Making Traditional rice Wine. Cheap, Fun, and Different

[Kaedith]

I harvested my first batch a few days ago it's sitting now in the fridge. It seperated pretty quick in there after pasteurization. I tasted it all mixed up after harvest and liked both batches haven't decided yet if I like the red or white better. The natural fruity notes of the red is really nice but the white has a certain subtle sweetness that is very nice too. Haven't tried adding any fruit juice yet but probably will try blueberry to start. Here is pic after harvest.

My post with the method I used is 3878. And seems to me everything went pretty well with using 1 yeast ball per Gallon batch. The big jars are Quart the small Pint. I had maybe another 1/2 Pint of the red by drank it lol.

 

[Rambunctious]

Started another batch, doubled the last one. Now 8 cups sweet rice and 4yeast cakes. Will have to make a run to market and restock yeast cakes. Will try a different rice next time around. Last batch of 4cups rice 2 yeast cakes yielded about 1.5 qts of wine.


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[jak1010]

I harvested my first batch a few days ago it's sitting now in the fridge. It seperated pretty quick in there after pasteurization. I tasted it all mixed up after harvest and liked both batches haven't decided yet if I like the red or white better. The natural fruity notes of the red is really nice but the white has a certain subtle sweetness that is very nice too. Haven't tried adding any fruit juice yet but probably will try blueberry to start. Here is pic after harvest.

My post with the method I used is 3878. And seems to me everything went pretty well with using 1 yeast ball per Gallon batch. The big jars are Quart the small Pint. I had maybe another 1/2 Pint of the red by drank it lol.

Looks real good. Nice job!

 

[CreamyGoodness]

Soooo... on Sunday I put the whole bag in a big pot with a gallon and a quarter of water and boiled/steamed the everloving hell out of it, until the red cargo rice was soft (I get the feeling this stuff doesnt get "fluffy" per se). Ten crushed yeast balls and covered by washed and sanitized pickle crock with sanitized cheesecloth and the earthen lid. The exterior of the rice is already moldy and puffy. SCIENCE!

Im thinking this will be ready to harvest in 2 weeks tops....

 

[Hoon]

I strained a mason jar full after about 8 days. Semi boozy but you can tell there is a lot of rice sugar left to be fermented, and it didn't separate in the fridge into semi clear liquid and white liquid. I might put it back on the shelf for another week or so,........nah, I'll drink this as is while awaiting my gallon to finish fermenting. Gotta get me some red rice next.



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[pdxal]

FWIW, my ferments with jasmine rice have been taking around 5 weeks to harvest, and until 8 weeks until CO2 off gassing stops. I ferment around 65° and store at that same temperature.
Batches made with sweet rice/mochi gome have been faster and stopping CO2 production sooner, around week 5-6.
I think the jasmine rice batches taste better.
Yeast balls are running me $2.39-$2.49 here for 11 in a package, and Vietnamese yeast tablets run $1.00/package of 12. Both from Asian markets, with rices running 60-75 cents/lb. What is everyone else paying?

 

[sonofgrok]

FWIW, my ferments with jasmine rice have been taking around 5 weeks to harvest, and until 8 weeks until CO2 off gassing stops. I ferment around 65° and store at that same temperature.
Batches made with sweet rice/mochi gome have been faster and stopping CO2 production sooner, around week 5-6.
I think the jasmine rice batches taste better.
Yeast balls are running me $2.39-$2.49 here for 11 in a package, and Vietnamese yeast tablets run $1.00/package of 12. Both from Asian markets, with rices running 60-75 cents/lb. What is everyone else paying?

I am paying $4.50 for a bag of 24. I am moving states in 2 weeks though to start my PhD though so who knows what I will find in the new town (I better find something though!)

 

[RegarRenill]

I am paying $4.50 for a bag of 24. I am moving states in 2 weeks though to start my PhD though so who knows what I will find in the new town (I better find something though!)

Good luck!

 

[CreamyGoodness]

I am paying $4.50 for a bag of 24. I am moving states in 2 weeks though to start my PhD though so who knows what I will find in the new town (I better find something though!)

There's always the internet when all else fails!

Where you heading to?

 

[sonofgrok]

There's always the internet when all else fails!

Where you heading to?

I will message you so as not to jack the thread into talk about my PhD ha ha.

 

[MasterCrook]

This post confuses me. A Refractometer measures the SG of a solution. Without knowing the starting gravity, measuring the final solution does no good. You have to know the original gravity in order to calculate the ABV. A Hydrometer is a tool used to measure SG by buoyancy. How can your refreactometer have a built in Hydrometer?

Am I missing something?

Its an honest question. Most of my exp. with refractometers comes from keeping coral reef tanks. I am a relative newbie to its use in brewing.

