Making Traditional rice Wine. Cheap, Fun, and Different

[eigua]

Koji contains no yeast. It contains a fungus and only produces an enzyme which converts starch to sugar.

Which is why I don't understand why some posts here and websites with recipes, and even advice by a Singaporean grandmother who has been making it most of her life, said to throw out the entire batch if you get white mold growing on top. There is mold mycelium growing throughout the entire brew -- that's what's required to convert the starches to sugars. Just because some of it at the top decides to form spores shouldn't do any harm. So I'm quite confused why so many recipes I've found on the web advise throwing it away if you see mold.

One of my batches has a huge hairy dome of white mold on top and another batch is starting to show small mold hairs with tiny black specks on the ends. I see this as confirmation that the mold is doing its thing. I suppose could be wrong and there's something "bad" that happens when the mold goes to spore like off tastes or something. This is my first time making this so I will know in about 15 more days.

 

[CanadianJesus]

I don't think mold spores will hurt your wine. I usually get a white mold 'top' on my wine. I can't see any fuzz though. Just a little white clouding on top.

For the last two successful batches it has turned out fine. Good and drinkable.

I brought a bottle to my friends house tonight. He loved it. He says that it definitely tastes 'home made' but to me that is a compliment .

That just encourages me to make more and share with more of my friends!

Even more reason for me to get a new batch going every week!

This stuff is good to bring to friend's houses!

 

[brewit75]

Mold in this stuff is a good thing.

 

[Frame125]

I have only gotten thru 100 pages of this thread so far but couldn't wait to ask if anyone has used Nuruk As a starter culture for their rice wine. It is usually used as a starter for making Korean makgeolli. Which is a watered down rice wine . It seems to have many many strains of fungi, bacterium and yeasts in the mix. I just stumbled on rice wine brewing and a comparison brew between Nuruk and Jiuqu as starters would be interesting.

 

[user 211287]

Yes, i have used nuruk. It will "liquefy" cooked rice very very fast. It can get sour very fast too. A cold fermentation (50ishF) will greatly reduce lactic acid production. I have not used it with minimal water though. I imagine it could be used in a similar manner as yeast balls or RYR by just adding some re-hydrated yeast to the rice and nuruk.

 

[SaucedBrews]

So, MasterCrook mentioned here...

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showpost.php?p=6962712&postcount=5089

... that black specks were fine. Is there detail somewhere in the thread that explains this? Not refuting it, just trying to gather more info.

After a sunny weekend, during which it was sitting in a box near a window with southern exposure, I'm seeing a couple of patches of black, speckly mold clinging to the inside of the jar where the rice has dropped down.

IMGUR album for observation.

 

[MasterCrook]

So, MasterCrook mentioned here...

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showpost.php?p=6962712&postcount=5089

... that black specks were fine. Is there detail somewhere in the thread that explains this? Not refuting it, just trying to gather more info.

After a sunny weekend, during which it was sitting in a box near a window with southern exposure, I'm seeing a couple of patches of black, speckly mold clinging to the inside of the jar where the rice has dropped down.

IMGUR album for observation.

Nice pictures
That looks like a lot of black specs, I've never had that much in my ferments. If I get them, which is very rare, it is usually just on the top floating rice cap. The specs look the same, but I had far less

 

[MasterCrook]

I would just continue the ferment until it's done and if it smells like acetone, it's no good. After the ferment it should smell like melon if everything goes well

 

[CanadianJesus]

So my ARL finally arrived from China. It took 8 weeks.

When pitching ARL, would it be a good idea to mix it in with my re hydrated yeast and pitch it all in the rice mash together like that? I'm using ec-1118

Btw guys, I have my 5th batch fermenting away nicely already its five days in. This is some good stuff eh?

 

[user 211287]

When i use ARL or RYR, i add the yeast after 24-48 hours. I mix the ARL or RYR with warm rice and keep it warm that whole time. Angel's directions say to use the "warmer" setting on a rice cooker. I just use a heating pad and a towel.

I prefer the rice to taste sweet before adding the yeast. I also rehydrate the yeast with a minimal amount of water with either sugar or rice syrup.

Pitch the hydrated yeast on the rice after its cooled to a safe temp for the yeast. Let it set at room temp for a day before moving to a cool place.

If using more liquid to start, get it cool faster and ferment colder. EC-1118 should ferment even in the low 50s.

 

[CanadianJesus]

So do you just pitch the hydrated yeast right over top of the rice in the fermenter jar, or do you stir it in?

 

[SeraW]

Did the sake forum get merged into the main wine forum?

 

[eigua]

Did the sake forum get merged into the main wine forum?

The description of Winemaking Forum is:
Topics all related to wine no matter what type, grapes, rice, sake, anything wine!

So I guess so. I haven't been here long enough so I never knew it was separate.

 

[user 211287]

So do you just pitch the hydrated yeast right over top of the rice in the fermenter jar, or do you stir it in?

I mix it in. Then put it all in the fermenter..

 

[actech]

found yeast balls so gotta try this

 

[buMbLeB]

Did the sake forum get merged into the main wine forum?

Yes, it was separate until about a week ago. I liked it better that way, but that's just me.

 

[CanadianJesus]

I mix it in. Then put it all in the fermenter..

Using ARL seems a bit more complicated than yeast balls. I'd rather not handle it twice. Do you use the same fermenter jar to kick start the ARL that you use for main fermentation?

I'm just wondering exactly how it's done, the posts way earlier in this thread are not clear at all about using ARL.

Basically what I am wondering is, should I mix my rice with ARL, leave it in warm temps for a day, then remove it from the jar, then mix in the yeast and then put it all back? Would it be better to add it all back to a sanitized jar?

