What next? First it was the viking brew with hot rocks,then Midas touched..

[Elmo Peach]

In keeping with things I have not yet tried like the time I brewed beer with hot rocks, made the honey, grape and barley drink Midas Touch, made mead and of course the pine tree soda (very good) I am now going to make sake for the first time.

I have been a martial artist for many years and we are often served sake at festive occasions. I went to the liquor store (I live in Ontario CA) to get sake and they were out of it. Yikes the supply chain slow down has started to look bad to me. I knew it was a thing, but no sake!! just won't do.

I went to the local HBS, 25miles\40km away and got a koji kome starter kit and some sake #7 yeast. That was 3 days ago. I have made the kome koji starter and have steamed 1500 grams\3pounds of rice and it is now bubbling away. I tasted a bit of the mash last night. It has to be stirred a couple of times a day. Very interesting, tastes OK so far as I can tell.

I made it with the instructions from Visionbrew's web site. I used the beginners insrtuctions. They have 2 more levels for a more in depth brew. If this works I may try the more advanced recipes.

Fingers crossed hoping for the best.

 

[kevin58]

Well, there was an episode of Beerland where one guy puts a log in his wort to provide the yeast. They reference it here in this video...

 

[Elmo Peach]

Sake racked into seconday tried a bout 4 Oz very good for a drink just out of the fermentor. floral and a little fruity. no idea of the % alochol seems stong. 15% maybe.

 

[Elmo Peach]

I tried my Sake that I made last Feb. I bought a bottle of sake from a commercial sake brewer in Toronto and we did a taste test. The Store bought Sake was sweeter and my homemade sake was a touch sour. (My wife's defections ) Both very nice one was not better than the other. A surprise for me I was sure the Sake from the brewery would have been a lot better than my basement brew.

I blended the two sakes and the result was wonderful. Will brew another sake this year.

 

[bracconiere]

never could get the koji to grow without souring, and i swear it didn't convert the rice. did you save any of the koji and let it go to spore for another batch?

 

[Elmo Peach]

never could get the koji to grow without souring, and i swear it didn't convert the rice. did you save any of the koji and let it go to spore for another batch?

No did not save the koji. I bought the rice at the Chinese grocery an order the spore o line. I steamed the rice and used the oven to incubate the koji.(30 hrs)

 

[bracconiere]

No did not save the koji. I bought the rice at the Chinese grocery an order the spore o line. I steamed the rice and used the oven to incubate the koji.(30 hrs)

do you know what temp the oven was at? and if you have a refrac and hydro, have you taken a reading with both on the final product?

 

[Elmo Peach]

do you know what temp the oven was at? and if you have a refrac and hydro, have you taken a reading with both on the final product?

no heat just the door closed with the light on

 

[Elmo Peach]

no heat just the door closed with the light on

because f the way the rice is fermented I did not take a SG reading it is a thick mass not a liquid.

 

[bracconiere]

because f the way the rice is fermented I did not take a SG reading it is a thick mass not a liquid.

i know that, but now it's a liquid? because you pressed it right? i wish i knew when i was trying to make sake back in 2008 i knew comparing a refrac and hydro reading would give me a good guesstimate at ABV, to see if it was working at all....

 

[scotch_neat71]

Hello from Barrie!

I have a sake/rice wine recipe that I've made a couple of times now and enjoy. The problem is, is that there is no liquid at the beginning, just rice and yeast leaven, so I don't know how to get a gravity reading. Is there a "standard" gravity for cooked rice? I'm beginning to consider smearing a grain across my refractometer... .

Thanks very much.
Stephen