The refractometers used for aquariums are to measure salinity of the water. The ones used in brewing measure sugar content, the one I have measures in brix (unit). The sc These refractometers sometimes are auto temperature corrected, meaning the temperature of the sample being measured can have varying temperature, and results will be still accurate. The scale in the refractometer has brix on one side and sg on the other. The sg scale is based of calculation conversion. It's approx 4 times the brix value. There are many calculators online that can determine original sg based on final brix and final sg. I think northern brewer has a good one. That particular calculator also compensates for alcohol present in the sample. I haven't seen the formula, but many ppl swear by it. I'm just letting my batch clear and settle a bit, then I'll test and post results.

 

[DanzigsMISFITS]

So there is a lot of flluid and a very boozy smell from my batch on 4/18... should I wait the whole 3 weeks to harvest?

 

[sonofgrok]

The refractometers used for aquariums are to measure salinity of the water. The ones used in brewing measure sugar content, the one I have measures in brix (unit). The sc These refractometers sometimes are auto temperature corrected, meaning the temperature of the sample being measured can have varying temperature, and results will be still accurate. The scale in the refractometer has brix on one side and sg on the other. The sg scale is based of calculation conversion. It's approx 4 times the brix value. There are many calculators online that can determine original sg based on final brix and final sg. I think northern brewer has a good one. That particular calculator also compensates for alcohol present in the sample. I haven't seen the formula, but many ppl swear by it. I'm just letting my batch clear and settle a bit, then I'll test and post results.

I have been tempted to GC a sample of mine but I can't talk anyone into letting me use theirs and our lab doesn't have one. The general consensus on rice wines though is up to 20%. I have had some batches that I would say are right there and some that I would say are probably more like 11-14%. Depending on rice, balls etc. your mileage will probably vary greatly.

 

[AbstractBrewer]

The refractometers used for aquariums are to measure salinity of the water. The ones used in brewing measure sugar content, the one I have measures in brix (unit). The sc These refractometers sometimes are auto temperature corrected, meaning the temperature of the sample being measured can have varying temperature, and results will be still accurate. The scale in the refractometer has brix on one side and sg on the other. The sg scale is based of calculation conversion. It's approx 4 times the brix value. There are many calculators online that can determine original sg based on final brix and final sg. I think northern brewer has a good one. That particular calculator also compensates for alcohol present in the sample. I haven't seen the formula, but many ppl swear by it. I'm just letting my batch clear and settle a bit, then I'll test and post results.

Yes, they measure the Salinity by SG. And they also temperature compensate. The only difference really is the the BRIX scale is not included.

My real question was about calculating the ABV without a starting point. Currently we are able to do this by measuring the SG at start, and then again when finished. Measuring it only at finish would not provide the info needed to figure the ABV. I just dont know how you are going about getting the ABV with just one measurement? What is the beginning SG of our wine? And how are we finding it? I would expect that your reading would be really close to 1.0, being pretty dry, but I dont know where we started?

 

[AbstractBrewer]

Nevermid. I just saw that you addressed the original SG. So we would be estimating it. Now I understand.

 

[DanzigsMISFITS]

Lady at work today asked me if there was any "danger" in brewing own rice wine.... I said no but.... was I right?

 

[ChefRex]

Lady at work today asked me if there was any "danger" in brewing own rice wine.... I said no but.... was I right?

Life is full of danger, if brewing rice wine is the most daring thing you do all day you lead a boring life.








Yes you are

 

[sonofgrok]

Lady at work today asked me if there was any "danger" in brewing own rice wine.... I said no but.... was I right?

Danger of intoxication. Danger.

 

[DanzigsMISFITS]

Life is full of danger, if brewing rice wine is the most daring thing you do all day you lead a boring life.








Yes you are

Brewing part is fine I meant the consumption of said wine....no more reminders of how boring I am as I age.

 

[jak1010]

Lady at work today asked me if there was any "danger" in brewing own rice wine.... I said no but.... was I right?

You were wrong. Drinking this stuff and running out of it is very dangerous. Before you know it, you're cooking rice at 3am and then you have to wait weeks before you can drink some more. Very dangerous.

 

[Hoon]

Can't see how drinking rotted rice water can be any worse for you than drinking rotted barley or grape water.

Yeast is a damn nice fungus.


I brew because I must.

 

[MrCrabby]

Perhaps someone can tell me what I'm doing wrong.
This is my third attempt at rice wine. My first batch came out perfectly, but the two subsequent batches seem to have developed infections.
I have brewed 10 batches of beer and apfelwein, and have never had an infection. Perhaps something is wrong with my process? I don't know.
Here's my process:
Jasmine rice, about 4 cups dry for this last attempt, cooked in 2 batches (rice cooker only holds 2 cups).
Let rice sit in water for 2 hours, then rinsed.
Cooked first batch, and placed it in a plastic bowl rinsed with starsan solution (first issue here, the bowl is a rough and porous plastic).
Cooked second batch and dropped it into the sanitized glass jar while still very hot.
Added first batch on top with sprinklings of crushed yeast balls throughout.
Now, about 4 days later, I have several dark, fuzzy spots near the top (pictured), and there is a huge amount of white fuzz on top (difficult to see in the background).
There were dark spots in my last batch, and I ended up tossing it before asking any questions.