I use my bare hands (sanitized) to mix in my crushed yeast balls and haven't had an issue yet.

 

[CanadianJesus]

found yeast balls so gotta try this

Another one in the club! I like this stuff so much that I started making it every week so that I have a pipeline.

 

[SeraW]

Using ARL seems a bit more complicated than yeast balls. I'd rather not handle it twice. Do you use the same fermenter jar to kick start the ARL that you use for main fermentation?

I'm just wondering exactly how it's done, the posts way earlier in this thread are not clear at all about using ARL.

Basically what I am wondering is, should I mix my rice with ARL, leave it in warm temps for a day, then remove it from the jar, then mix in the yeast and then put it all back? Would it be better to add it all back to a sanitized jar?

I use my bare hands (sanitized) to mix in my crushed yeast balls and haven't had an issue yet.

So I haven't used ARL myself BUT I was under the impression that ARL needs no further yeast...it contains all fungi needed for saccharification and fermentation.

 

[CanadianJesus]

But the ingredients on the package say it only contains Rhizopus oryzae and wheat flour. No mention of yeast, but from my previous reading of this thread, I was under the impression that people were making rice wine using only ARL, which is why I'm confused as all heck right now.

Maybe some experimentation is in order when I have some free time and free fermentor jars.

 

[user 211287]

As far as i know there is no yeast in Angel Rice Leaven. Angel does however sell yeast also. ARL is used to make something similar to Japanese amazake. The process is almost the same.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiuniang
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazake

IIRC a few here have tried using just ARL and they did not achieve fermentation.

Go ahead and add the ARL and around 1/2 cup of a hydrated yeast starter. I would suggest KV-1116 and a long 50-60F ferment. Make sure your yeast is very active before pitching and has enough sugar added while waiting for the ARL to do its job.

 

[MasterCrook]

Evilgrin,
Have you done a batch with just koji? I'm curious if anyone has used just koji and how it turned out

 

[user 211287]

Evilgrin,
Have you done a batch with just koji? I'm curious if anyone has used just koji and how it turned out

Mine is on its 15th day
200grams of koji
5 cups of rice (dry)
EC-1118

Fermenting in a cooler with a frozen 1 liter bottle changed every morning. First time trying koji and i have never used it without yeast added. Koji is far too expensive and you can accomplish nearly the same thing with ARL.

There are tons of amazake recipes out there. You make it in a rice cooker set on warm after cooking the rice. Mix in your koji with warm rice and leave it on the warmer setting for 24hours or a little more.

You will have a sweet rice porridge that taste similar to a rice pudding.

 

[Chops1867]

Trying dwhill's method. Put rice, yeast balls, flour in a spigoted bucket Sunday morning. Waiting for fermentation to begin...

BTW, 10 pounds of rice is a LOT of rice to cook!

 

[brooklynkayak]

BTW, 10 pounds of rice is a LOT of rice to cook!

...and makes a lot of rice wine

 

[CanadianJesus]

Does anybody else not like the 'pudding' that yeast balls make after a day or two?

The other day I made 12 cups of rice that just barely fit into two fermenter jars. After 24 hours the CO2 expanded the rice mash to the point that the rice was touching the cheese cloth so I had to scoop some out. I decided to eat the rice that I removed. Slightly sweet, but not very pleasant tasting. The liquid on the other hand was extremely sweet and syrupy, like liquefied cane sugar. I love the wine, but not so much the Jiuniang.

Long story short, I'm not putting a full six cups and filling my fermenter jars to the top anymore. I'll do 10 or 11 cup batches from now on.

And btw, I'm back to using sweet rice. I figured it's only a couple bucks more than Calrose at the same weight and gives a much better yield and an overall better product.

 

[MasterCrook]

Mine is on its 15th day
200grams of koji
5 cups of rice (dry)
EC-1118

Fermenting in a cooler with a frozen 1 liter bottle changed every morning. First time trying koji and i have never used it without yeast added. Koji is far too expensive and you can accomplish nearly the same thing with ARL.

There are tons of amazake recipes out there. You make it in a rice cooker set on warm after cooking the rice. Mix in your koji with warm rice and leave it on the warmer setting for 24hours or a little more.

You will have a sweet rice porridge that taste similar to a rice pudding.

I'm interested to see how your batch turns out and if there's a difference in clarity, taste, alcohol, smell, compared to using just yeast balls

 

[Chops1867]

Day 6 and I am just starting to get some action in this batch. Added yeast balls and rice flour on day 2. No airlock activity. Top layer of rice starting to look funky and the wine smell is just starting. It's in an area about 65°.

 

[actech]

One week in and this is what the jasmine rice is looking like. So I am guessing that I indeed get yeast balls. Nothing English on package. Kinda funny at Asian market I asked for yeast balls. Guy says yeast ball? yes yeast balls to crush and add to rice for wine. yeast balls? yes you add it to rice to make sake/wine. then points to old atomic fireball container that has a label on it that says garlic and says $.50 a package. I'm sure they all had a good laugh after I walked out the door with what I needed for rice wine.

 

[brewit75]

One week in and this is what the jasmine rice is looking like. So I am guessing that I indeed get yeast balls. Nothing English on package. Kinda funny at Asian market I asked for yeast balls. Guy says yeast ball? yes yeast balls to crush and add to rice for wine. yeast balls? yes you add it to rice to make sake/wine. then points to old atomic fireball container that has a label on it that says garlic and says $.50 a package. I'm sure they all had a good laugh after I walked out the door with what I needed for rice wine.

That's awesomely funny. I had to get mine online. Your batch looks perfect by the way.