Making Traditional rice Wine. Cheap, Fun, and Different

[mhespenh]

I decided to conduct a little experiment.

Cooked 3 cups (dry measurement) Thai Jasmine in my rice cooker and allowed it to ferment in the jar for 2 weeks. Strained/squeezed into a bottle loosely capped with some cheese cloth. Measured the gravity at 2 week mark is 1.052 and you can clearly see active fermentation (constant bubbling, almost looks carbonated). Going to let it continue for another week and pasteurize and measure the gravity then. No idea what the ABV is at this point, but it is pretty stout from the samples I tried, I'd guess somewhere around 10-15%?

 

[kds1398]

That said, I do have a question about the Zojirushi you picked up although I realize you probably can't answer it til you get it. I picked up the Panasonic MS183 when it was on sale for like $70 and while it says it does sticky rice, it doesn't actually steam the rice until after it's done converting all the water (that it sits in while cooking) to steam. Is that how the Zoji does it too? I was rather curious if there is one out there that steams the rice in the literal sense and was thinking about buying a smaller Zoji specifically for rice eating.

I already have the Zo in hand. I've used it for some GABA brown rice. I haven't the slightest idea how it cooks the rice (fuzzy logic/micom or something like that). I do know that the rice it produced kicked the crap out of the brown rice in a bag that you boil for 10 minutes & drain that I was using before.

You got 2 bags of ryr and 2 bags of balls for $31.15?

Yes.

 

[TheDemonSlick]

31 bucks? I pay 5 bucks for a 1lb ryr and like 2 bucks for a small bag of yeast balls. If you're not near a chinese market, Try here:
http://www.asiansupermarket365.com/SearchResults.asp?Search=yeast&Search.x=46&Search.y=5
Keep in mind that's a Big ol bag of balls. Hope that saves somebody a couple bucks.

 

[jak1010]

31 bucks? I pay 5 bucks for a 1lb ryr and like 2 bucks for a small bag of yeast balls. If you're not near a chinese market, Try here:
http://www.asiansupermarket365.com/SearchResults.asp?Search=yeast&Search.x=46&Search.y=5
Keep in mind that's a Big ol bag of balls. Hope that saves somebody a couple bucks.

I've got a market not far from me so I don't have to buy online. Because they're so available to me, I've got them up on eBay and I'm looking for something to gauge it by and be fair. If you go to eBay and search "Dried Yeast Balls" you'll see 3 listings. Any feedback from anybody on this forum would be greatly appreciated.

 

[sonofgrok]

I've got a market not far from me so I don't have to buy online. Because they're so available to me, I've got them up on eBay and I'm looking for something to gauge it by and be fair. If you go to eBay and search "Dried Yeast Balls" you'll see 3 listings. Any feedback from anybody on this forum would be greatly appreciated.

I pay like $4.50 for 40 10g balls.

 

[Ostomo517]

8cups dry Thai Jasmine yielded about 3/4 of a gallon. Never opened bucket or stirred or touched till harvest today. Has a nice twang and slight sweetness. Best batch so far. Now to flavor with grapefruit and a couple day Citra dry hop. I will report on results.

 

[Leadgolem]

I already have the Zo in hand. I've used it for some GABA brown rice. I haven't the slightest idea how it cooks the rice (fuzzy logic/micom or something like that). I do know that the rice it produced kicked the crap out of the brown rice in a bag that you boil for 10 minutes & drain that I was using before....

I would argue that is because the brown rice in a bag is horrible...

 

[kds1398]

31 bucks? I pay 5 bucks for a 1lb ryr and like 2 bucks for a small bag of yeast balls. If you're not near a chinese market, Try here:
.

I'm near 3 Chinese markets. None had balls or RYR. $31 was at the 365 site. $10 was the cheapest shipping.

 

[kds1398]

I would argue that is because the brown rice in a bag is horrible...

