one I made here is really tasty. I'll also say it must be fairly high ABV, based on how I feel the next morning lol.

Thanks for the sake-rice-wine-for-dummies post! I've only tried sake once, at a fancy japanese restaurant, decades ago, and at the time, it was definitely not for me! But your process looks fool-proof enough that brewing up a small batch sounds like a fun experiment!

Would beano work as well as the glucoamylase?

 

[passedpawn]

Thanks for the sake-rice-wine-for-dummies post! I've only tried sake once, at a fancy japanese restaurant, decades ago, and at the time, it was definitely not for me! But your process looks fool-proof enough that brewing up a small batch sounds like a fun experiment!

Would beano work as well as the glucoamylase?

No idea. Maybe?

 

[Time2Retire]

Update on my latest batch.

Several weeks of cold crashing, and the solids have finally settled. I got 2 US quarts of clear yellow, and one of nigori-style. It's very strong, and as predicted, the chemical notes went away. Pleasant nectarine flavors that have never happened before.

I encountered two things. First, what looked like a kahm infestation, but without the unpleasant smell. Now, I ferment a lot of things--kimchi, sauerkraut, kvass, you name it--and kahm happens with all of those. But I've never seen it with rice wine before. I skimmed it off and Bob's your uncle.

Second, it's tangy. Not quite sour, but very very tangy. (Don't get me wrong, I'm still going to drink it). I know this is because about four days in, I added more mash and about two cups of water. @Miraculix or one of our other potion masters, is there something I'm doing wrong timewise?

 

[Miraculix]

Update on my latest batch.

Several weeks of cold crashing, and the solids have finally settled. I got 2 US quarts of clear yellow, and one of nigori-style. It's very strong, and as predicted, the chemical notes went away. Pleasant nectarine flavors that have never happened before.

I encountered two things. First, what looked like a kahm infestation, but without the unpleasant smell. Now, I ferment a lot of things--kimchi, sauerkraut, kvass, you name it--and kahm happens with all of those. But I've never seen it with rice wine before. I skimmed it off and Bob's your uncle.

Second, it's tangy. Not quite sour, but very very tangy. (Don't get me wrong, I'm still going to drink it). I know this is because about four days in, I added more mash and about two cups of water. @Miraculix or one of our other potion masters, is there something I'm doing wrong timewise?

Sounds good to me!

 

[Rish]

Tasted my Jasmine rice batch today at about 6 weeks. Definitely different than the sweet rice batch. Not as sweet with a bit of a caramel note. Tastes pretty good, for sure alcohol in there. Lees are mushy/sticky compared to sweet rice which was firm and almost dry when pressed. I'll give it more time and check again.

 

[Miraculix]

Tasted my Jasmine rice batch today at about 6 weeks. Definitely different than the sweet rice batch. Not as sweet with a bit of a caramel note. Tastes pretty good, for sure alcohol in there. Lees are mushy/sticky compared to sweet rice which was firm and almost dry when pressed. I'll give it more time and check again.
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That might be because you have more residual starch leftover in the rice. The enzymes from the fungi cannot chop all of the starches within this rice variety. Whereas sticky rice is almost completely choppable.

 

[Rish]

residual starch leftover

That certainly makes sense; thanks for the input. It's definitely different and enjoyable at this point. It's also less tart than the sweet rice batch.

 

[Rish]

Chinese rice wine with jasmine rice. Bottled at 2 months. Taste is good but lees are very sticky making it hard to extract wine and seems to lower yield. Very cloudy. I'll stick with the sweet rice in the future but jasmine will work if that's all you can get.

 

[TexasTea]

Starting my first batch of rice wine today, will keep you posted. I came to HBT for beer brewing knowledge , picked up a nasty mead brewing habit, started making my own yogurt and now I'm off to rice wine land. You guys are a bad influence.

I'm using this rice and yeast balls. I ordered them off Amazon but I'm betting they sell them at Hong Kong Market in Spring or Houston. I just didn't feel like driving all the way down there.

Sanpatong sticky rice from Fusion Select


Translation from Chinese "New Hang Tail Marine Shanghai Yeast Balls" 3 packs 4 oz each.

 

[TexasTea]

Started with 3 cups dry rice before washing the rice and soaking 4 hours and followed by steaming 45 minutes. Rice cooled on plates before adding hammer crushed yeast balls and mixing in with clean hands. I used 2 yeast balls. AC set on 80 here (heat off). Piece of muslin under lid. Lid, jar, and muslin sanitized with star san. We'll see what happens. rice more than doubled in volume from dry state. I'm keeping the jar in a dark cabinet. Just moved it to my fermentation chamber set at 70 F.

 

[TexasTea]

Switched out the muslin for a piece of folded over cheesecloth sanitized with star san. The cheesecloth seemed a little looser (more air flow) than the muslin which was quite tight.

Quick question: Has anyone ever tried to vacuum filter the final product (Buchner or fritted glass funnel on filter flask attached to vacuum)? What micron media did you use?

 

[Erik the Awful]

Don't over think it.

I have a 1.5 gallon batch on my counter right now. I left it on the counter in a bucket for two months with a paper towel and bucket lid to cover it.

Last week I passed it through a screen to separate the rice from the wine, and I put the liquid in a gallon bottle and a two quart bottle with 1/4 tsp and 1/8 tsp of sparkolloid respectively. It's already separated out into clear yellow liquid and white lees, and when I rack and final-bottle it I'll probably have one full gallon of clear yellow wine with a few glasses to sample.