Making Traditional rice Wine. Cheap, Fun, and Different

[saramc]

asiansupermarket365.com

Search red yeast. I ordered from them and had my order on my door step a day and a half later. Super fast shipping.

Also, scroll back several pages and look for a grouping of discount codes for Asiansupermarket365--they will help.

Any thoughts?

Tabb on the fruit forefront....consider a secondary ferment by simply racking your harvested rice wine onto fruit which has been dosed with k-meta. Rack off the fruit in about three days (or to taste), and then pasteurize.
Asian pear is my favorite addition, though I juice them and just add prior to bottling. Mine does not last long so I refrigerate (and they sometimes have low level carbonation), but I really need to try to start pasteurizing 12-24 ounces from each batch. Enjoy!!

 

[saramc]

Huh, ok. I would have thought it would go vinegary.

It's always that time.

In rice wine or sake making pasteurization is always recommended (unless you are going to guzzle pretty quickly and keep it refrigerated) is due to the fact that this product is prone to lactobacillus infection. In fact, they are traditionally double pasteurized. I want to say the first time it is a volume pasteurization, the second time is bottle pasteurization.
It is not so much the concern for vinegar, though you can leave a pasteurized bottle which has been opened, maybe a recycled twist cap bottle, on your counter, in your cabinet and over time it will start to darken as it changes to vinegar. It is interesting to watch the color changes.

 

[Leadgolem]

Interesting. It's probably worth noting that very few pathogens can survive an alcohol solution in excess of 4% for very long. So racking anything with much alcohol on it onto fruit isn't really a problem from a pathogenic perspective. Slick is right though. You will introduce some wild yeast when you add solid fruit. So, it would be best to pasteurize after the solids have been removed. Regardless of whether you pasteurized prior to adding the fruit or not. That is, if you are going to store this stuff in sealed bottles. If your just going to stick it in the fridge for a week, then I wouldn't bother.

 

[Leadgolem]

In rice wine or sake making pasteurization is always recommended (unless you are going to guzzle pretty quickly and keep it refrigerated) is due to the fact that this product is prone to lactobacillus infection. In fact, they are traditionally double pasteurized. I want to say the first time it is a volume pasteurization, the second time is bottle pasteurization.
It is not so much the concern for vinegar, though you can leave a pasteurized bottle which has been opened, maybe a recycled twist cap bottle, on your counter, in your cabinet and over time it will start to darken as it changes to vinegar. It is interesting to watch the color changes.

Hmm, I think I will have to try this. I wouldn't mind making a little vinegar on purpose.

 

[TBBrewer]

After reading through this thread, I decided to give this a try. I made 2 batches this weekend, each 5 lbs of dry rice. One batch was with the suggested rice and yeast, the other was with some other yeast that I purchased from the Asian market. I will post pics of the funky yeast tomorrow. Thanks for all the great info.

 

[TheDemonSlick]

Sonofgrok, the plans working! My rice stocks are up 17%!
Kidding!

 

[wooda2008]

I just noticed that I left an open bottle from my first test taste 2 months ago in my man cave!

no sign of infection, so I took a sip.

Not as tart as it used to be, and I think the alcohol is gone, but it was still very pleasant. I got just a hint of vinegar

 

[00radio]

Hey Everyone!

So a while back, I posted that I tried mixing the powdered yeast balls with some cooked sweet potatoes. Thought I should report back. Basically- DO NOT DO IT!

Cooked the sweet potatoes, peeled them, mashed them, and then stuffed the mash into a jar with powdered yeast ball. After only a day or so, massive of amount of fuzz could be seen on top of the mash. My thought at this point was that everything seemed to be going okay. So I stuck it in my cabinet and left it alone. Two weeks later, I open the cabinet door and get assaulted by the strongest, nastiest acetone smell ever. And this was just the cabinet it was stored in. Still massive amount of white fuzz on top, so much that it had fuzzed up the head space I had left and soaked the cheese cloth I had on top under the lid. The cheese cloth was even wet outside the lid, which I think is why the smell had escaped so strongly. I replaced the cheese cloth with a clean piece and used a sterilized spoon to scoop out enough for some actual head space. Then closed it up again and stuck it back in the cabinet.

