Making Traditional rice Wine. Cheap, Fun, and Different

[saramc]

Is thishttp://www.asiansupermarket365.com/v/vspfiles/photos/HOKRYYIJ-2.jpg the "Red Yeast Rice" we are wanting???

Yes, it is where I got mine.

For all you guys griping about dirty looks from the wife....take that woman out to dinner, bring her a bundle of flowers, get her a lovey dovey card and write something sappy.... do something just because. I promise she will not give you the look so often.

Hi all, so I've read about 40 pages of this thread and I was just wondering if someone could help me out with a summary of best practices for making this stuff. Are people going off the original recipe in the first few posts? I like the look of saramc's red batch in the earlier pages.

Why thank you. My process remains the same except I now use 1 cup rice and 1.25 cups water, 2-10gm balls per kilo of rice. And I now add varying amounts of RYR, rebel that I am.

Hey...anyone out there have access to the small yeast balls? I would love some. Just not available here. Can outright pay you or send you some large 10-gram yeast balls and/or RYR. I think I can even find some 10-gram yeast balls from Vietnam. Message me if you can help, please. Thank you in advance!!

 

[Newsman]

Finally found a place semi-local that carries the dried yeast balls. A little Laotian lady runs an Asian grocery about 30 minutes away from me in the nearest "big city." I looked all around and didn't see anything so I asked. She barely understood, but her (grand daughter?) was there and she told her what I was looking for... she walked over to a giant plastic screw-top jar with a couple dozen packages of these (attached)

 

[edds5p0]

Finally found a place semi-local that carries the dried yeast balls. A little Laotian lady runs an Asian grocery about 30 minutes away from me in the nearest "big city." I looked all around and didn't see anything so I asked. She barely understood, but her (grand daughter?) was there and she told her what I was looking for... she walked over to a giant plastic screw-top jar with a couple dozen packages of these (attached)

Looks just like the ones I bought this weekend.

 

[elkshadow]

Why thank you. My process remains the same except I now use 1 cup rice and 1.25 cups water, 2-10gm balls per kilo of rice. And I now add varying amounts of RYR, rebel that I am.

You soak a cup of dry rice in water, drain and rinse. Then you cook that in 1.25 cups water? I guess I'm hung up on the measurements. I can't tell if the "1 cup" is for dry rice or after it's been soaked.

 

[Ostomo517]

You soak a cup of dry rice in water, drain and rinse. Then you cook that in 1.25 cups water? I guess I'm hung up on the measurements. I can't tell if the "1 cup" is for dry rice or after it's been soaked.

Yes 1 cup dry rice cooked in 1.25 cups of water.

 

[saramc]

Yes 1 cup dry rice cooked in 1.25 cups of water.

1 cup dry rice soaked in water until volume increases by 1/4-1/3, rinse til runs clear, then prepare using 1.25 cups water. It gives a better yield than dry unsoaked and I found both to be just as sweet and tasty.

 

[Accidic]

Sara's is the route I use presently to great effect. It seems to scale up infinitely. And has also been stated above, any vessel will work but Wal-Mart has some good glass options for $10ish in the 2 gallon or smaller range.

Rather than cheesecloth you can also use an old white (although any color cotton would probably work) T-Shirt over the top and it works just as well if not better.

And for straining I've switched to paint bag lined out with mesh to keep it from getting clogged quite as easily. Others use cheesecloth. I don't think it really matters so use whatever you'd prefer. Just remember, RRY stains.

 

[elkshadow]

1 cup dry rice soaked in water until volume increases by 1/4-1/3, rinse til runs clear, then prepare using 1.25 cups water. It gives a better yield than dry unsoaked and I found both to be just as sweet and tasty.

Cool thanks for that. I'm in the process of moving this week but once we get settled in the new place I will be working on this for sure.

 

[CooperBrew]

I found another brand of yeast balls that I'm going to try out this evening. I'm going to make it with the jasmine rice. I would like to try it with the sushi rice as well but I only have 1 jar left. I'll try the sushi rice next time if it tastes good with the jasmine.

 

[JuanMoore]

I found another brand of yeast balls that I'm going to try out this evening. I'm going to make it with the jasmine rice. I would like to try it with the sushi rice as well but I only have 1 jar left. I'll try the sushi rice next time if it tastes good with the jasmine.

Those are the ones I've been using, but I've been using sweet rice. Only harvested two batches so far, but both were tasty. I plan on trying some of the happy panda yeast balls next.

