Making Traditional rice Wine. Cheap, Fun, and Different

[Tenenet]

Got my first batch going. Two cups sweet glutinous rice and two yeast balls. How bad is it that I overcooked the rice? It wasn't the individual grains I'd hoped for but rather sticky and clumpy.

 

[Tenenet]

Got my first batch going. Two cups sweet glutinous rice and two yeast balls. How bad is it that I overcooked the rice? It wasn't the individual grains I'd hoped for but rather sticky and clumpy.

So interestingly, that batch is going strong with lots of liquid. I made another batch that I steamed until the rice was easy to chew. It's been sitting with the yeast for days now without any sign of liquid. Same temperatures and other conditions.

 

[eigua]

It's been 12 days in the fridge with no sign of liquefaction or change whatsoever. I took it out and will let it go at room temp and see if it recovers.

It's now been 12 days since I pulled it out of the fridge and only the tiniest hint of liquid can be seen. It may just be residual water. The rice has a strong smell that instantly causes me to want to sneeze. Clearly something has grown in there but apparently not the right stuff. This batch is going in the garbage can. I'll try again, this time two smaller batches, one in the fridge and one out to see if perhaps my yeast balls are at fault.

 

[BeeDeeEff]

Should be able to see some liquid after 1-2 days, can't tell if it is booze or rice liquifying, probably both (also my first go at this). Didn't see noticeable airlock activity until day 2. Pic below of mine in a 1 gallon wide mouth jar after 3 days:

Just today I ran the contents through some cheese cloth to get most of the solids out, lots of squeezing to get the liquid out, and a few rice particles slipped by but I got most of em, here's how much liquid I got from it seen in a 1 gallon jar (bottle for scale):

Plan to let it sit and clear, before I poured it out there was a crystal clear middle layer between the two layers of rice remnants. Can definitely smell the alcohol, a light pleasant sweetish smell....a bit lemony, haven't tasted it.

 

[Tenenet]

So interestingly, that batch is going strong with lots of liquid. I made another batch that I steamed until the rice was easy to chew. It's been sitting with the yeast for days now without any sign of liquid. Same temperatures and other conditions.

I've run two experimenvts now with steamed rice. It simply doesn't work for me. Boiled rice did. Same kind of rice. Same amount of yeast.

 

[brewit75]

I've run two experimenvts now with steamed rice. It simply doesn't work for me. Boiled rice did. Same kind of rice. Same amount of yeast.

Never tried steaming the rice for a batch of rice wine. Actually, I've never had success steaming rice even for consumption. Just never figured out how to do it right.

 

[PartagasD4]

I boiled my first batch of sweet rice also. It was a gelatinous sticky glob of something similar to rice but it fermented out great . On my second larger attempt I steamed the rice and though the rice is covered completely in mold there was no liquid after 5 days. It was 4 cups of rice for a larger batch. I washed and soaked overnight too. I just poured in 2 bottled waters... it needed liquid in there. It seems to be doing better for the last 24 hours.

 

[Tenenet]

Never tried steaming the rice for a batch of rice wine. Actually, I've never had success steaming rice even for consumption. Just never figured out how to do it right.

I boiled my first batch of sweet rice also. It was a gelatinous sticky glob of something similar to rice but it fermented out great . On my second larger attempt I steamed the rice and though the rice is covered completely in mold there was no liquid after 5 days. It was 4 cups of rice for a larger batch. I washed and soaked overnight too. I just poured in 2 bottled waters... it needed liquid in there. It seems to be doing better for the last 24 hours.

Awesome I'm not alone. Wasted some yeast balls and rice but at least I know to go throw out my second attempt at steamed rice before wasting more time.

 

[chonas]

FYI, if it goes sour. A reason I just found out is a lack of oxygen in primary inoculation (first couple of days) before the yeast takes over. The mold needs oxygen, or it will produce acetic acid.

 

[PartagasD4]

Thanks chonas! Great info, I didn't realize that. Luckily I was taking the lid of every day and smelling it for rancid smells so I would think it helped with the oxygen.

 

[brewit75]

Served rice wine to friends over the weekend and the feedback was positive. In fact, I now have to brew more since I'm almost out. They enjoyed both regular brew and the batch with RYR.

One friend got so drunk (he was pounding it like beer) that he pretended to be a kung-fu fighter (think old karate movies from the 70s) and almost broke his leg trying to do a flying kick.

Time to make more rice wine and invite them back.

 

[pdxal]

Served rice wine to friends over the weekend and the feedback was positive. In fact, I now have to brew more since I'm almost out. They enjoyed both regular brew and the batch with RYR.

