Making Traditional rice Wine. Cheap, Fun, and Different
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I just tried my first batch tonight! I wasn't really sure what to expect, but it tasted better than I expected. Kind of sweet, kind of tart, kind of creamy, and it smells really alcoholic.
One pound of rice yielded 200 ml of liquid. I didn't have a chance to get to it last week, so it fermented for five weeks instead of four.
Question... are there any uses for the leftover rice? It seems a shame to just throw it away.
One pound of rice yielded 200 ml of liquid. I didn't have a chance to get to it last week, so it fermented for five weeks instead of four.
Question... are there any uses for the leftover rice? It seems a shame to just throw it away.
You know, if I get another series like this I think I'll send them to you for tasting instead. Most of these samples where awful.
Here's what went in the batches:
1. 358 grams cooked sweet rice. 0.5 grams ARL. (Control)
2. 358 grams cooked sweet rice. 0.5 grams ARL. 179 grams water. (50%)
3. 358 grams cooked sweet rice. 0.5 grams ARL. 358 grams water. (100%)
4. 358 grams cooked sweet rice. 0.5 grams ARL. 465 grams water. (130%)
5. 358 grams cooked sweet rice. 0.5 grams ARL. 537 grams water. (150%)
6. 358 grams cooked sweet rice. 0.5 grams ARL. 4.5 tsp crushed RYR. (RYR Control)
7. 358 grams cooked sweet rice. 0.5 grams ARL. 179 grams water. 4.5 tsp crushed RYR. (50%)
8. 358 grams cooked sweet rice. 0.5 grams ARL. 358 grams water. 4.5 tsp crushed RYR. (100%)
9. 358 grams cooked sweet rice. 0.5 grams ARL. 465 grams water. 4.5 tsp crushed RYR. (130%)
10. 358 grams cooked sweet rice. 0.5 grams ARL. 537 grams water. 4.5 tsp crushed RYR. (150%)
Here's how they came out:
1. Rice aroma. Moderately sweet, smooth, very strong alcohol burn. Control.
2. Mild rice and moderate lactic acid aroma. No sweetness, alcohol harsh, strong alcohol burn. I would consider this suitable for aging, but not drinking fresh. The alcohol needs to mellow before you are going to be able to taste anything else really.
3. Mild rice and lactic acid aroma. No sweetness. Very little alcohol flavor. Intensely acidic. Has a strange "corn" after taste. Moderate alcohol burn. Dump, this is the worst batch of the series and is truly awful.
4. Mild rice aroma. Very little flavor of any kind. Mildly acidic finish. Watery. Has a strange "corn" after taste. Mild alcohol burn. Dump.
5. Very mild rice aroma. Very mild rice flavor. Very mild acidic finish. Really watery. Has a strange "corn" after taste. Negligible alcohol burn. Dump.
6. Rice aroma and moderate fruit aroma. Moderately sweet. Slightly tangy finish. Very strong alcohol burn. Red rice wine control.
7. Rice aroma and moderate fruit aroma. Very little sweetness. Slightly tangy finish. Strong alcohol burn. Pleasant, but fairly dry. Best for aging, but can be consumed fresh too.
8. Very fruity aroma. Very little rice aroma. No sweetness. Intensely acidic. Moderate alcohol burn.Dump.
9. Moderate rice and fruit aroma. No sweetness. Watery, acidic, little alcohol burn. Dump.
10. Mild rice aroma. Really watery, very weak acidic flavor. Negligible alcohol burn. Dump.
After making a 5 cup batch with true steamed sweet rice and yeast "discs" I had to try more, that was 4 days ago, it has some liquid so far.
I made a 3 cup batch, soak 2 hrs, 2 yeast balls, then stove top with 1:1 rice/water. This turned out more of a glob of rice than the steamed rice with it's individual grains. I had my doubts. Today after only 2 days I have wine, no mold. I believe the constant 80° is responsible.
I made a 3 cup batch, soak 2 hrs, 2 yeast balls, then stove top with 1:1 rice/water. This turned out more of a glob of rice than the steamed rice with it's individual grains. I had my doubts. Today after only 2 days I have wine, no mold. I believe the constant 80° is responsible.
Haha, No thanks...I'm very familiar with that experience.
FWIW, I've never had a good result from any water addition experiments. They all turn out just as you described. The one that was "drinkable" was just not pleasant.
FWIW, I've never had a good result from any water addition experiments. They all turn out just as you described. The one that was "drinkable" was just not pleasant.
