Making Traditional rice Wine. Cheap, Fun, and Different

[pabloj13]

I can vouch for those balls. I love Asian markets, there's some pretty cool stuff and always for dirt cheap.

Taken alone, this statement reminds me of a Tobias Funke quote.

 

[Tinhorn]

Taken alone, this statement reminds me of a Tobias Funke quote.

Reminds me of this famous quote ( at least around my family ) . Thanks for the laugh

 

[Jdix]

So I ju mped on this yesterday and boiled the rice instead of steaming on the recomendation of the guy that ran the asian market. Says the mush left makes great rice pudding anyone tryed that yet. And do you think the boiling will have a negative effect? 3cups sweet rice and 2 white yeast balls."Makes good sweet for drinking" he said.

 

[Ostomo517]

So I ju mped on this yesterday and boiled the rice instead of steaming on the recomendation of the guy that ran the asian market. Says the mush left makes great rice pudding anyone tryed that yet. And do you think the boiling will have a negative effect? 3cups sweet rice and 2 white yeast balls."Makes good sweet for drinking" he said.

Im definately gonna look into doing something with the rice afterwards. Just checked on mine (day4) and its blooming Koji beautifully on top. Theres a large tunnel I made down the middle as suggested at my local asian mkt. And the tunnel is filling nicely with sweet smelling liquid.

 

[saramc]

So I ju mped on this yesterday and boiled the rice instead of steaming on the recomendation of the guy that ran the asian market. Says the mush left makes great rice pudding anyone tryed that yet. And do you think the boiling will have a negative effect? 3cups sweet rice and 2 white yeast balls."Makes good sweet for drinking" he said.

You are fine, many boil the rice. Try the fermented rice around day 3, quite nice in my opinion.

 

[Ostomo517]

You are fine, many boil the rice. Try the fermented rice around day 3, quite nice in my opinion.

Did you just steal a small scoop and eat it as is?

 

[pabloj13]

Ok I've made two batches now, both with short grain, sweet sticky rice and yeast balls from the local Chinese grocery. While it is very good, it is not sweet at all. Both of the Chinese students in my lab say it is way more dry than they're used to also. I am letting it go 21 days. Ambient is probably only 66 degrees though. Do you think I am not getting enough amylase activity and the yeast are able to dry everything out?

Any ideas?

 

[bottlebomber]

Any ideas?

Did you try it along the way at all? Did you observe it drying out? You could always back sweeten, especially if you're going to be pasteurizing it.

 

[pabloj13]

Did you try it along the way at all? Did you observe it drying out? You could always back sweeten, especially if you're going to be pasteurizing it.

Yeah. I stirred it once a week the second time and tasted each time. It tasted dry and tart almost right away. Both times (stirred and not stirred) tasted the same at the end.

 

[sonofgrok]

Yeah. I stirred it once a week the second time and tasted each time. It tasted dry and tart almost right away. Both times (stirred and not stirred) tasted the same at the end.

Rice and yeast type probably played a role too.

 

[pabloj13]

Rice and yeast type probably played a role too.

It's sweet short grain rice recommended by my Asian grocery and the yeast balls in the yellow and red package that I've seen several times in this thread.

 

[Ezekielsays]

Any ideas?

With mine, I wasn't getting very much liquid at all. My ambient temp was probably closer to 68. I warmed it up to the mid 70s, and almost instantly (within about 5 hours, actually) the liquid level increased dramatically. I'm assuming it was too cold for the enzymes to do their job.

A taste test before warming it was not sweet at all. It seems slightly sweeter now, though that may be my imagination. It's not very sweet at this point though. I only warmed it up earlier today, so there's a chance more time will bring more sweetness.

 

[saramc]

Any ideas?

From what I have read the yeast balls do vary based upon the region/country they are produced in. Some yield a tangy wine, others sweeter. So yeast may be the biggest variable. Sweet rice seems to be the rice all the Asian grocers guide you to, for the most part. I have used several different rices and a Vietnamnese yeast ball and one from Shanghai, I think, and my wine is sweet even up to day 30, temp 67-70F.