One friend got so drunk (he was pounding it like beer) that he pretended to be a kung-fu fighter (think old karate movies from the 70s) and almost broke his leg trying to do a flying kick.

Time to make more rice wine and invite them back.

Yeah, check page 572, Trbig had some tested at 19-20%, and I believe it.
Sake is diluted to be sold at ~15%.
Hits my friends and I like 19-20% too. To make it taste like commercial sake as well as to cut the burn and decrease the alcohol content I usually dilute it by about 1/4 with filtered water.

 

[brewit75]

Yeah, check page 572, Trbig had some tested at 19-20%, and I believe it.
Sake is diluted to be sold at ~15%.
Hits my friends and I like 19-20% too. To make it taste like commercial sake as well as to cut the burn and decrease the alcohol content I usually dilute it by about 1/4 with filtered water.

I have to remember the dilution trick next time I'm sharing with friends. Although, I did tell them multiple times that this should be carefully sipped and treated like a spirit rather than beer/wine.

On second thought, the comedy value of warning them and then watching the drunken action was well worth it. These friends are manly masculine men who drink beer like they're in college and aren't intimidated by "wine". Which, makes it all the more funny to see them hammered by it.

 

[pdxal]

I hear ya.

 

[BeeDeeEff]

Just today I ran the contents through some cheese cloth to get most of the solids out, lots of squeezing to get the liquid out, and a few rice particles slipped by but I got most of em, here's how much liquid I got from it seen in a 1 gallon jar (bottle for scale):

Plan to let it sit and clear, before I poured it out there was a crystal clear middle layer between the two layers of rice remnants. Can definitely smell the alcohol, a light pleasant sweetish smell....a bit lemony, haven't tasted it.

Bottled today, it separated quite well with just gravity and time, though there was a lot of loss in a very loose solids layer, so I just accepted it and saved my self the work of trying to extract any more out of it. Running it through a cheese cloth before the secondary was hard enough, so I just siphoned the clear:

Came out quite nice tasting, I let it go dry, closest thing I could imagine to a flavorless fermented beverage. I bet it would taste pretty good with some lime peel, ginger, and hot peppers macerating in it. Future project me thinks.

 

[eigua]

Bottled today, it separated quite well with just gravity and time, though there was a lot of loss in a very loose solids layer, so I just accepted it and saved my self the work of trying to extract any more out of it. Running it through a cheese cloth before the secondary was hard enough, so I just siphoned the clear:

It's pretty much impossible to filter it anywhere close to clear in my experience. Even a paint strainer bag lets through a tremendous amount of fine solids. Coffee filters just get clogged. Gravity is the only solution. You can still drink the cloudy solids though. It's a different experience because of the distinct rice taste and the slight texture, but still good.

Interestingly, I've found that the solids settle out much, much faster and stay settled out for the most part when pasteurized vs unpasteurized.

 

[BeeDeeEff]

Interestingly, I've found that the solids settle out much, much faster and stay settled out for the most part when pasteurized vs unpasteurized.

I wonder if the heat is an effective way of just degassing whatever stuff may be still trapped in the solids that can't get released by agitation alone, allowing it to finally fall.

I wouldn't have even strained the first batch if it wasn't for a top layer of floating solids and particles with the clear layer in the middle rather than on top.

 

[eigua]

I wonder if the heat is an effective way of just degassing whatever stuff may be still trapped in the solids that can't get released by agitation alone, allowing it to finally fall.

That would make sense except I pasteurized in sealed bottles.

 

[brewit75]

Bottled today, it separated quite well with just gravity and time, though there was a lot of loss in a very loose solids layer, so I just accepted it and saved my self the work of trying to extract any more out of it. Running it through a cheese cloth before the secondary was hard enough, so I just siphoned the clear:

Came out quite nice tasting, I let it go dry, closest thing I could imagine to a flavorless fermented beverage. I bet it would taste pretty good with some lime peel, ginger, and hot peppers macerating in it. Future project me thinks.

WOW! That is some clear stuff. I can't stop looking at that picture. I must have opened it 15 times.

I'll admit that I always want to try and get it clear but, I usually just strain through the cheesecloth and then bottle it. When in the bottle, it separates but, I usually just shake it up prior to pouring and then drink. When I drink it, it looks like the color of milk. Just like the picture you posted in the large jug with the bottle next to it.

 

[kitchenboy]

eigua is right, the taste profile changes considerably when you clarify it. I prefer mine clear. Have you tried "cold crashing" in the frig, then racking? Couldn't tell from posts.