Definitely. Tonight i cooked black rice in chicken stock w/ seasoning and hot sauce. So good. Still waiting on my shipments of yeast to arrive so I can get started.

 

[JFK]

After five days there is liquid to the top of the rice and even with sixteen cups of rice it is floating. Glad I found a use for this otherwise useless Mr beer kit.

 

[Leadgolem]

I've got my first batch of rice cooking for a big batch now. I'm going to harvest the other batches and decide if I want to make regular or red rice wine.

 

[Leadgolem]

All the batches are harvested now. I'll be making RYR+Rice Yeast Ball wine. Wow was that sample good.

 

[Ostomo517]

Here it is grapefruit Citra dry hopped and delicious! Nice hop aroma plays good with the grapefruit.

 

[edds5p0]

All the batches are harvested now. I'll be making RYR+Rice Yeast Ball wine. Wow was that sample good.

So you ended up getting the best yield using RYR and yeast balls in jasmine rice?

 

[Leadgolem]

So you ended up getting the best yield using RYR and yeast balls in jasmine rice?

Yup. Though all of those batches seriously underperformed. Here's the harvested wine report. Either my rice was to hot, or the room was to cold.

 

[Spraentart]

8cups dry Thai Jasmine yielded about 3/4 of a gallon. Never opened bucket or stirred or touched till harvest today. Has a nice twang and slight sweetness. Best batch so far. Now to flavor with grapefruit and a couple day Citra dry hop. I will report on results.

View attachment 118206

What did you ferment in? I'm thinking about grabbing a couple of mason jars then combining into a 1 gal jug when I harvest.

 

[Ostomo517]

What did you ferment in? I'm thinking about grabbing a couple of mason jars then combining into a 1 gal jug when I harvest.

2 gallon ferment bucket with airlock

 

[WesleyS]

2 gallon ferment bucket with airlock

That's exactly what I used for my last batch. Works great!

 

[LabRatBrewer]

Made a fresh raspberry syrup to mix with the rice wine. Its goes very well. Wife loves it.

 

[The1Greenguru]

Yeast balls !!well making some today the UPS showed up and I'm cooling rice as I read Thanks for the tips GG

Traditional rice wine isn't really "wine" at all but this area is as close as I can figure to post this.

There are only a few threads on HBT talking about making rice wine but nothing that I am aware of that could be considered an easy walkthrough which is a shame because making rice wine is very different, fun to do, and rewarding. Its also pretty darn cheap...

It has been a few years since I have done it, but after a recent trip to the exotic foods grocer, I got a hankerin to do it again and thought a few people on here might enjoy it as well.

*Edit*: Process starts on next post but final product is on page 4 here
*Edit 2*: Arapolis has done a less Rice Wine, more Japanese sake here.

 

[Accidic]

Yes, for 2 bags of RYR and Yeast Balls it's about $31-33 bucks @ Asian365. For 3 of each it's about 41, 50 for 4 of each, etc. The shipping is what gets you as it was 33% of the total expense for me. That said, the only regret I have is that I didn't buy 3 of each and I didn't find the $1 or $2 off coupons for the smaller quantity.

 

[Accidic]

What did you ferment in? I'm thinking about grabbing a couple of mason jars then combining into a 1 gal jug when I harvest.

I have one of the 1.5-2g bucket fermenters but oddly I do not use it for this. I kind of like keeping tabs on the progress so I went and picked up a $10 cookie jar (2 gallon) like many of the rest of the posters to this thread from Walmart. I do wrap it with cheesecloth damp with starsan but to be honest as it has a glass lid, I'm not really convinced it truly needs this although I suppose a little extra insurance never hurts. For straining I went to the cloth store and picked up a 1y x 1y fine Nylon mesh and it works ok for the quantity shown above. I think next time I do more than a gallon though I'm going to get a paint strainer bag (I may still line it with the nylon mesh mentioned above for that added filter) just to make it a bit easier to hang. This past time I wrapped it with a rubber band and hung it from the stove hood to drip.

