Making Traditional rice Wine. Cheap, Fun, and Different

[z-bob]

I added RYR to the last batch. It's very boozy, but it's also sweet (and kind of thick); there's a lot of sugar left after the yeast ran out of steam. Maybe a little extra water would lower the ABV so the yeast can keep going.

 

[SeraW]

I finished the whole thread! Now, off to get some balls.

 

[user 211287]

My ARL arrived today from China. It looks like they sent an extra free package. It has sticker on the package with Chinese writing and a smiley face. Manufacture date is 3/22/2015 on all the packages

Now, the package says 8 grams is enough for 2-2.5kg of rice. It sort of implies the weight is for dry rice. The recipe is actually for a type of fermented porridge and not really wine although im sure longer fermentation than directed (36hr) will produce wine.

Ive decided on equal parts sweet rice 2.5 cups and Akitaotome short grain rice 2.5 cups. IIRC another member recommended using roughly 1 gram per 1.5 cups of rice. I may add a little RYR just because i like the "fruitiness" it seems to give the wine.

6 dry cups rice sweet and sushi mix
1 package ARL
3 TBS (before grinding) RYR
Rice well rinsed and soaked
Cooked in my microwave rice cooker with a little less water than used for eating....This microwave cooker works surprisingly well when you figure out the correct water to rice ratio for each type of rice.

 

[Electrake]

Good Day!
Nothing too exciting too post in comparison to some of the experiments i see going on, of which I am very impressed. But SWMBO decided to take it upon herself to start up a couple jars of rice, her first fermentation project ever :rockin: She started these on July 31st, I hope she either makes more, or saves some seeing as I'm out of country for a while yet...

3 cups rice, 2 cups water. Generic sushi rice from the store and 2 yeast balls.

5 days later

 

[user 211287]

Anyone tried using RYR for a few days for starch conversion then pitch a yeast like KV1-1116 or EC-1118? I have both but i dont really want to waste a package if the results were poor.

Also has anyone tried a secondary fermentation to make a less sweet wine AFTER pasteurizing by adding the above yeasts?

 

[MasterCrook]

I added RYR to the last batch. It's very boozy, but it's also sweet (and kind of thick); there's a lot of sugar left after the yeast ran out of steam. Maybe a little extra water would lower the ABV so the yeast can keep going.

To make the wine drier and less sweet, I usually add water before fermentation. The amount added depends on how full the jar is already, as the rice ferments into wine, more liquid is present and could overflow the jar. Also, too much could make a light wine, not my preference. I usually add about 1-2 inches of water, depending on how full the jar is.

 

[user 211287]

Test batch nuruk and K1-V1116. I followed this recipe with the exception of the type of yeast. Rice used was Akitaotome. Its a true short grain sushi type rice that is less sticky than Koshihikari.

http://www.maangchi.com/recipe/makgeolli

I chose nuruk for this test because the rice starches are converted to sugars very quickly. After just one night there is a huge difference in the rice mass and the K1-V1116 is really going to town. It has already turned into a porridge.

 

[user 211287]

The nuruk batch has almost completely liquified the rice and fermentation with the Lalvin yeast is bubbling like mad. ATM the aroma is more like beer to me than wine. I think im going to add more rice to it today or maybe some sugar. Its only slightly sweet.

The RYR and ARL batch had liquid 3/4 of the way up the rice. I stirred it yesterday and made another hole in the center. Out of curiosity i tasted the spoon when i was done....Delicious, i could eat a bowl of this stuff.....Now i see why ARL is used to make a drunken rice porridge.

 

[MasterCrook]

This is an interesting experiment, can you post pictures?

 

[user 211287]

Sure

 

[MasterCrook]

Sure

Wow, that looks a lot like makgeolli! Is it still fermenting?

 

[user 211287]

Its beginning to slow down now. Im going to filter off the larger stuff today and put it in jars with an air lock. Gunna try adding some Korean rice syrup.

 

[Bob_McBob]

I've skimmed through the thread a few times in the past and decided this weekend was the time to try it out for myself. I have two 1 quart mason jars going with 2 cups (Japanese, ~180ml) each of jasmine rice cooked in a rice cooker, and one ground up ball each of yeast. I put one in the oven with the light on, which holds it at around 95°F. That one has a lot of liquid and is very goopy and smells like sake. It has a couple spots of dark mold on top as well. I know higher temps aren't great because of lactobacillus contamination, but I wanted to see how it turned out. I put the other jar in the cupboard, and room temp is around 78°F right now. It's going much slower but has plenty of liquid after a few days. It also has a coating of mold on top with thin white tendrils and dark dots at the tip.

