Making Traditional rice Wine. Cheap, Fun, and Different

[trbig]

The red being fruitier isn't your imagination. Every batch of red rice wine I've made has been much fruitier then the white rice wine. They have been sweeter too, though not all to the same degree.

What ratio are you using your RYR at? I used 1 lb. (Actually 14oz) to 20lbs of rice and this has a good flavor. I pulverize it up in a coffee grinder with the yeast balls.

If you are getting more particulates then you would like, try adding 1/8 tsp of yeast nutrient per 1 1/2 cups of dry rice to the water you are cooking the rice in. A recent experiment I ran indicates that the yeast nutrient helps reduce the particulates in the final product by more then 50%. I'm not sure why, but it did. The experiment is a fairly small sample to be sure, but with a result that dramatic I think it's a good bet that was the difference.

I am thinking about starting a smaller batch tonight.. maybe 5lbs. I'll try this and see how it goes. Healthy yeast equals better booze.. right? Nice and strong.. able to leap tall buildings and withstand alcohol levels to 30%!

 

[Leadgolem]

Angel rice leaven = rhizopus oryzae and rice flour. Although it is a microbial culture of multiple organisms, I am pretty sure the bulk of the yeast is saccharomyces bayanus as that is what is used in all of the Angel pure yeast products.

Ah, so it is a product with multiple organisms in it.

That's interesting. I've found the opposite to be true. My RYR batches are dryer and have more of an earthy, rice flavor to them than my pure white rice batches. Are you letting them ferment out the full three weeks or pressing sooner?

Yup going the full three weeks, and tasting side by side with white rice wine batches. That's one benefit of doing so many experiments.

If it were pure A. oryzae (aka, Koji fungus), then yes. It would only convert the rice into glucose soup. Since rice brewing is a dual fermentation process, you would need a yeast strain to ferment the glucose. If you wanted greater control over the yeast strains, i'd suggest using koji rice (rice infected with A. oryzae) and a hand picked strain of yeast. The yeast you'd pick would be based on the characteristics of that yeast (flavor profile), preferred fermentation temperature (off-flavor control) and attenuation (sweet/dry). There's a lot of room to pioneer here, because I don't think anyone is actively studying rice wine & yeast characteristics in the states. There may be some Asian studies that have covered this territory, but whom to contact, where to look and the need for possible translation makes it a little daunting to explore.

Japanese Sake producers already use this method but typically are constrained by their Sake council to using one of about ten strains of yeast. Their yeasts are typically cold fermenting lager yeasts that produce low acid content rice wine.

Interesting, something to play with anyway. I do have a sake kit with the koji kin in it.

What ratio are you using your RYR at? I used 1 lb. (Actually 14oz) to 20lbs of rice and this has a good flavor. I pulverize it up in a coffee grinder with the yeast balls.
...
I am thinking about starting a smaller batch tonight.. maybe 5lbs. I'll try this and see how it goes. Healthy yeast equals better booze.. right? Nice and strong.. able to leap tall buildings and withstand alcohol levels to 30%!

I'm using 1/8th the volume of dry rice in red yeast rice. IE: 1 tbs RYR : 1/2 cup dry rice. Pulverized with the rice yeast ball and tossed with the rice after it has cooled overnight and been broken up.

I'm not sure why the yeast nutrient altered the proportion of particulate matter so dramatically. It also, IMO, improved the white rice wine aroma noticeably. The batch with nutrient didn't have that "ricey" smell to it. It just smelled like vanilla.

 

[trbig]

I've got a 12 cup batch batch I used the energizer in and in the bin cooling for the night also. So 12 cups dry rice would be a cup and a half of the RYR and 4 yeast balls. I went with just a little more water in the rice this time.. 5 cups water to 3 cups rice. I'll be rolling the rice into balls like you suggested.

So I keep hearing 3 weeks now. What happened to the 28 day mark? Or do I gotta go back and read the 100+ pages I missed? Got a more condensed version?

 

[trbig]

And thinking about your ratio... Looks like I'll need to get about 72 pounds of rice to get rid of the 9 bags of the RYR I have left.. lol. Better get some more yeast balls while I'm at it..