Either way, this is one of the easiest things I've ever fermented and the hardest to screw up so I don't think you can do wrong regardless of what you do. One of the guys I work with gave it a shot and made it in a bucket with no lid and the results were pretty good as well. I really think SonOfGrok (or any of his predecessors who inspired him) outdid himself and it should be fairly comparable to Apfelwein (his pictorial and step by step really makes it).

 

[jak1010]

Yes, for 2 bags of RYR and Yeast Balls it's about $31-33 bucks @ Asian365. For 3 of each it's about 41, 50 for 4 of each, etc. The shipping is what gets you as it was 33% of the total expense for me. That said, the only regret I have is that I didn't buy 3 of each and I didn't find the $1 or $2 off coupons for the smaller quantity.

OK good to know. Can you compare that to what I have up on eBay and let me know? I want to make sure I'm giving people a fair deal.

 

[Accidic]

If you're just looking for a small pack to try things out I would think the ebay listing is a pretty good deal. Especially if you offer any kind of joint shipping charges. The problem over @Asian365 is if you order a single bag of RYR ($3) you'd end up paying $10 to ship it. Your combo listing would still be cheaper than this.

On a lighter note... Would selling your balls on ebay be considered prostitution?

 

[The1Greenguru]

Day 2 Checked on my rice wine and I see liquid starting to show up the help was the best thanks for the recipe GG

 

[Jaimez]

Finished my first attempt at rice wine. Instead of using Koji i used amylase Enzyme from my LHBS. i cooked 2 pounds of rice and added a teaspoon of enzyme. I added 2nd generation wet US-05 yeast. It fermented for 3 weeks.
It tastes pretty good but is very chalky/grainy. I cold crashed it and it started to clear in the bottle. the clear part is excellent.
Anyone have success trying to clarify there rice wine? Anyone try Gelatin?

 

[Ostomo517]

Finished my first attempt at rice wine. Instead of using Koji i used amylase Enzyme from my LHBS. i cooked 2 pounds of rice and added a teaspoon of enzyme. I added 2nd generation wet US-05 yeast. It fermented for 3 weeks.
It tastes pretty good but is very chalky/grainy. I cold crashed it and it started to clear in the bottle. the clear part is excellent.
Anyone have success trying to clarify there rice wine? Anyone try Gelatin?

Few days cold crash works great for me

 

[JFK]

using the amylase enzyme was a great idea. It lets you skip having to find yeast balls. I will have to keep this in mind next time I'm at the brew store. The only Asian market that sells them here sells em for eighty cents for 2. which is a rip off since I know a whole bag is only 4 dollars. I have my own yeast farm so the enzyme would allow me to have no extra out of pocket expense besides the rice which I can buy a huge bag of for cheap. great idea!

 

[Accidic]

If someone uses just the Alpha Amylase enzyme please post pics as it breaks down. I'd be curious if it works as well as the Oryzae most of us have been using. If memory serves from the paper I read on the Oryzae, it's got more enzymes than just the Amylase that go to work on the rice... It's just the Amylase that breaks down the bulk of the sugars we're hoping for.

 

[jak1010]

If you're just looking for a small pack to try things out I would think the ebay listing is a pretty good deal. Especially if you offer any kind of joint shipping charges. The problem over @Asian365 is if you order a single bag of RYR ($3) you'd end up paying $10 to ship it. Your combo listing would still be cheaper than this.

On a lighter note... Would selling your balls on ebay be considered prostitution?

Much appreciated. I had that in mind for people who just wanted to make it and see if it's for them before buying a bag online and paying $15 or more for a bag of balls. I always throw in extra free stuff like more balls or a Ziploc bag of RYR or a pack of rice leaven or a mesh bag just so people feel good about it.

I read the eBay "terms of use" and there's nothing that says I'm not allowed to sell my balls. I think it'd be different if I auctioned them to the highest bidder though...