Cool, thanks Newsman.
General question for anyone on this thread: I've read that some have beaten the yeast balls down for use in the rice wine. I assume some are using a hammer. Being that these little beasties are a living organism, aren't you crushing and killing a portion of them?
Just a thought,
They are microscopic. There are literally millions in there. You can grind, pound, smash etc. and still have plenty of viable cells to ferment with with no worries.