 

[saramc]

Did you just steal a small scoop and eat it as is?

Sure can, it is good chilled. Then next batch just increase rice volume to account for what you want to steal. You can keep it sealed in refrig and as it rests it still ferments even cold. I have read of people actually saving the rice lees after they harvest the wine and chilling and eating, or actually combining with more steamed rice to improve texture, and then chilling that. Really good served with fresh mango or banana slices and a simple vanilla or gibger syrup or any other fruit/syrup you desire. Yes, I am a kitchen nerd.

 

[nhamilto40]

After a bit of searching i found that the moisture content of "perfectly cooked" long grain rice is between 58% and 64%. For glutinous/sweet/sticky rice it is about 75%. All this depends on the exact rice type and the the diner's preference of course.

For food use boiling is usual for non glutinous types and soaking followed by steaming for the glutinous types.

So in standardized form:

Cooked non glutinous types

100 kg dry rice
58-64 kg absorbed water

Cooked glutinous types

100 kg dry rice
75 kg absorbed water

This difference in absorbed watering the rice probably explains why glutinous rice is preferred in the most basic "cooked rice plus yeast ball" recipe.

For the more methodical brewers I would suggest measuring the weight gain due to cooking to get a starting water content.

 

[Leadgolem]

After a bit of searching i found that the moisture content of "perfectly cooked" long grain rice is between 58% and 64%. For glutinous/sweet/sticky rice it is about 75%. All this depends on the exact rice type and the the diner's preference of course.

Interesting. I find this statement odd. The proportion of long chain carbohydrates to short grain carbohydrates in a grain of rice is directly related to the length of the grain. The longer the grain of rice, the higher the proportion of long chain carbohydrates. Long chain carbohydrates are sticky, or gluey. So, long grain rice is usually listed as glutinous or sticky.

I would think that if you wanted a sweeter rice wine you would want to have a relatively low moisture content. That way the liquid you end up with as the rice saccharifies would have a higher ratio of sugar to water. Then, when the yeast reaches it's alcohol tolerance limit you still have plenty of sugar left.

For a lower water content, it would seem to me that the cooking method for the rice would be more important then the rice type. From a logic stand point, I would think that soaked and steamed rice would have a lower water content then boiled rice.

As far as the impact of the starch proportion to water retention, I would think that long chain carbohydrates would have a tendency to retain more liquid then short chains.


The attempt I made at reusing the starch mass leftover from my prior batch has been partially successful. There is some saccharification of the rice, but no clear separation of the liquid. This is also the case with the large batch in the food grade bucket. Both batches are in food grade plastic. I'm beginning to suspect that there is something in, or about, the plastic that is retarding the growth of the fungus that produces the amylase enzyme.

The large batch was made from rice yeast balls. The small one was made from leftover starch mass. The small batch has been in the mid 70's, the large batch has been slightly cooler. Neither has the white fuzz on it that both successful batches of rice wine had. I am moving the large batch to a location that will stay in the mid to upper 70's to see if the liquid will separate.

 

[WesleyS]

Rice wine assembled. Now the wait.

 

[bottlebomber]

Rice wine assembled. Now the wait.

Whatcha got against 1 gallon jars?

 

[WesleyS]

Whatcha got against 1 gallon jars?

I hate them.
I will probably pick one up before the next batch. I was only going to fill the two containers In the back, but I decided to make more rice than originally planned so I improvised.

 

[saramc]

Any ideas?

I do know in the reading I have done on this type of wine making, the yeast balls do vary based upon the region they are made from, not all yeast balls from China are created equal as it does have to do with the wild yeast (apparently). Some produce a tangy/sour wine while others will produce a sweeter style wine. SO, it could be the type of yeast ball vs the type of rice used. Who knows why things are turning out the way they are.
I will say I have used sweet rice, Thai Hom Mali jasmine rice, sticky rice, and a sushi rice with yeast balls from Vietnam says MEN RUOU NGOT HIEU DONG QUE on the cellophane packet, distributor IHA BEVERAGE in CA and then a Chinese one packed for HOP LEE TRADING CO in NY, has a red flower in upper right corner of bag and every ferment which is harvested between days 21-30 has yielded an off dry wine for me which has a bit of sweetness to it (at least to my palate).

