Chinese Rice Wine / Beer

[ChristinaS1]

Hi folks,

 

Has anyone else made this? I am currently making my first batch, as per this epic thread:

 

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=361095

 

There are only two ingredients: steamed sticky rice (sweet/glutinous, Jasmine, or sushi) and Chinese yeast balls. Just mix the two together and forget about it for one month. Brewday, from cooking of the rice to "pitching," took about 1.25hours.

 

Chinese yeast balls are dried dough balls impregnated with mould, yeast, and bacteria. The mould release alpha amylase which break down amylopectin (starch) into sugar, which is then fermented by the yeast. Do it in a glass jar (but keep it in the dark) so you can watch the mould do their thing. It is fascinating. Mashing with mould instead of heat.

 

Can't wait to taste it. They say it is delicious, and around 20% ABV; I suppose that is why they call it wine, but it is made from grain, so technically it is beer.

 

Cheers,

 

Christina.

[ben 10]

Nuts.

From where did you get the yeast balls?

 

I love the way you like to just do whatever and tell us about it.

[ChristinaS1]

Nuts.

From where did you get the yeast balls?

 

I love the way you like to just do whatever and tell us about it.

 

Hey Ben' date=' I figured if anyone responded to this thread, it would be you! [img']lol[/img]

 

I got the yeast balls at a tiny, local Asian grocery store, more of a convenience store really. The city I live in is not very big, and it is the only Asian store, so I was lucky they had them. Are you going to try making some Ben? I understand that the hardest thing about making Chinese rice wine is finding the yeast balls. Some folks resort to ordering them online.

 

Initially I covered the jars with two layers of cheese cloth, as it needs a lot of oxygen the first couple of days. Unfortunately, when I went to swap the cheese cloth for cling wrap, I found fruit flies in two of the three jars. Ugh! Those little bastards! Next time I will use paper towel or thin cloth. I am going to let it carry on fermenting, as I have nothing to loose, but I will put on another batch soon, just in case those two jars end up turning to vinegar. It might be okay as there isn't much moisture in there, and the temp is just 18C, which is an inhospitable environment for vinegar bacteria.

 

I made my first batch with 1kg sweet rice, but I will use 600gm rice for the second, probably a combo of sweet and Jasmine rice. Apparently both are good, but Jasmine is less sweet, more tart, and lower alcohol / less fermentable.

 

There is a little bit of moisture on the bottom of my sweet rice jars today. I think I under-pitched a bit, especially since my ambient temp is only 18C, so I kind doubt my wine will be ready in one month. Am keeping my fingers crossed it will be ready at Christmas, because it would be something interesting to share.

 

Cheers,

 

Christina.

 

[ben 10]

Yeah, I'd give it a go for sure.

I may be able to find them next time I go to Cairns, heaps of Asian shops down there.

[ChristinaS1]

Just an update. My first and second batches, which were just steamed rice, no water, are creeping along: there is about 2cm of clear fluid in the bottom of these jars; this would likely ferment faster in the summer / warmer temperatures.

 

Meanwhile, I made a third batch in a different way:

 

150gm jasmine rice

350gm sweet rice

500gm chopped dates

1-1/4 tsp tartaric acid (Edit: omit this; it is not necessary)

4L water

3 Chinese yeast balls crushed and pitched at 29.5C, fermented at 21C.

 

Boiled all the ingredients (except the yeast) together for 35 minutes.

 

Actually forgot to document the date I put this on but it was something like November 16. This is behaving very differently than the rice only batches. After a few days the porridge became more slimy, and soupy looking. About eight days post pitch the surface bubbled like crazy for two days. Waited a few more days and then strained through a sieve and racked to secondary today. It has a delightful fruity smell; the taste is mildly tart, from the lactic acid bacteria and tartaric acid. I was not sure what to expect, but this is delicious. Very refreshing.

 

Putting it in the cold cellar for a few days for it to clear, before drinking.

 

The Brewer's Friend calculator indicates the ingredients should have produced an OG of 1.061, but there was no way to measure it. I have no idea what the attenuation will be. I am guessing the max possible ABV is ~8%.

 

Cheers,

 

Christina.

 

[Phoenix76]

Tell you what Christina, Ben is not the only one likely to try some of your "different" recipes. I love the idea of trying something different. But my friend, 20%ABV? Well i don't mind getting tipsy, ok, drunk, but after a few of those over the festive season, I would quite mellow.

 

Might research this a bit more and then have a go at it. Doesn't matter to me whether it's Christmas or middle of winter, remember I'm on the other side of the world, so Chrissy is generally hot, and July is bloody cold.