I'm particularly interested to know if anyone has taken it a step further and tried making huangjiu like Shaoxing wine at home. I gather the process is much more involved, making a seed mash with acidified grains and xiaoqu, then adding acidified rice and daqu as well as red yeast rice. I'd really like to recreate something at least vaguely similar similar, because I do a lot of Chinese cooking and it's impossible to buy any Shaoxing other than low-end salted cooking wine in Ontario.

 

[MasterCrook]

I've skimmed through the thread a few times in the past and decided this weekend was the time to try it out for myself. I have two 1 quart mason jars going with 2 cups (Japanese, ~180ml) each of jasmine rice cooked in a rice cooker, and one ground up ball each of yeast. I put one in the oven with the light on, which holds it at around 95°F. That one has a lot of liquid and is very goopy and smells like sake. It has a couple spots of dark mold on top as well. I know higher temps aren't great because of lactobacillus contamination, but I wanted to see how it turned out. I put the other jar in the cupboard, and room temp is around 78°F right now. It's going much slower but has plenty of liquid after a few days. It also has a coating of mold on top with thin white tendrils and dark dots at the tip.

I'm particularly interested to know if anyone has taken it a step further and tried making huangjiu like Shaoxing wine at home. I gather the process is much more involved, making a seed mash with acidified grains and xiaoqu, then adding acidified rice and daqu as well as red yeast rice. I'd really like to recreate something at least vaguely similar similar, because I do a lot of Chinese cooking and it's impossible to buy any Shaoxing other than low-end salted cooking wine in Ontario.

I thought huangjiu is exactly what we've been making? I haven't heard of a method involving acidified rice. From what I've gathered from online sources, rice wine made with yeast balls and glutinous rice (RYR optional) falls into the huangjiu category

 

[user 211287]

I thought huangjiu is exactly what we've been making?

Basically that is correct and it is translated roughly into "yellow wine". Fujian wine also falls in this category. A few of the higher end varieties are even aged for 3 years. Some versions are reddish or other colors from the RYR and/or aging.

IMO, sweet rice or a true short grain rice will make a better Shaoxing type wine than jasmine rice although mixing rice has produced some very interesting wines. Botan or Kukuho calrose medium grain varieties would be my next choice.

 

[Bob_McBob]

I thought huangjiu is exactly what we've been making? I haven't heard of a method involving acidified rice. From what I've gathered from online sources, rice wine made with yeast balls and glutinous rice (RYR optional) falls into the huangjiu category

For Shaoxing wine specifically, here's a description of manufacturing the most popular variety based on the Handbook of Food Science, Technology, and Engineering.

Glutinous rice is soaked for 18-20 hours in slightly acidified water before steaming. Large cisterns are filled with 144 kg of cooked rice, 2.5 kg of "wheat qu" (wheat yeast, da qu), 5-8 kg of "sprinkled rice jiu mo" (a pre-fermented rice mash produced with "jiu yao", xiao qu), 84 kg of the starchy soaking water, and 112 kg of fresh water. Adding the fresh water is intended to lower the acidity of the starchy water to an acceptable level for fermentation.

The mash is stirred and left for 12 hours during which time a large amount of saccharification occurs, then mixed once or twice a day for up to 6-8 days depending on the initial internal temperature (which affects the taste a lot). It's then transferred to smaller jugs and allowed to continue fermenting for 70-80 days before being filtered, pasteurized, and aged.

A little bit more complicated than my first attempt in this thread

 

[MasterCrook]

For Shaoxing wine specifically, here's a description of manufacturing the most popular variety based on the Handbook of Food Science, Technology, and Engineering.

Glutinous rice is soaked for 18-20 hours in slightly acidified water before steaming. Large cisterns are filled with 144 kg of cooked rice, 2.5 kg of "wheat qu" (wheat yeast, da qu), 5-8 kg of "sprinkled rice jiu mo" (a pre-fermented rice mash produced with "jiu yao", xiao qu), 84 kg of the starchy soaking water, and 112 kg of fresh water. Adding the fresh water is intended to lower the acidity of the starchy water to an acceptable level for fermentation.

The mash is stirred and left for 12 hours during which time a large amount of saccharification occurs, then mixed once or twice a day for up to 6-8 days depending on the initial internal temperature (which affects the taste a lot). It's then transferred to smaller jugs and allowed to continue fermenting for 70-80 days before being filtered, pasteurized, and aged.