I let it sit for another 3 or 4 weeks and then decided to finally bottle it this weekend. Still the nastiest stuff I have ever worked around. Put a layer of cheese cloth on top of a strainer and dumped it in. Got one 12 oz. bottle out of 5 large sweet potatoes. Not nearly the conversion that happens with rice. My friend that helped out basically gagged over the foulness of this stuff. Instead of massive amounts of bleach to get all the equipment clean, I'm half tempted to just burn it all and buy new stuff.

Anyway, I capped the bottle, labelled it as "POTATO PEE-DO NOT DRINK," and stuck it in the cabinet far away from anything else. I really have no idea what I'm going to do with this stuff. Maybe a mean prank if nothing else.

 

[SFGiantsFan925]

Why would you even keep the fluid?? I made some rice wine that had a very strong acetone smell and just dumped it. Why even keep it?? It's obviously not fit to drink haha

 

[Leadgolem]

Hmm, I can't say I've ever brewed something that smelled like acetone. I have had a couple that smelled like distilled spirits. IE: Like really strong alcohol. That actually did age out.

 

[ender416]

Just put my first batch in the cabinet. first of all, my jar is not a screw top, but just a glass top that sits on top of my cheese cloth. second, i forgot to let my rice cool before putting it in the jar. are these things going to be a problem?

 

[FermentNEthinG]

it may be a problem for the yeast balls if it is too hot. You may have pasteurized them.

 

[sonofgrok]

Just put my first batch in the cabinet. first of all, my jar is not a screw top, but just a glass top that sits on top of my cheese cloth. second, i forgot to let my rice cool before putting it in the jar. are these things going to be a problem?

The heat thing has proven a problem for many. Yeast seem to handle cold pretty well (just going to sleep) but heat will straight up kill them.

 

[jazzman]

I didn't cool my rice enough and it formed a gray/blue fuzz then came the black dots koji I guess. It didn't do much the first week but now after 3 weeks it has produced a decent amount of cloudy liquid in the bottom of jar and smells pretty good. Next batch, i'll cool it more.

 

[jak1010]

I didn't cool my rice enough and it formed a gray/blue fuzz then came the black dots koji I guess. It didn't do much the first week but now after 3 weeks it has produced a decent amount of cloudy liquid in the bottom of jar and smells pretty good. Next batch, i'll cool it more.

How did/does it taste?

 

[timewasted]

This was fantastic. Sweet, floral and delicious. It definitely jazz a strong alcohol backbone, but isn't so much that it detracts from anything.

 

[LabRatBrewer]

If a doctor told me I had three weeks to live, I'd start a batch of this rice wine. It makes 21 days seem like forever.

 

[Tinhorn]

If a doctor told me I had three weeks to live, I'd start a batch of this rice wine. It makes 21 days seem like forever.

It does seem like an eternity !

 

[Leadgolem]

Here are the Ryr and Oolong batches after 1 week. It might be hard to see in the picture, but the RYR batch already has clear separation of liquid in the bottom. The Oolong batch does not. Since I had liquid present in the previous jasmine rice batch after a week I'm not really sure what to think about this. Both batches have been made with jasmine rice.

 

[Gar]

Hey Everyone!

So a while back, I posted that I tried mixing the powdered yeast balls with some cooked sweet potatoes. Thought I should report back. Basically- DO NOT DO IT!

Cooked the sweet potatoes, peeled them, mashed them, and then stuffed the mash into a jar with powdered yeast ball. After only a day or so, massive of amount of fuzz could be seen on top of the mash. My thought at this point was that everything seemed to be going okay. So I stuck it in my cabinet and left it alone. Two weeks later, I open the cabinet door and get assaulted by the strongest, nastiest acetone smell ever. And this was just the cabinet it was stored in. Still massive amount of white fuzz on top, so much that it had fuzzed up the head space I had left and soaked the cheese cloth I had on top under the lid. The cheese cloth was even wet outside the lid, which I think is why the smell had escaped so strongly. I replaced the cheese cloth with a clean piece and used a sterilized spoon to scoop out enough for some actual head space. Then closed it up again and stuck it back in the cabinet.