 

[kitchenboy]

I steam sticky rice, cool, and then put into a bowl and add 1.5 ltrs of non chlorinated water, if I started with 2.5 kgs of dry rice. Work the rice to separate the grains and then pitch starter. Works for me. Since I make large batches, I try to get a little more control by using Angel brand "Rice Leaven" (rhizopus orzae) and Red Star "Premier Blanc" yeast, instead of yeast balls. The packets are available on line and cheap.

 

[BeeDeeEff]

WOW! That is some clear stuff. I can't stop looking at that picture. I must have opened it 15 times.

I'll admit that I always want to try and get it clear but, I usually just strain through the cheesecloth and then bottle it. When in the bottle, it separates but, I usually just shake it up prior to pouring and then drink. When I drink it, it looks like the color of milk. Just like the picture you posted in the large jug with the bottle next to it.

Definitely makes me feel proud, but in this case it was a matter of waiting (being busy) and accepting loss of liquid. I'm sure you could do it as well.

That being said, does anyone know if this stuff changes character when aging at all? is it worth hiding this bottle away or is it just gonna be what it is from now until I open it later?

 

[eigua]

Definitely makes me feel proud, but in this case it was a matter of waiting (being busy) and accepting loss of liquid. I'm sure you could do it as well.

That being said, does anyone know if this stuff changes character when aging at all? is it worth hiding this bottle away or is it just gonna be what it is from now until I open it later?

It does change over time according to what I've read. Some have said that it will sour, essentially turning to vinegar, others have said it will darken and the flavors will change, while others have said it can continue to ferment making a sealed bottle potentially dangerous. I can't say from experience because I've always pasteurized mine and the oldest batch I have is only about a year old. This wikipedia page on Huangjiu has some interesting information on the various varieties and how they differ.

Aging
Unlike in the production of Japanese sake, saccharification and fermentation usually happen in the same mash concurrently, as the seed mash and starter act on the cooked rice. The mixture is then left to mature in earthenware jars for a length of time from several months to several decades before being bottled and sold.

 

[kitchenboy]

Definitely makes me feel proud, but in this case it was a matter of waiting (being busy) and accepting loss of liquid. I'm sure you could do it as well.

That being said, does anyone know if this stuff changes character when aging at all? is it worth hiding this bottle away or is it just gonna be what it is from now until I open it later?

They certainly age rice wine in China, but not in the bottle. The official age of the wine is defined as the number of years that the finished wine is aged in pottery. I have found only one study of bottle aging out of the Philippines. They bottled the raw product, aged it between 1 week and 3 months. They racked off the clear liquid and then tested. "Length of aging time had no significant effect on the physico-chemical properties of the wine," or taste/aroma. Couldn't hurt to try one bottle though.

 

[madwilliamflint]

Has someone solved the harvesting problem? Last time I made this I had it in a net bag in a close-topped (airlocked) 2g brew bucket and I'd just have to harvest by pouring some out once in a while.

It was an awful mess.

 

[eigua]

Has someone solved the harvesting problem? Last time I made this I had it in a net bag in a close-topped (airlocked) 2g brew bucket and I'd just have to harvest by pouring some out once in a while.

It was an awful mess.

A paint strainer bag and a lot of squeezing.

 

[madwilliamflint]

A paint strainer bag and a lot of squeezing.

Damn.

Unacceptable.

Alright. Getting out the graph paper. I've gotta solve this.

 

[BeeDeeEff]

Damn.

Unacceptable.

Alright. Getting out the graph paper. I've gotta solve this.

Depends on how much loss you're ok accepting. Even before I once strained my batch there was a crystal clear middle layer between floating solids on top and loose stuff underneath. You could always just siphon that off, though you're going to lose a LOT of liquid.

Filtering off solids at least once (and squeezing through a bag or something) made the clear layer once separated very easy to siphon off. Not sure if you can make this stuff without it getting messy at some point.

Though I look forward to seeing ideas on how to.

 

[madwilliamflint]

Though I look forward to seeing ideas on how to.

I'll come up with something. It'll be a few iterations of insanity. But I'll get it.

I just haven't done it in years and remember what an awful mess it was, massaging and churning that thing to get it to fall out.

Doesn't all that handling create an oxygenation problem?

 

[eigua]

Damn.

Unacceptable.

Alright. Getting out the graph paper. I've gotta solve this.

Without resorting to absurdity like vacuum evaporation, the easiest thing I can imagine is putting a weight on a filter bag full of liquid in a strainer suspended over a bowl or something overnight. Basically the same method for making yogurt cheese.