 

[Rosey1]

I'm a newbee and just registered. After reading 196 pages of posts, one thing most are not aware of are rice cups and 8 oz US cups. In asia, mid-east ect; a "cup" of rice is aprox. 6 oz US measure not 8 oz as we use in the US. They (world wide) use the metric system. Which is 180 ml for a cup of rice. A US cup of rice is aprox. 230 ml. and may cause you to be off by 25%.

 

[Rosey1]

There is an interesting site with a long involved (5 step) process for Saki rice wine. Search for Taylor-MadeAK dot org. Great information on an ancient tradition. May answer the propagation question of the "yeast". Yes it can be propagated, stored, reused and shared. But since it is a fungus, different process than yeast in beers.

 

[Accidic]

I'm a newbee and just registered. After reading 196 pages of posts, one thing most are not aware of are rice cups and 8 oz US cups. In asia, mid-east ect; a "cup" of rice is aprox. 6 oz US measure not 8 oz as we use in the US. They (world wide) use the metric system. Which is 180 ml for a cup of rice. A US cup of rice is aprox. 230 ml. and may cause you to be off by 25%.

Thanks for clearing that up. I was doing it that way at first but later changed to the other way thinking I'd just been doing it wrong. At least I know I'm not nuts now.

That said, I'm fine with metric and US Standards but a cup should be a damn cup and a liter should be a damn liter. Same with Gallons(US) and Gallons(UK). Does this mean they use a 3rd gallon measurement that's only 96oz?

 

[Rosey1]

No they don't do liquid ounces. Troy ounces, but that's a different story.

The real problem is trying to use a rice cooking appliance. I have a Zojirushi. Makes fantastic rice we eat daily. It's a 3 cup machine. Which is 3 180ml cups of dry rice maximum. The water lines are for the ratio with a proper rice cup not an 8oz US liquid/dry cup. So a rice cup and a US cup are not the same.

But I'm glad you are OK with liters. Liters are 100% universal. And dry rice, short-med-long grain is measured at 180 milli-liters before rinsing. If you buy an automatic rice cooker (thrift stores usually have a selection of them) an empty 6oz. yogurt container makes a good rice cup measure.

 

[Leadgolem]

I'm a newbee and just registered. After reading 196 pages of posts, one thing most are not aware of are rice cups and 8 oz US cups. In asia, mid-east ect; a "cup" of rice is aprox. 6 oz US measure not 8 oz as we use in the US. They (world wide) use the metric system. Which is 180 ml for a cup of rice. A US cup of rice is aprox. 230 ml. and may cause you to be off by 25%.

This is true. That's why I always record my rice amounts in US cups. I have a 10 "cup" rice cooker. Which actually has a max 7.5 cup capacity.

 

[Rosey1]

One of the reasons you can find so many rice cookers at thrift stores is improper measurement. Trying to cook 10 US cups in a 10 rice cup cooker will be a bit dry to say the least. So it gets donated or put in the next tag or rummage sale.

 

[Leadgolem]

There is an interesting site with a long involved (5 step) process for Saki rice wine. Search for Taylor-MadeAK dot org. Great information on an ancient tradition. May answer the propagation question of the "yeast". Yes it can be propagated, stored, reused and shared. But since it is a fungus, different process than yeast in beers.

I'm trying to read that site, but it seems to be having issues, it keeps timing out. Interesting, I had already added bentonite powder to my red rice wine batch before reading any of that.

When I did my last batch of red rice wine I mixed the leftover starch mass in with another 15 cups of dry rice that had been cooked with 1:1.5 ratio of dry rice to water and let cool. The airlock on that fermenting bucket it burping away nicely now.

Here is a picture of the red rice wine batch, 3 days after harvest and treatment with 1 tsp of thoroughly powdered bentonite/us gallon. Estimated volume 1.5 gallons. I believe that is a 3 gallon beverage dispenser. The rice used was 15 us cups of dry jasmine rice.

 

[Rosey1]

I have the site up and no issues. Lots of good info and answers the temperature questions many have. At least for saki wine. The style this site is more the chinese southern asia home brew.

 

[Leadgolem]

I have the site up and no issues. Lots of good info and answers the temperature questions many have. At least for saki wine. The style this site is more the chinese southern asia home brew.

Yeah, you are right. My LAN was tweaking out. That's fixed now.

 

[Leadgolem]

That was an interesting read. It seems like a great deal of the sake making process is aimed at slowing down the growth of acetobacter in the brew, and achieving a very high alcohol content. It is interesting to note that, as far as I can tell, acetobacter growth isn't an issue when making red rice wine.