I imagine this is not normal. Should I toss this batch now and try again with some tighter sanitation practices?

Thanks for the help.

 

[MasterCrook]

Perhaps someone can tell me what I'm doing wrong.
This is my third attempt at rice wine. My first batch came out perfectly, but the two subsequent batches seem to have developed infections.
I have brewed 10 batches of beer and apfelwein, and have never had an infection. Perhaps something is wrong with my process? I don't know.
Here's my process:
Jasmine rice, about 4 cups dry for this last attempt, cooked in 2 batches (rice cooker only holds 2 cups).
Let rice sit in water for 2 hours, then rinsed.
Cooked first batch, and placed it in a plastic bowl rinsed with starsan solution (first issue here, the bowl is a rough and porous plastic).
Cooked second batch and dropped it into the sanitized glass jar while still very hot.
Added first batch on top with sprinklings of crushed yeast balls throughout.
Now, about 4 days later, I have several dark, fuzzy spots near the top (pictured), and there is a huge amount of white fuzz on top (difficult to see in the background).
There were dark spots in my last batch, and I ended up tossing it before asking any questions.

I imagine this is not normal. Should I toss this batch now and try again with some tighter sanitation practices?

Thanks for the help.

It seems normal, this is how the fermentation begins. Let it go for 1.5 weeks, then smell around the lid for progress

 

[pdxal]

Lots of people report some mold on the rice after a short period. There are several posts in the thread about this. White fuzz is the mold in the yeast balls taking hold.
I'd give it time and see what happens before chucking it.
I'd also be careful about adding yeast balls to "still very hot" rice to avoid killing the yeast.

 

[weirdboy]

If you *don't* get mold, you're doing something wrong. The mold is necessary to enable breaking down the rice starches so they can be fermented by the saccharomyces.


I do agree that you shouldn't be adding stuff while it's hot. You are killing off yeast (and other stuff, probably) when you do that. Let it cool to room temps before you start screwing around with it.

 

[jak1010]

Lots of people report some mold on the rice after a short period. There are several posts in the thread about this. White fuzz is the mold in the yeast balls taking hold.
I'd give it time and see what happens before chucking it.
I'd also be careful about adding yeast balls to "still very hot" rice to avoid killing the yeast.

If you *don't* get mold, you're doing something wrong. The mold is necessary to enable breaking down the rice starches so they can be fermented by the saccharomyces.


I do agree that you shouldn't be adding stuff while it's hot. You are killing off yeast (and other stuff, probably) when you do that. Let it cool to room temps before you start screwing around with it.

Agreed to both of these posts. White fuzzy mold is your friend in this case. The only thing that would be concerning is any bright colors such as green, yellow or very dark black. And that's only because of the effect on taste. If you let this stuff go for more than 18 days, the alcohol content will be at such a high level that nothing harmful will survive. From a microbial level, I'm under the impression that nothing harmful will remain. It just may not be the best tasting beverage in the house.

 

[MrCrabby]

Thanks for the good advice. I don't put yeast in hot wort, why would I add it to hot rice? Geez Louise. I'll learn someday.
I know that white mold is normal, I was just worried about the black stuff. I'll let it ride and report back. That's too much rice (and too much potential wine) to let go to waste.

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[ChefRex]

Well my first experimental batch looks to be a failure, I tried adding the solids from a previous batch along with 2 balls, I had a violent start and over flowed the container, two cups of this went into another batch which is looking failed also.
Poor yield, weak, not so tasty. Live and learn.
On a positive note I stopped fooling around and pick up a 25 pound bag of rice.

 

[sonofgrok]

Perhaps someone can tell me what I'm doing wrong.
This is my third attempt at rice wine. My first batch came out perfectly, but the two subsequent batches seem to have developed infections.
I have brewed 10 batches of beer and apfelwein, and have never had an infection. Perhaps something is wrong with my process? I don't know.
Here's my process:
Jasmine rice, about 4 cups dry for this last attempt, cooked in 2 batches (rice cooker only holds 2 cups).
Let rice sit in water for 2 hours, then rinsed.
Cooked first batch, and placed it in a plastic bowl rinsed with starsan solution (first issue here, the bowl is a rough and porous plastic).
Cooked second batch and dropped it into the sanitized glass jar while still very hot.
Added first batch on top with sprinklings of crushed yeast balls throughout.
Now, about 4 days later, I have several dark, fuzzy spots near the top (pictured), and there is a huge amount of white fuzz on top (difficult to see in the background).
There were dark spots in my last batch, and I ended up tossing it before asking any questions.

I imagine this is not normal. Should I toss this batch now and try again with some tighter sanitation practices?

Thanks for the help.

I would let it cool more and if that fails, skip the 2 hour soak! That is crazy talk... either don't rinse or just rinse right away.

 

[DanzigsMISFITS]

Im hitting the 21 day mark soon. Getting impatient.... should I let it go a full 4 weeks? Lots of liquid and a strong boozy smell already....or should I drain and bottle?