I let it sit for another 3 or 4 weeks and then decided to finally bottle it this weekend. Still the nastiest stuff I have ever worked around. Put a layer of cheese cloth on top of a strainer and dumped it in. Got one 12 oz. bottle out of 5 large sweet potatoes. Not nearly the conversion that happens with rice. My friend that helped out basically gagged over the foulness of this stuff. Instead of massive amounts of bleach to get all the equipment clean, I'm half tempted to just burn it all and buy new stuff.

Anyway, I capped the bottle, labelled it as "POTATO PEE-DO NOT DRINK," and stuck it in the cabinet far away from anything else. I really have no idea what I'm going to do with this stuff. Maybe a mean prank if nothing else.

I wonder if this isnt the problem of to much water. i was thinking of schreading and steaming them

 

[TBBrewer]

So here is the funky yeast I used on the first batch. Anybody ever seen this stuff before or know anything about it? The two guys at the store said this is what I needed. The pics are attached.

 

[mpride1911]

I'm more impressed with this pic, than anything else about the wine.

 

[saramc]

Here are the Ryr and Oolong batches after 1 week. It might be hard to see in the picture, but the RYR batch already has clear separation of liquid in the bottom. The Oolong batch does not. Since I had liquid present in the previous jasmine rice batch after a week I'm not really sure what to think about this. Both batches have been made with jasmine rice.

Give the Oolong time, if it acts like my Jasmine Green Tea it flips a switch.

So here is the funky yeast I used on the first batch. Anybody ever seen this stuff before or know anything about it? The two guys at the store said this is what I needed. The pics are attached.

that packet says 'enzyme'...you need yeast

 

[sonofgrok]

So here is the funky yeast I used on the first batch. Anybody ever seen this stuff before or know anything about it? The two guys at the store said this is what I needed. The pics are attached.

that packet says 'enzyme'...you need yeast

I dunno, the directions are pretty clear in that it makes wine with no addition of outside yeast so it may be in there... lost in translation so to speak.

Its worth a try though I have never seen anything like it.

 

[TBBrewer]

I am pretty sure after reading the directions that it is yeast & enzyme. And should make wine. It was purchased from a Korean store, so maybe that is why it is slightly different. I think it is just a bit darker and already broken up as compared to the yeast everybody is using. I made two batches and the will be fermenting side by side. One is with the funky yeast and the other with the suggested yeast. I will post the outcome.

 

[TheDemonSlick]

3 days? Zoinks! If you could roll a batch over every 3 days, the Koreans are full of Win!

 

[bruin_ale]

Maybe it's so fast because they're using a full lb of enzyme/yeast.. that seems excessive to put it mildly..

 

[TBBrewer]

I agree that it does seem fast. I may just have to take a look in the bucket and post the results. It has been 3 days.... It was 1lb of enzyme for 5lbs of dry rice. Maybe the yeast concentration isn't as high on this stuff as the white yeast balls, who knows?

 

[Ibrewaletx]

So here is the funky yeast I used on the first batch. Anybody ever seen this stuff before or know anything about it? The two guys at the store said this is what I needed. The pics are attached.

Just saw a youtube video where a guy used this yeast. He was making Korean wine & called it 'milled yeast'. He also added 'bread yeast'? to his mixture - and it was an interesting process, took 4 days or so to get 16% wine. He kept it ~85F.

 

[TBBrewer]

Very interesting. I just took a look at it and it was completely liquefied. The rice was floating on top and it was all liquid on the bottom. I did taste a bit of it and it tasted pretty bad. I did not get the sweet alcohol smell or flavor from it that everybody is mentioning. Here is a picture of it below. I stirred it and it was bubbling like crazy.