Hmm, I'm glad I've got another batch going. I've got a couple more experiments to try now. For instance, would it be practical to try and boost the final alcohol content by introducing another yeast strain after harvesting the wine? I've got some distillers yeast with it's ridiculous ABV tolerance... What would the effect be of adding a little yeast nutrient and/or energizer to the water when cooking the rice? Would it be preferable to add nutrients that way, or dissolve them in a little water and pour it on the rice before mixing the rice yeast ball power in... Lot of questions. Lots of experiments to run.

 

[Rosey1]

The process for saki is longer because the fungus needs to break down the rice as the mycelia grows through the koji. That creates the fermentable sugars the yeasts can use. Same as mushrooms dissolve a log in the forest into nutrients.

Every country in rice growing regions have a variation on the theme. Many are faster and with varying amounts of ethanol. Finding the correct yeast ingredient temperature combination can last a lifetime.

 

[Rosey1]

Here is a link for sake home recipes.

http://homebrewsake.com/home/recipe/

 

[browder]

Well went to harvest my first batch last knight opened the lid and it about knocked me over the OL looked at me like I don't think you're drinkin this ****---took my first taste and it was on it's way to vinegar man was we bummed out--don't know if I shoulda bottled it sooner er what--I do know it never hit 70 degrees until this last week as far as ferment temps. Gonna get another batch in the jug this morning and try it again. I do know it went from clear liquid last week to cloudy this week I'm sure today it would be 29 days old------

 

[sonofgrok]

Well went to harvest my first batch last knight opened the lid and it about knocked me over the OL looked at me like I don't think you're drinkin this ****---took my first taste and it was on it's way to vinegar man was we bummed out--don't know if I shoulda bottled it sooner er what--I do know it never hit 70 degrees until this last week as far as ferment temps. Gonna get another batch in the jug this morning and try it again. I do know it went from clear liquid last week to cloudy this week I'm sure today it would be 29 days old------

Sounds like you were about a week late to the harvest. Major bummer.

 

[saramc]

Well went to harvest my first batch last knight opened the lid and it about knocked me over the OL looked at me like I don't think you're drinkin this ****---took my first taste and it was on it's way to vinegar man was we bummed out--don't know if I shoulda bottled it sooner er what--I do know it never hit 70 degrees until this last week as far as ferment temps. Gonna get another batch in the jug this morning and try it again. I do know it went from clear liquid last week to cloudy this week I'm sure today it would be 29 days old------

So did you bottle the rice wine and let it hang around? You would have awesome rice wine vinegar for your use and for gifting.

 

[Newsman]

Has anyone tried to propogate the RYR? I was talking to SaraMc and got to wondering if you cooked up a small batch of rice, and let it cool to roughly room temperature, then mixed up some powdered RYR with it and put it in a sanitized container with a sanitized piece of cloth and put it in a dark closet for a week, could you have some RYR to dry and re-use?

 

[browder]

I know it didn't go over 28 days because it was the wife's birthday week last week and the night we made it she was whinnin because it wouldn't be ready for her b-day
Far as rice vinegar our spice cabinet is full of different flavored rice vinegar--we talked about saving it-Blonde One decided she'd try killin some purple weed with it and dumped it along the fence by the tiki bar--it still had alcohol in it-a good wiff of it would make you step back
Got a batch coolin on the stove top rite now--think the first batch was six cups of rice and three east balls because I had one in the package that wasn't in plastic or hell I can't remember we was drinkin home brews that night but I'm bettin it fermented out to fast because there was to much yeast--today I'll put two in and see what happens

 

[TBBrewer]

I know it didn't go over 28 days because it was the wife's birthday week last week and the night we made it she was whinnin because it wouldn't be ready for her b-day
Far as rice vinegar our spice cabinet is full of different flavored rice vinegar--we talked about saving it-Blonde One decided she'd try killin some purple weed with it and dumped it along the fence by the tiki bar--it still had alcohol in it-a good wiff of it would make you step back
Got a batch coolin on the stove top rite now--think the first batch was six cups of rice and three east balls because I had one in the package that wasn't in plastic or hell I can't remember we was drinkin home brews that night but I'm bettin it fermented out to fast because there was to much yeast--today I'll put two in and see what happens

What was your water to rice ratio?

 

[browder]

Couldn't tell you I cook rice weekly and always eye ball it long grain or sweet types always come out very eatable--I will tell you this my one gallon jug was a strong 1/3 full of liquid

I should add I didn't measure rice or water today either I'm sure it's all good

 

[Ostomo517]

Couldn't tell you I cook rice weekly and always eye ball it long grain or sweet types always come out very eatable--I will tell you this my one gallon jug was a strong 1/3 full of liquid

I should add I didn't measure rice or water today either I'm sure it's all good

Actually that detail has turned out kinda important in the process. Why wouldnt you take the little extra time instead of wasting another 3 weeks?