![Craft A Brew - Safale S-04 Dry Yeast - Fermentis - English Ale Dry Yeast - For English and American Ales and Hard Apple Ciders - Ingredients for Home Brewing - Beer Making Supplies - [1 Pack]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41fVGNh6JfL._SL500_.jpg)
Oh I don't know. I might repeat batch 7 for a dry red rice wine. The rest, no.
MarcusKillion
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Bidwell ;
to take care of that globbed rice thing what you do is after cooking rinse your rice with hot water this will break it up . I use the spray hose on my sink as it works well for this . I then wash it with cold water just a little to cool it down .
EDIT:
I have come to realize that cold water works better . I just flood the strainer right from the tap and stir with a rice paddle . Cools it down , breaks it up and you can pitch yeast right away
to take care of that globbed rice thing what you do is after cooking rinse your rice with hot water this will break it up . I use the spray hose on my sink as it works well for this . I then wash it with cold water just a little to cool it down .
EDIT:
I have come to realize that cold water works better . I just flood the strainer right from the tap and stir with a rice paddle . Cools it down , breaks it up and you can pitch yeast right away
This turned out like oat meal and any rinsing would wash everything down the drain. I just picked at it with a fork and spread it in the jar with yeast balls powder.
The first (steamed) batch that I rinsed, was dryer and just starting off, and it's 2 days older, and used yeast discs.
Dang, now I really wish I had kept the ratio down with my two watered trials. My rice wine is super smooth and has almost no alcohol burn, which I believe is because it's extremely sweet. I think a moderate water addition will be good for my wine as it'll allow the yeasties to work out some extra sugars, but 100% by weight looks like it'll prove to be way too much.
Here's hoping the dry batches with tea come out good. If nothing else, the big batch should produce 2-3 liters.
I've done a few batches now by cooking the rice in store bought apple juice. Adds a nice colour to the wine and a very pleasant tang to the taste. The rice just needs a little extra time to cook in the juice (and maybe a tad more liquid to cook in) but otherwise I stuck to the basic methods.
After making a 5 cup batch with true steamed sweet rice and yeast "discs" I had to try more, that was 4 days ago, it has some liquid so far.
I made a 3 cup batch, soak 2 hrs, 2 yeast balls, then stove top with 1:1 rice/water. This turned out more of a glob of rice than the steamed rice with it's individual grains. I had my doubts. Today after only 2 days I have wine, no mold. I believe the constant 80° is responsible.
Looking good. I have quit soaking and just do a rinse until it's clear. I've found that soaking does produce more product but it tends to end too tangy for my taste. Over the months, I've come to prefer the sweeter rice wine. Still very strong and alcoholic but enjoyable.
Please post when it's done and let us know how it is and what you think of it.
Rinsing clear seems like it should reduce your sweetness. You're getting rid of extra starches that will be converted to sweet sugars over the whole process. Then again, if you're not soaking and thus ending with a lower yield, that means you already have a higher sugar ratio in the wine than before, so you'll end up sweeter than before.
DavidLiebeHart
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Finished my batch a little while ago, got a little more than 750 ml. out of 4 cups of rice. It was cloudy at first but settled out pretty quick in the fridge. Tastes pretty tangy, not as sweet as I was expecting but still real good. I dropped a couple cinnamon sticks in and they gave it a subtle warmth that I really like. Definitely gonna make this again.
Exactly! Either way, when it's done and I harvest, the remains of the rice appear to have given their all. There's not much left and it just about disintegrates when touched.
Yeah, I was a little surprised at how fast things went bad. Based on the directions some people have gotten I suspected the sweet spot for water addition was about 130% the cooked rice by weight.
Something I found was just about perfect was actually blending the 50% and control batches. That gave me just the right amount of sweetness for my tastes.
The next time I do another series of batches I'll try one with an extra 25% water by weight.
Careful with how long you leave those in. They will continue to extract into the wine for a couple of months. At least they do in cider.
How much wine do you typically get out of a dry batch per cup of pre-cooked rice? How sweet/cloudy is it? I'm getting about 1/3 of a liter per cup of rice, and it's sweet and super-cloudy - my first batch is still weeks away from fully settling out the starches after five or six weeks in the fridge. Since I've got so much extra sugar there I suspect my wine's tolerance for extra water might be higher than others are getting, probably because of the amount of convertible starch in the rice I'm using.