A little bit more complicated than my first attempt in this thread

I see. Shaoxing wine seems to have a different procedure than what we've been using for basic huangjiu. Complicated indeed

 

[fredthecat]

i picked up some extra old shaoxing wine from taiwan. there is no substitute for it when it comes to some hardcore cooking now that i've tried it. drinking however... its a really acquired taste imho. to me its like unsalted alcoholic soy sauce.
also its made from a mix of rice and sorghum afaik

 

[brooklynkayak]

Maybe a little extra water would lower the ABV so the yeast can keep going.

After advise from others on the list, I experimented with using more water and longer fermentation time to produce a drier rice wine.

I think most of my friends prefer the results, especially for summer drinking.

The batch that had a total water to rice ratio of just under 4 to 1(including soaking water) and two months fermentation was preferred.

It produces a much drier flavour similar to Sake . I suspect it would taste similar to strong beer/ale if hops were added.

 

[z-bob]

My next batch, I'm going to start exactly like normal, but after a week or so (when it's liquefying and smells like alcohol) I'll add another cup of water.

 

[user 211287]

The nuruk and K1-V1116 batch with a little rice syrup added tastes much different than i expected. It taste more like sake than Chinese rice wine. Not very sour like some makgeolli ive tried. The yeast has eaten all the rice syrup or nearly all. I only used a coarse stainless mesh for straining so it still has quite a bit of sediment in the jar.

The RYR and ARL batch was a bit slow and seemed to have stalled. I added 1.5 cups of water a few days ago and stirred it. Now it smells like rice wine and the rice is starting to float.

Next batch will be
Sweet rice soaked in water with a little citric acid.
RYR only for the first 48 hours in a warm closet. Im considering adding a tiny bit of amylase also.
EC-1118 and 1cup of water added after 48 hours
60 day ferment time

 

[jsamyn]

Hi all, I've only made it to page 350 and I intend to read all the way to the end, but I just wondered if these are okay. So far I haven't seen this brand in any of the first 350 pages:

 

[brooklynkayak]

...just wondered if these are okay. So far I haven't seen this brand in any of the first 350 pages:

I haven't seen that brand, but the packaging looks like other brads I've on the East coast.

 

[ChefRex]

Hi all, I've only made it to page 350 and I intend to read all the way to the end, but I just wondered if these are okay. So far I haven't seen this brand in any of the first 350 pages:

One way to find out

 

[user 211287]

I dont know if you have Asian language pack installed but 上海甜酒丸 (writing above dried yeast) is basically yeast ball or liquor ferment.

Men Ruqu or actually Men com ruqu is Vietnamese for wine yeast or Chinese wine yeast

https://www.google.com/search?q=上海甜...ChMI88SdgtK2xwIVzBk-Ch2F_gG6&biw=1680&bih=904

So yes they should work.

 

[fredthecat]

The nuruk and K1-V1116 batch with a little rice syrup added tastes much different than i expected. It taste more like sake than Chinese rice wine. Not very sour like some makgeolli ive tried. The yeast has eaten all the rice syrup or nearly all. I only used a coarse stainless mesh for straining so it still has quite a bit of sediment in the jar.

The RYR and ARL batch was a bit slow and seemed to have stalled. I added 1.5 cups of water a few days ago and stirred it. Now it smells like rice wine and the rice is starting to float.

Next batch will be
Sweet rice soaked in water with a little citric acid.
RYR only for the first 48 hours in a warm closet. Im considering adding a tiny bit of amylase also.
EC-1118 and 1cup of water added after 48 hours
60 day ferment time

it almost takes effort to make makgeolli turn sour and cruddy. gonna pump up my rice wine thread but i used nuruk and rice and it was extremely easy to make a drink that was not sour. the closer to 52F your fermentation gets, the souring bacteria become almost dormant. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=437006

mixing the ease of just adding nuruk (in my case a big, solid brick purchased) and the easy bits of making sake results in a great drink called cheongju (clear alcohol)

 

[jsamyn]

Thanks all! I'm going to give this a whirl on Saturday (Sunday I'm brewing beer). This is going to be fun!

 

[user 211287]

cheongju was what i was hoping to accomplish with the nuruk and Lalvin yeast. I have no recipe for it so i experimented. The entire fermentation has been in sub 70F temps. My basement gets quite cool in the winter so i will be sure to repeat this test then.

 

[brisboy]

I just put my first batch of this together last night using the instructions on the first page (haven't read the whole thread). Anything else I need to know to make it work? Probably just need to leave the yeast and mould to do its thing (as usual, patience will be key).

Pretty excited.

 

[MasterCrook]

I just put my first batch of this together last night using the instructions on the first page (haven't read the whole thread). Anything else I need to know to make it work? Probably just need to leave the yeast and mould to do its thing (as usual, patience will be key).

Pretty excited.

That's pretty much all you need to do!