 

[aiptasia]

Ah, so it is a product with multiple organisms in it.

I thought that said, "multiple orgasms in it" at first. Where's my coffee...

Interesting, something to play with anyway. I do have a sake kit with the koji kin in it.

The Sake kits have the koji Kin spores for making your own Kome-Koji. In a pinch, you can also pulverize some cold mountain dried Koji and use the dust as a Koji starter. Or, there are some sources of fresh Koji rice out there (FH Steinbart). That, or you could just use the cold mountain dried Koji like I did, but I hear that using fresh koji produces a superior Sake.

So many options!

 

[Leadgolem]

I've got a 12 cup batch batch I used the energizer in and in the bin cooling for the night also. So 12 cups dry rice would be a cup and a half of the RYR and 4 yeast balls. I went with just a little more water in the rice this time.. 5 cups water to 3 cups rice. I'll be rolling the rice into balls like you suggested.

So I keep hearing 3 weeks now. What happened to the 28 day mark? Or do I gotta go back and read the 100+ pages I missed? Got a more condensed version?

It's a harvest range really. It depends on your taste and your temperatures. The wine gets progressively tangier over day 21, but if your temps are to low you may not have as much liquid as you would prefer at day 21.

EDIT: The red rice wine is much more tolerant as far as time goes. People have been letting it go over 6 weeks without it souring.

 

[dgr]

I get to see what a hot fermentation does to this. Started a batch on 7/23. I rinsed sweet rice, drained and added 1.5:1 water:rice and cooked. Mixed with a pulverized rectangle and threw it in the closet. Got home from work on 7/24 and the house was about 90. I got the AC fixed this afternoon. The rice is already floating on a half inch of liquid.

Best part is no matter what I'm confident it's going to be good.

 

[trbig]

EDIT: The red rice wine is much more tolerant as far as time goes. People have been letting it go over 6 weeks without it souring.

My last deal where my wine sat in the bins for 4 months.. the white wine that I didn't use any RYR was actually a week or so older than the red, and both taste quite lovely!

 

[Leadgolem]

Nobody posted anything about rice wine today. That makes me sad.

 

[dgr]

Anything more pathetic than a sad golem?

Here's my hot ferment "experiment" at 4 days.

 

[aiptasia]

I made a batch a few days ago that I just didn't like. Pure sho chuku bai aged three weeks with chinese yeast balls, then pressed. The same rice wine featured in my clarifying thread. Oh holy god is it sweet. Alcoholic, and super extra sweet. Way too sweet. I'm going to have to thin it out with some fresh berries or juice or something and make it into a fruit jiu.

 

[Whippy]

whippy,
I would let it ride. You may be happily surprised. The rice could be soaking up the liquids right now.

Thanks for saving the day, dgr...I am now making rice wine and it looks nice! I suppose with all the rice/yeast variations, plus rice cooking techniques, no two batches will ever ferment or taste the same.

I do know this stuff smells fantastic and I'm now hooked! I think starting another batch this week must be in my plans...

 

[jak1010]

Thanks for saving the day, dgr...I am now making rice wine and it looks nice! I suppose with all the rice/yeast variations, plus rice cooking techniques, no two batches will ever ferment or taste the same.

I do know this stuff smells fantastic and I'm now hooked! I think starting another batch this week must be in my plans...

That's how it goes...before you know it, you're experimenting and there's glass jars everywhere and all different colors of rice and bottles all over the place.

All worth while. I can't think of another wine that you can make and drink in 21 days.

 

[wyoast]

Well I went off to work after starting my first attempt at this, let it go 3 weeks then swmbo strained the rice, bottled and pasturized for me.. She did 3 of the Grolsh bottles with a little pineapple juice and 1 with nothing added. I've only tried the pineapple so far but I've got to say...pretty dang good!! they've been in the fridge for about a month and all of the white sediment has collected in the bottom of the bottles. This stuff definitely packs a punch!!

 

[user 50046]

Alright, I skipped some posts in the middle but have read about the first 50 and the last 50 so sorry if I missed it but....

1. My first batch is now done fermenting (I might have waited too long). I used Three Ladies Brand Sweet Sticky Jasmine rice and "Heng Lung Brand" dried yeast.

