Making Traditional rice Wine. Cheap, Fun, and Different

[CKuhns]

*

 

[adkinsc20]

Hello all, new to posting but been reading on Homebrewtalk for years and love the site and the extremely wise and helpful folks here.

I started a batch of rice wine with some Basmatti on 2/1 and another with Thai Jasmine on 2/4. The first batch has started showing some liquid but has some odd bubbles and the second batch has some black spotted mold. Just wondering if anyone can tell me if these are normal

 

[Davedrinksbeer]

I read somewhere on here it is normal and not to worry. Mine did the same thing and came out fine. I’ve done a few batches and when I ferment warm 70’s it has more floral/citrus notes and when I ferment cooler mid 60’s it’s more clear, crisp and smooth.

 

[adkinsc20]

Thanks @Davedrinksbeer I kind of figured but wanted some reassurance. Mine fermenting around the mid to upper 60's. I've got them on the kitchen counter near an outside wall so they tend to stay a bit cooler than the room temp.

 

[Davedrinksbeer]

Good Luck,I’m amazed on how good this taste. My friends all really like.

Thanks @Davedrinksbeer I kind of figured but wanted some reassurance. Mine fermenting around the mid to upper 60's. I've got them on the kitchen counter near an outside wall so they tend to stay a bit cooler than the room temp.

 

[user 211287]

Trying just Korean rice syrup for kicks the next go around. I have a bottle i need to use up and it should be enough for maybe a half gallon. Might add fresh ginger and yuzu/yuja for flavor since its just going to be used for cooking and marinating meat.

1/2 gallon batch with hot water
500 grams of Korean rice syrup
2 heaping TBS Korean yuja tea mix. Its almost like a marmalade made with sugar, honey and yuzu/yuja
20 gram of candied ginger

Added almost a half tsp FermaidK after it cooled.

 

[MikeOhio]

Definitely getting the early acetone type smells with a batch i put together in a 1 gallon hocking type jar, 5 cups of thai jasmine and 2 yeast balls. So far though i have not got those same smells from a 2.5 gallon hocking jar with the same recipe, 5 and 2, done only 2 days later. both sit at a week and 5 days respectively. I wonder if there is a correlation with packing density in a fermenter and the development of the solventy smells? The same volume in a larger space, the 2.5 gallon jar has not produced those smells so far? Both seem to be producing liquid at the bottom so far so well see.

 

[MikeOhio]

Im 0-2 so far.....The 1 gallon jar (5 cups rice/2 yeast balls) fermented exactly 3 weeks @ 65 in a fermentation fridge/inkbird-308 produced vinegar. The 2.5 gallon jar with the same 5 cups rice/2 yeast balls, 3 weeks, @ room temp, a constant 74 produced vinegar! No unusual mold on either one. The one variable that may have contributed to the issue was a higher water ratio with both. About 1:2 rice to water. A third batch in another 1 gallon jar, again @ room temp, a constant 74 with a lower ration, 1:1.5 rice to water has 2 weeks to go. So far, not so good!

 

[Davedrinksbeer]

Im 0-2 so far.....The 1 gallon jar (5 cups rice/2 yeast balls) fermented exactly 3 weeks @ 65 in a fermentation fridge/inkbird-308 produced vinegar. The 2.5 gallon jar with the same 5 cups rice/2 yeast balls, 3 weeks, @ room temp, a constant 74 produced vinegar! No unusual mold on either one. The one variable that may have contributed to the issue was a higher water ratio with both. About 1:2 rice to water. A third batch in another 1 gallon jar, again @ room temp, a constant 74 with a lower ration, 1:1.5 rice to water has 2 weeks to go. So far, not so good!

I’m not sure what your saying. I put 1 cup of rice with maybe cup and a half of water in my rice cooker and mine comes out fine. I don’t wash or soak my rice. After it cooks, I spread the rice out on aluminum foil to cool. After it cools down, I smash the yeast balls up and sprinkle some on there and dump it into a fermenting bucket. I make 15-20 pounds in about 2 hours. 20 pounds gave me 3 gallons of rice wine/sake.

 

[MikeOhio]

I'm not sure what above is confusing? I laid out the recipe i followed for both batches, they were the same (thai jasmine rice/standard yeast balls), and laid out the variables (differences between the 2), the fermentation temps, and The different size of jar. The fact that they used a rice to water ratio of 1:2, is what i'm wondering may have caused them both to turn to vinegar by the 3 week mark. They both were kept in the dark as well.

 

[MikeOhio]

I'm now starting to wonder if i had bad yeast balls in some way? Ill keep trying.

 

[Antonovich]

I'm now starting to wonder if i had bad yeast balls in some way? Ill keep trying.

were all the yeast balls from the same batch? Ive used both thai sweet rice and jasmine rice without any issues. Although I do my rice/ water at 1:1 in a rice cooker. I always wash rice, but don't soak it.

 

[MikeOhio]

Yep...Hang tai marine products yeast balls/amazon, and local walmart dynasty thai jasmine rice. What was your ferm temps antonovich?

