Making Traditional rice Wine. Cheap, Fun, and Different

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I'm laughing because one of the ancient recipes I searched warned against women who were "at their time" being allowed around the yeast or the brewing.
 
Ok so I soaked the sweet rice for a few hours, over cooked it, added more water and the yeast. Didn't touch it for 20 days.
Sweet mother of pearl. Opened it today to pasteurize and add my flavors, is so freaking good.
Only reason I thought about fruit to flavor I thought it wasn't going to be good. Its so tasty.
Oh I got mango, Asian pear, and lycee to flavor it. I may have spelled lycee wrong but sound it out you'll be good.
 
Just harvested latest batch today. Flavored with POM brand pomegranate/blueberry juice. It is so good, I may just go lock myself in a room and not come out until its gone...

LBrw.jpg
 
So I stopped at another Asian grocery today and found that they were Vietnamese. They had this yeast and I bought a few and will be trying to use this type to make the wine. The owner translated the directions for me and laughed saying he had no idea it was so simple. It is the same basic process we all have been doing with the Chinese yeast balls. These yeast balls are about the size of a penny. They also sold the pudding made from the leftover rice. He said use to use 1 package per kilo of rice.

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After experimenting with several different flavors I have to declare that pomegranate is the absolute best flavoring for rice wine. Something about the flavor pairs perfectly with rice wine and makes it smooth and delicious.
 
TBBrewer said:
So I stopped at another Asian grocery today and found that they were Vietnamese. They had this yeast and I bought a few and will be trying to use this type to make the wine. The owner translated the directions for me and laughed saying he had no idea it was so simple. It is the same basic process we all have been doing with the Chinese yeast balls. These yeast balls are about the size of a penny. They also sold the pudding made from the leftover rice. He said use to use 1 package per kilo of rice.
Click to expand...

I use that exact kind. Been using one per cup dried rice with great success
 
sonofgrok said:
Just harvested latest batch today. Flavored with POM brand pomegranate/blueberry juice. It is so good, I may just go lock myself in a room and not come out until its gone...
Click to expand...

I was thinking about doing that. Maybe my next batch will be a sparkling POM wine.
 
I just started a batch with the small yeast balls I got from the Vietnamese store. I yeast balls to 5 cups of rice. I will post the progress.
 
Been reading this thread for a while and am happy to finally be participating, both here and with the rice wine! It took a week to find a chinamart where I could find yeast balls. I apparently don't know how to steam rice well. I threw together a ghetto double boiler and let it sit above the boiling water for 45 minutes. The rice (thai jasmine, 5 cups) seemed really dry, but I went ahead with it. I threw in 6 yeast balls just to be safe.

Thanks for starting this thread sonofgrok. I'm excited to see how my rice wine turns out!
 
Jhickman55 said:
Been reading this thread for a while and am happy to finally be participating, both here and with the rice wine! It took a week to find a chinamart where I could find yeast balls. I apparently don't know how to steam rice well. I threw together a ghetto double boiler and let it sit above the boiling water for 45 minutes. The rice (thai jasmine, 5 cups) seemed really dry, but I went ahead with it. I threw in 6 yeast balls just to be safe.

Thanks for starting this thread sonofgrok. I'm excited to see how my rice wine turns out!
Click to expand...

Hopefully your rice works out! I seriously probably couldn't cook rice without a rice cooker. lol
 
I just cook my rice on the stove top like a normal batch of rice. Add rice and water, bring to a boil, cover and turn heat to low, simmer for approximately 15 minutes. Works fine for me.
I think I'm going to stop soaking beforehand, though. The next batch I'm just going to rinse and cook.
 
sonofgrok said:
That is all I do these days.
Click to expand...

My first batch didn't turn out sweet or strong at all. Just dry and tart. I'm thinking this may have something to do with more water in the rice from soaking. I could be wrong.
But I don't mind sacrificing some finished volume if it will turn out stronger and a little sweeter.
 
Ostomo517 said:
1 for 5 cups of rice?
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I suspect it's a typo bit would be great experiment to see how much is really needed
I have the larger balls with red writing and use 2 balls for 5 cups
 
Ostomo517 said:
(Chuckle)

Yes I am that immature. Dont judge me.

I guess it depends because there are large ones and small as one gram ones. (What I use)
Click to expand...

Teed it up for ya!! I was expecting someone to comment on my ball size

A red sharpie works well for the writing but make sure your rice is cooled enough first bwahaha
 
sonofgrok said:
Hopefully your rice works out! I seriously probably couldn't cook rice without a rice cooker. lol
Click to expand...
Me either. :D



Hmm, I'm not sure that doing a minimal rice yeast ball content to rice ratio experiment would actually be all that helpful. I would think the variance between brands would make the resulting data practically useless.

I've been using 1 rice yeast ball to 1.5 cups of dry rice. There are 12 in a package, and the package is 4 oz so 1/3 of an ounce. That comes out to about 9.35 grams. I have the big balls with the red writing on them too.
 
Any idea what would happen if yeast were mixed with uncooked rice? Would the yeast still be able to find the sugar? Or is that unlocked by cooking it?
 
WesleyS said:
I just cook my rice on the stove top like a normal batch of rice. Add rice and water, bring to a boil, cover and turn heat to low, simmer for approximately 15 minutes. Works fine for me.
I think I'm going to stop soaking beforehand, though. The next batch I'm just going to rinse and cook.
Click to expand...

I think I'll cook it how I usually do rice the next time, a lot like your method.
 
Jhickman55 said:
Any idea what would happen if yeast were mixed with uncooked rice? Would the yeast still be able to find the sugar? Or is that unlocked by cooking it?
Click to expand...
Hmm, not sure. I think the amylase would have a hard time getting to the starch without the water absorbed by the rice during the cooking. The gelatinization of the starch probably helps with the conversion too.
 
Just found an extra rice cooker in the pantry (oh the joys of owning a house and collecting way too much *&%^ over the years). 2 rice cookers = 2 batches started today FTW :rockin:
 

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