2. Resulting liquid is very sweet tasting, and fruity in aroma. The rice went from cooked at roughly 2 gallons to 1 gallon of liquid and about a half gallon of mush.

3. The rice wine is super super cloudy. I added bentonite yesterday and have had it sitting for 24 hours at 33 degrees and I now have a gallon jug with 1" of clear liquid at the top and 1" of brown sludge at the bottom, and the rest looks like elmers glue.

How would I clean this up a little more before I pasteurize and bottle?

 

[Leadgolem]

Alright, I skipped some posts in the middle but have read about the first 50 and the last 50 so sorry if I missed it but....

1. My first batch is now done fermenting (I might have waited too long). I used Three Ladies Brand Sweet Sticky Jasmine rice and "Heng Lung Brand" dried yeast.

2. Resulting liquid is very sweet tasting, and fruity in aroma. The rice went from cooked at roughly 2 gallons to 1 gallon of liquid and about a half gallon of mush.

3. The rice wine is super super cloudy. I added bentonite yesterday and have had it sitting for 24 hours at 33 degrees and I now have a gallon jug with 1" of clear liquid at the top and 1" of brown sludge at the bottom, and the rest looks like elmers glue.

How would I clean this up a little more before I pasteurize and bottle?

If it's to sweet, you could add 10-20% water and let it ferment a bit drier. It's probably better to keep it pretty cool so you don't get to much acetic acid if you decide to do this.

I've been filtering mine through coffee filters in colanders lately. I find that removes a very large amount of solids, even when what you put in is pretty thick. Though it does take a long time to percolate.

Something you could do in a future batch is add a small amount of yeast nutrient to the water when you cook the rice. In the two tests I did that reduced the particulate matter substantially.

 

[user 50046]

Thanks Leadgolem,
It's very sweet right now. Almost like a simple syrup shot of booze. I had it fermenting in my beer fermentation fridge at 66, mostly to keep it out of reach of the kids. I'll add a few cups of distilled water now as I was planning on doing that before bottling.

I'll try some coffee filters, seems they would just clog up though with this much sediment though.

I steamed the rice, so would you recommend adding the nutrient to it while it's still hot or after it's cooled down and I'm placing it in the jar with the powdered yeast?

 

[dgr]

Strat,
http://www.extension.purdue.edu/extmedia/FS/FS-53-W.pdf The last two sections are relevant.

 

[LabRatBrewer]

I tasted the pepper batch from post 2448. Its nice, sweet upfront then lingering heat on the back. If I do it again, I'd increase the white rice ratio and add orange habaneros to hopefully drive the heat forward.

 

[Whippy]

Oh LabRat!! Habanero flavored ANYTHING is nice, and making this wine with them sounds 'licious! Having a bush of habaneros which is currently filling out and about a pound dried on hand, I think I am going to do the same! I'll probably grind up about 3 whole dried peppers and put them into a 6 cup rice batch...nice and spicy, but not so much to where it won't be flavorful

Thanks for this brilliant idea!

 

[trbig]

Oh LabRat!! Habanero flavored ANYTHING is nice, and making this wine with them sounds 'licious! Having a bush of habaneros which is currently filling out and about a pound dried on hand, I think I am going to do the same! I'll probably grind up about 3 whole dried peppers and put them into a 6 cup rice batch...nice and spicy, but not so much to where it won't be flavorful

Thanks for this brilliant idea!

I occasionally grow habaneros. When they ripen to orange, I cut them in half and put on the dehydrator. I like stuff fairly spicey, but we put just one of those halves into a pot of beans on the slow cooker and ruined the whole batch. That stuff was nearly inedible and hurt me TWICE.. lol.

This is my long-winded version of saying, "3 whole peppers in with just 6 cups of rice!?!?" You are either much tougher than me... or dumber.. lol. All I can say is, Good luck! There's not a lot of things with alcohol in them that I'd not be willing to try, but that just may be one of them.

Signed,
The Wuss.. lol.