 

[saramc]

Like I said, I found this online and haven't tried it myself yet, but I imagine
SGfinal would be what you have after the boil with the addition of water. Whereas SGorig is what you have right before you boil. I understand we can't use the hydrometer because we start with a solid, that's how I came across this equation while researching how to get an accurate abv reading

Off Topic Question: How do you reply to more than one post without having to respond individually to each one? Is that even possible?

Okay, now I did a little digging an came across the information that kosciel4 was talking about in regards to determining the alcohol content of a finished product like this rice wine, or any other alcohol containing beverage for that matter. They use it all the time in for spirits and such.
This particular link explains every step and has even been simplified for amateur use and it comes with a handy chart which will tell you the ACV of your finished product. All you need is a hydrometer, small glass/enamel pan, a 250ml sample, a stove, and distilled(no tap) water! According to the research done by Dr. William Honneyman this method is just as accurate as an ebullioscope! http://valleyvintner.com/Tips&Links/MeasuringAlcohol.pdf

 

[Leadgolem]

Click the multi-quote button for each post you want to respond to. On the last one click the normal quote button. The multi-quote button is just the right of the quote button.

 

[WesleyS]

Well, it looks like I'm starting to see some fluid forming in all jars and I detect a yeasty smell coming from them. It's been about 19 hours since I put everything together.

 

[Tinhorn]

One week in !

 

[00radio]

Yeah okay, I'm in too.

I have a batch of experimental Lactomel going, so I thought I might as well get some rice wine going as well. So for me, I went with half high quality sushi rice and half "wild sweet purple rice." It has some nice color to it if nothing else. I also found Happy Panda yeast balls.

Prep: Washed the rice until the runnings where mostly clear. Put 4 cups of the washed rice at a time in my pot. Filled it with water to one finger knuckle above the top of the rice. Brought it to a boil, set it on simmer, and let it cook for 20 minutes. Cooled it, then packed it in my 2 gallon bucket sprinkling the yeast balls on top. I just threw them in my coffee grinder to chop em up. 3 balls for every 4 cups dry rice. Managed to get about 12 cups of dry rice cooked up and stuffed in there.

Now for the fun part... waiting!

 

[bottlebomber]

I had a small shot glass full of mine tonight at 10 days. It is fruity and tart with some sweetness, and this is definitely 20% alcohol if not more based on the vapors and warmth in the chest and stomach. I want to eisbock this!

 

[WesleyS]

I had a small shot glass full of mine tonight at 10 days. It is fruity and tart with some sweetness, and this is definitely 20% alcohol if not more based on the vapors and warmth in the chest and stomach. I want to eisbock this!

Did you use 100% sweet rice in yours? Just curious.

 

[bottlebomber]

Did you use 100% sweet rice in yours? Just curious.

Yes, mine was all sweet rice. Next time I think I am going to mix sweet and basmati.

 

[WesleyS]

Yes, mine was all sweet rice. Next time I think I am going to mix sweet and basmati.

I'd be interested in the results from basmati. That and Jasmine completely ruined me from ever buying plain ole long grain rice. I haven't bought plain rice in years.

 

[Punx Clever]

I found this on a webpage for anyone interested in the abv of their wine.
I haven't tried it myself, but it said take a gravity reading, take 250ml of your final product, boil it until its 125ml, then add 125ml of water to bring it back to 250ml, take another reading and use this equation.
AbV=((SGfinal-SGorig)/2.11)*1000

After a little thought on this method, I can see how it would work. Granted I didn't actually do any math, it just passes the logic test.

As you boil the wine, both water and alcohol evaporate. By the time you've reduced the volume in half, all of the alcohol should be gone. You then replace the missing volume with water.

This way, all the dissolved solids (that would stay in through boiling) are at the same volumetric concentration, and by comparing the gravity of the wine with alcohol and the wine without alcohol, one should be able to calculate how much alcohol was in there since that is the only variable that has changed.