 

Cheers Christina

Bill

[ChristinaS1]

Tell you what Christina' date=' Ben is not the only one likely to try some of your "different" recipes. I love the idea of trying something different. But my friend, 20%ABV? Well i don't mind getting tipsy, ok, drunk, but after a few of those over the festive season, I would quite mellow.

 

Might research this a bit more and then have a go at it. Doesn't matter to me whether it's Christmas or middle of winter, remember I'm on the other side of the world, so Chrissy is generally hot, and July is bloody cold.

 

Cheers Christina

Bill[/quote']

 

Cool Bill. From a fermentation perspective, summer is probably a better time of year to be making traditional Chinese Rice Wine anyway. As I understand it, the moulds in the yeast balls like it pretty warm, so yours will probably ferment a lot faster than mine. Put on a batch now and yours might even be done before mine!

 

Some people use a rice cooker to cook the rice, and some a bamboo steamer. Both methods seem to work. If you have a rice cooker, go ahead and use it. I don't own a rice cooker or a bamboo steamer so I used a colander lined with cheese cloth, with a lid / cover, over a pot of boiling water. Worked just fine, but before cooking I soaked my rice overnight.

 

Cheers,

 

Christina.

[ben 10]

But my friend' date=' 20%ABV? Well i don't mind getting tipsy, ok, drunk, but after a few of those over the festive season, I would quite mellow.

[/quote']

 

Had some Sake on the weekend with sashimi... oh my, how amazing to drink!

[Phoenix76]

Ah Ben, my friend you sound as hopeless as I am when it comes to incohol, is that how you spell it?

[ChristinaS1]

Traditional Chinese Rice wine and Sake are very different. Whereas TCRW is dead simple, Sake requires sequential rice and water additions over a period of days. Nothing an all grainer couldn't handle though!

 

https://byo.com/body/item/1699-making-sake

 

Wyeast 4134 is Sake yeast, but it doesn't come with the necessary mould (koji). Apparently you have to get that at an Asian grocer, one that caters to Japanese customers. I imagine that in a lot of places koji would be more difficult to find than Chinese yeast balls.

 

Cheers,

 

Christina.

 

 

 

[ChristinaS1]

I made a third batch in a different way:

 

150gm jasmine rice

350gm sweet rice

500gm chopped dates

1-1/4 tsp tartaric acid

4L water

3 Chinese yeast balls crushed and pitched at 29.5C' date=' fermented at 21C.

 

Boiled all the ingredients (except the yeast) together for 35 minutes.

 

Actually forgot to document the date I put this on but it was something like November 16. This is behaving very differently than the rice only batches. After a few days the porridge became more slimy, and soupy looking. About eight days post pitch the surface bubbled like crazy for two days. Waited a few more days and then strained through a sieve and racked to secondary today. It has a delightful fruity smell; the taste is mildly tart, from the lactic acid bacteria and tartaric acid. I was not sure what to expect, but this is delicious. Very refreshing.

 

Putting it in the cold cellar for a few days for it to clear, before drinking.

 

The Brewer's Friend calculator indicates the ingredients should have produced an OG of 1.061, but there was no way to measure it. I have no idea what the attenuation will be. I am guessing the max possible ABV is ~8%.

 

Cheers,

 

Christina.

[/quote']

 

Update. Just tested this and it is now tasting quite tart and testing pH 3.13; 0.7% TA as tartaric, and 7% ABV. In retrospect I probably did not need to add the tartaric acid; the lactic acid produced by the LAB in the Chinese yeast ball probably would have been sufficient. I will omit it next time. I think this will be tasty mixed with some fruit juice in the glass.

 

Cheers,

 

Christina.

[The Captain!!]

Just saw this thread,

Christina, that’s amazing and cool as. Love that you’ll give anything a crack.

 

Cheers,

Kirk

[ChristinaS1]

Update. I just harvested my first batch of traditional Chinese rice wine, the one with only rice. It didn't look like it was finished yet --this should probably be made in summer, not the depths of Canadian winter-- but I got tired of waiting and wanted to try it.

 

This batch is viscous, sweet (maybe because it is not be fully fermented), and tastes like pineapple. It is delicious. I like this a lot better than the batch I made with dates, which had a slight bitter undertone to it. I am not sure where that bitterness came from....Some traditional recipes, and sake recipes, say that the rice needs to rinsed numerous times before steaming, until the water is clear, while more modern recipes say that is not necessary. I don't think I rinsed the rice for the batch with dates, so maybe that is it? Just in case, in future I will be careful to rinse the rice until the water is clear.

 

The yield was very low, and again, that might be because it wasn't finished. I will be making another batch in the summer and will be curious to compare.

 

Next time I will line the jar with cheese cloth, to make removing the rice and squeezing out the wine easier.

 

Cheers,

 

Christina.