 

[Whippy]

HAHA! Thanks for the words of warning, trbig, and I understand what you mean about the peppers. From my experience with these and also with cayanne peppers, when you cook with them, they give off MUCH more heat than if eaten fresh or made into hot sauce. I don't know if it is all in my head or what, but it is what I have noticed.

I had much the same experience as you several years ago when I thought "just one habanero" would give a pot of chili a good heat...when I took the first bite, I thought my head would explode! LOL

I used 6 grinded habaneros last week in a hot sauce which yielded 1 quart, and it is hot, but could still use a little more for my taste. If I were to cook a curry with 6 peppers and let it simmer for 3 hours of the stove, you'd be calling Medevac for me :cross:

On reflection, for the sake of never having used any peppers in any kind of fermented beverages before, I believe I WILL heed your advice and start with just one, not knowing what the reaction will be...all things in stages, right>?

 

[TBBrewer]

2 things extract more heat out of peppers, heat & alcohol. I make a salsa bloody mary vodka that I put 5 peppers in and it will smoke just about anybody.

 

[trbig]

I believe I WILL heed your advice and start with just one, not knowing what the reaction will be...all things in stages, right>?

There's also the saying of, "Go big or go home!"




... says the guy with no taste buds or intestines on the line.

 

[trbig]

OK.. back to the topic on hand.

I've wondered.. does the Koji mold have to be on top.. basically in the dry to grow, or can it grow and reproduce while under the rising liquid? Meaning.. If your whole rice cake is submerged, is the koji still growing/working/breaking down the starch?

 

[jak1010]

This gives me an idea of making a rice wine bloody Mary...

 

[TBBrewer]

Was thinking about sangria. It would compliment the fruit quite well.

 

[Leadgolem]

Thanks Leadgolem,
It's very sweet right now. Almost like a simple syrup shot of booze. I had it fermenting in my beer fermentation fridge at 66, mostly to keep it out of reach of the kids. I'll add a few cups of distilled water now as I was planning on doing that before bottling.

I'll try some coffee filters, seems they would just clog up though with this much sediment though.

I steamed the rice, so would you recommend adding the nutrient to it while it's still hot or after it's cooled down and I'm placing it in the jar with the powdered yeast?

The filters do clog sometimes. If you have one that still has liquid in the top of it after 6-8 hours they you will want to pour the liquid into something else, replace the filter, and then pour the liquid back into it. It's best to use several at the same time if possible, otherwise it takes a rather long time to get all the wine through the filter.

I've got 4 cheap pour spout cups and colanders that I bought at dollar tree for this. They fit together well. I put a commercial sized coffee filter in each one, fill them up, and let them percolate over night.

I use a rice cooker and dissolve the nutrient in the water that is then used to cook the rice. With steamed rice, I don't think it will matter much when you add the nutrient. For the sake of convenience I would probably add it to the crushed rice yeast balls and mix it all in at once.

Strat,
http://www.extension.purdue.edu/extmedia/FS/FS-53-W.pdf The last two sections are relevant.

Hmm, duly noted and yoinkified for later reference.

OK.. back to the topic on hand.

I've wondered.. does the Koji mold have to be on top.. basically in the dry to grow, or can it grow and reproduce while under the rising liquid? Meaning.. If your whole rice cake is submerged, is the koji still growing/working/breaking down the starch?

When sake is made I believe that the phased additions of water and rice submerge the koji after each water addition. So, probably. Based on this article, I would say that it can grow submerged, but probably won't taste the same.

When monascus purpureus is grown for dye production it is usually grown submerged. That's the bug in red rice wine. I ran across that little tidbit looking for information on nutrients for it. Never did find what I was actually looking for...

 

[aiptasia]

OK.. back to the topic on hand.

I've wondered.. does the Koji mold have to be on top.. basically in the dry to grow, or can it grow and reproduce while under the rising liquid? Meaning.. If your whole rice cake is submerged, is the koji still growing/working/breaking down the starch?

The fungus will grow submerged and continue to convert long chain starches into short chain glucose sugar. Koji and yeast are both fungi.

 

[sonofgrok]

The fungus will grow submerged and continue to convert long chain starches into short chain glucose sugar. Koji and yeast are both fungi.

Yes. Yeast are a fungus among us.