red_skittles
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Harvested my first batch today! Here are just a few observations. 4 cups of dry rice and 4 cups of water (no pre-soak) yielded very close to 2 liters of wine. I was actually pretty shocked at how much I ended up with. Looking at my containers, I would have guessed only about 1/3 of the rice converted, but after straining the rice pretty much compacted down in to nothing. My rice was also undercooked and dry. My compacted rice balls still had many individual grains that were completely solid. Stirring/agitating the rice during ferment did absolutely nothing. I split my batch between 2 fermenting containers and stirred one at 1 week, 2 weeks, and 18 days and left the other undisturbed. Both yielded almost the same amount of wine. Any difference could probably be contributed to me splitting the batches unevenly
My wine is in the fridge right now and I still haven't tasted it yet. As far as the smell goes, it is sweet, alcoholic, and slightly yeasty. In a blind smell test, my first thought would be cheap white wine I have an exam to write soon but after that a thorough taste test will be in order 
biggest regret: starting a second batch only a week ago
My wine is in the fridge right now and I still haven't tasted it yet. As far as the smell goes, it is sweet, alcoholic, and slightly yeasty. In a blind smell test, my first thought would be cheap white wine
I have an exam to write soon but after that a thorough taste test will be in order biggest regret: starting a second batch only a week ago
MarcusKillion
Well-Known Member
I think the stirring is just good for keeping down the mold .
I have sweet and sushi . they both taste about the same , nasty in my opinion . last night I put some wine yeast in the sushi jar to see what would happen . maybe give it a different flavor . It is doing something . kind of clumped up and a sort of krausen I guess . I just put in some yeast nutrient to give it something to eat besides rice .
I have sweet and sushi . they both taste about the same , nasty in my opinion . last night I put some wine yeast in the sushi jar to see what would happen . maybe give it a different flavor . It is doing something . kind of clumped up and a sort of krausen I guess . I just put in some yeast nutrient to give it something to eat besides rice .
Exactly my thoughts. I figure the rinsing is for a nice presentation, which we don't care about.
I just made a 2 cup batch. Soaked an hour or so, no rinsing, dumped on steamer with cheesecloth for 30 minutes. Cooled, spread, added 6 yeast tablets, mixed. A little dry so I added maybe half a cup of water to help mix the yeast. Then in the dark at 80°F.........
I believe your balls are more "potent" than my smaller flattened discs. I used 2 discs per cup. Your balls were 1 ball per cup.
Here are some results.
I believe your balls are more "potent" than my smaller flattened discs. I used 2 discs per cup. Your balls were 1 ball per cup.
Here are some results.
That's an interesting pic of the 5 days batch - I've only made a couple batches so far, but I don't get anything near that kind of separation with my local yeast balls or ARL, nor does my color come out anything like yours - it's quite yellow in my case. What kind of rice do you use?
Honestly, I can't say I've recorded much data on the actual yields. Except to note the relative amounts produced in some of the experiments.
I'd say 225-300ml/cup. Depending on the kind of rice used. It's usually very sweet, cloudy, and strongly alcoholic.
Like I said though, I haven't kept records aimed at that particularly. I'm trying to estimate from photos.
I think it's the type of yeast balls. Every experiment I've run with them as produced a somewhat yellow wine regardless of what rice was being used. The same rice produced a more white rice wine when I used ARL.
Three Ladies Brand, Sanpatong Sweet Rice. The secret is warm temps, at least for the first several days.
BTW, no mold...so far
I know I'm probably asking for trouble but hey, I like to experiment. I made a 5 cup batch with 3 different types of short grain rice. Thai Jasmine, Sushi rice and one other that I'm not sure of since it's all in Chinese. Cooked with 5 cups of water, cooled and then pitched 1/2 a pack of Angel Rice Leaven.
Not sure how this will turn out but, wish me luck!
Not sure how this will turn out but, wish me luck!
Give me a picture of the Chinese and I'll tell you what you've got.
OK I am on page 68 and see a 21-30 day range for fermentation. I am at 21 days on the dot probably about a 72 degree ave temp. How do I know if 21 days is enough or if I should wait longer? Here is what it looks like right now. If I gentle twist the jar, the whole mass moves with a slow wobble giving me the impression the whole thing is liquified. Any guidance appreciated
Hmm, tasty. Yes, I think tasty sums it up well. The aroma might be a little odd with three different kinds of rice.
Seems the sugar AND/OR 1 day more fermentation soured my small batch.
I believe the yeast DISCS are responsible for the sweeter but slower results.
I have 4 more batches going to confirm this.
I have noticed the steamed rice is dryer and benefits from a little water when mixing the yeast. The boiled rice seems to convert to liquid in a few days where the steamed takes double.
I believe the yeast DISCS are responsible for the sweeter but slower results.
I have 4 more batches going to confirm this.
I have noticed the steamed rice is dryer and benefits from a little water when mixing the yeast. The boiled rice seems to convert to liquid in a few days where the steamed takes double.
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