 

[Antonovich]

Yep...Hang tai marine products yeast balls/amazon, and local walmart dynasty thai jasmine rice. What was your ferm temps antonovich?

just at room temp on the kitchen counter. Our house is a little cooler the past while, prob 65-68F unless we're using the oven.

 

[sgreene820]

Has anyone figured out how to dilute the rice wine enough to restart fermentation and dry out the end product a little? I was thinking about maybe adding 25% sterilized water.

 

[OpenSights]

Sunday will be the end of week #4. I’ve only seen minor activity, but looks on par with pictures posted.

 

[OpenSights]

Work made me wait an extra two weeks. Very boozy and sweet. Sushi rice 1-1 rice/water. Good stuff! Going to try adding cinnamon in the next batch... or ginger.... maybe one of each.

 

[sgreene820]

Has anyone figured out how to dilute the rice wine enough to restart fermentation and dry out the end product a little? I was thinking about maybe adding 25% sterilized water.

To answer my own question. I've restarted fermentation after combining two batch with lees and adding about 25% water. It took time and temperature (probably mostly temperature) for it to restart fermentation. It's slowly bubbling into an airlock now. I'll wait until the airlock is still again to harvest.

 

[501irishred]

I’m interested in the results from this. It would be nice to have a little dryer version (I would end up doing both). What lees did you rack onto?

 

[sgreene820]

I’m interested in the results from this. It would be nice to have a little dryer version (I would end up doing both). What lees did you rack onto?

I wasn't as precise as I could have been. I meant that both batches weren't separated from the rice solids and yeast, so I combined both in one gallon jug and shook it a little, them added a little water.

The warmest place in my house is on top of the refrigerator. It restarted when it got the upper 70's.

 

[OpenSights]

I’m interested in the results from this. It would be nice to have a little dryer version (I would end up doing both). What lees did you rack onto?

For my next attempt I’m going to add a dash of nutrient and a pinch of energizer.... worth a shot.

 

[501irishred]

I wasn't as precise as I could have been. I meant that both batches weren't separated from the rice solids and yeast, so I combined both in one gallon jug and shook it a little, them added a little water.

The warmest place in my house is on top of the refrigerator. It restarted when it got the upper 70's.

For my next attempt I’m going to add a dash of nutrient and a pinch of energizer.... worth a shot.

All worth a try for sure. I used some nutrient a while back, and the the batch turned out good as I recall, but mine are so inconsistent from batch to batch (volume) it’s hard to say if it truly helped anything. As another experiment, I might actually do what I had thought sgreene820 was planning on doing. Maybe rack a batch on the first lees of a fruit wine. Maybe a muscadine this fall?

 

[OpenSights]

I brought a sample to my club’s board meeting tonight. It’s taken on a pleasant sour note. Next week’s beer of the month is sours. One jar still has some fermentation going on, so I’m going to add a touch of nutrient and energizer to it, combine and add gelatin then rack into a 750l swing top and add a carbonation tablet. See what happens.

 

[OpenSights]

All three pint jars popped when I opened them tonight. So the yeast is active again. Separated the “clear” from the milk and added priming sugar to both. Hopefully by Tuesday it’ll carb. I won’t put it in the fridge till Monday night.

Might be a stepping stone for me in an unconventional way to sours.

Light throws the pic off, it is rice white.

 

[FatDragon]

Might be a stepping stone for me in an unconventional way to sours.

Can you elaborate on this? I've had tartness in rice wine - in fact I'd say it's characteristic of the stuff in my experience - but I'm not really sure what a tart rice wine has to do with a sour beer, so I'd like to hear what you're thinking about this.

 

[OpenSights]

Can you elaborate on this? I've had tartness in rice wine - in fact I'd say it's characteristic of the stuff in my experience - but I'm not really sure what a tart rice wine has to do with a sour beer, so I'd like to hear what you're thinking about this.

Tart was what I tasted two weeks ago, yesterday it was closer to sour. We, my club and I think either there is natural bacteria in the yeast balls or somehow picked up wild bacteria for the sour from the air. This time of year I have the windows open as much as I can!

The sour beer idea comes from my LHBS’s manager. It’s not sake, rice is a grain, not malted, but rice wine is in one of those grey areas where it can be anything.

I also have a dandelion wine with wild yeast going... minor activity. I’m going to give it another few days before I pitch yeast.

 

[MikeOhio]

20 cups of rice, 1/2 Jasmine 1/2 Sweet. 4 shanghi yeast balls. Fermenting at 51. Im getting closer. Last batch at 53 had very little tartness or sour, but lots of alcohol and sweet!

 

[Bart Grungeman]

20 cups of rice, 1/2 Jasmine 1/2 Sweet. 4 shanghi yeast balls. Fermenting at 51. Im getting closer. Last batch at 53 had very little tartness or sour, but lots of alcohol and sweet!
View attachment 626491

What temp are you fermenting at.?

 

[imasickboy]

What kind of fermenter volume am I looking at to do, say 25 pounds of rice?

Do we have a rice per gallon volume established?

 

[OpenSights]

Water to rice ratio depends on what kind of rice you’re using. Took a couple of batches to figure it out, but with the sushi rice I used it was one to one.