The Starter (Shubo/Moto)

The procedure was to grow the koji, then add all of the ingredients for the starter, as measured in recipe. I measured out the weight of the rice dry, expecting that I would have extra koji left over, just to be safe. I measured out 3 bags of rice at about 160 grams, since soaking in water would add more weight later. (We need 163.29g of koji for the starter).

For the two Jiu's I used Long-grain glutinous rice (for the starter only), and for the Sake I used milled sushi rice (Hitomebore [Love at First Sight], grown in California).

The Rice for the Jiu was grown in Thailand and actually was past its expiration date. But, it smelled fine and I bet that the microbes don't really mind. But, I would recommend using short-grain glutinous (sweet/mochi rice) as opposed to long-grain, if you are going to not use a sushi or sake rice. Sushi rice is easier to deal with because it is less sticky. But I am wondering how the different amalose/amylopectin ratios will affect the quality.

 

Here is some clean rice. I always feel bad about how much water is used to make sake. I estimate that over 200 gallons are used to make 3-4 gallons of sake (including water to wash rice, dishes, sanatize, boil, etc.), while mead probaly takes about 15 gallons to produce 4.5 gallons of mead. It is pretty amazing how labor and water intensive sake/jiu making is.

 

Steaming the rice. Make sure to have a pot with a tight fitting lid! Later on in the process, I didn't have a large pot with a lid, so I covered the pots with towels to hold in some steam. This is not only a fire hazard, but also leads to understeamed rice. Keep your flame at a decent heat to really let the steam permeate. Towards the end, we are cooking a lot of rice at once and you don't want the inside to be uncooked (which happened to me, but we'll see what the consequences of brewing uncooked rice are... later).

 

After steaming, I cooled the rice on a sanatized stainless steel surface and then sprinkled on some koji dust from http://www.tibbs-vision.com/sake/

I'm fairly convinced that the koji dust that they sell as the

Here is my koji in the incubator at 30°C/86°F. If this seems like a small amount, you're right. I prepared koji twice during this brew.

Prelude: The original Lotus Jiu recipe

below is my (not quite) original and unaltered recipe. things have changed (a lot) since then. for example, there is no longer any need for an igloo. this is my own original recipe, but it is based (heavily) on two recipes by Fred Eckhardt and Bob Taylor. Without further adieu:

“Chinese Fusion Style Lotus-Infused Clear Rice Wine”

 

Notes:

Lotus symbolism- Purity, enlightenment, divinity, softness, fragrance, union.

End product- Clear Huang Jiu (Yellow Rice Wine, Chinese)

 

http://homebrewsake.com/recipe/

Recipe multiplied by 1.44 to fill a plastic fermentation pail to the limit, headspace (kind of) considered.

Recipe modified to utilize a partially wild fermented starter, as per http://www.taylor-madeak.org/index.php

 

Glutinous (sticky) rice has high amylopectin and low/no amylose, making it very sticky. Because it lacks amylose, it may not hold its structure as well as other rice grains, possibly becoming a mush. It may be long grain or short grain. It can be labeled as glutinous, sweet, or mochi rice. Glutinous rice is brewed more commonly in China.

Sticky rice wrapped in lotus leaves is a traditional Chinese food (zongzi). Lotus leaf contains nuciferine and is used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat dizziness, fever, etc. It is slightly bitter.

 

Total Ingredients:

Yield: 2-3 gallon

Glutinous Rice: 6531.7g DRY (14.4 lbs)

Koji: 1632.9g WET (3.6 lbs)

Water: 10901.9 ml Reverse osmosis water (2.88 gal)

 

Yeast Nutrient: 5.76g

Epsom Salt (MgSO4): 1.00g

Morton Salt Substitute (KCl): 8.64g

NO LACTIC ACID ADDITION

 

Yeast: Sake #9- Wyeast 4134

 

Other:

Lotus leaves (Dry)

 

Table 1

Summary of Additions (Percents and Mass)

 

	Starter		First Addition		Second Add		Third Add		Final Adjustment
Rice	7.50%	489.87g	12.5	816.46g	30	1959.51g	50	3265.85g
Koji	10	163.29g	20	326.58g	30	489.87g	40	653.16
Water	7.8	850.35g	8.3	904.86g	27.6	3008.92g	56.3	6137.77
Nutrient	100	5.76g
MgSO4	100	1.00g
KCl	20	1.73g	80	6.91g

 

Rice Procedure:

(subject to change)

 

Rinse rice with cold tap water a lot. Until water runs “clear.”

Soak rice in refrigerator for 1 hour in water, tap is fine.

Drain rice 1 hour.

Rinse lotus leaves. Boil lotus leaves. Soak in hot water for 1 hour.

Wrap the rice in portioned cones of lotus leaf. Close with string.

Steam/pressure cook rice on/in lotus leaf for 1-1.5 hours.

Let cool on clean counter, and/or cool with water addition.

Discard lotus leaf.

Use a sterile tool to help separate grains a little/ stir things together.

 

Koji Making:

Koji is approximately 25-30% water by weight

(Below recipe makes 10% extra, water weight considered at 25%)

 

1347.1g DRY glutinous rice. Steam/process.

Inoculate with dry powdered Aspergillus oryzae.

Mix well after inoculation, at 24 hours, and at 48 hours/ before storage.

Incubate Koji 86-96*F for 48 hours. Beware of thermal death at around 104*F.

Consider that Koji will also generate its own heat.

Store in the coldest part of the refrigerator.

 

Starter (up to 14 days):

The construction of Bob Taylor's wild fermented starter seems a bit esoteric... but I will try to follow the directions, but... with some modifications. The number of days may be reduced if temperatures are high.

 

Day 0

This will be fermented in a glass container that it is easy to refrigerate and has a wide mouth. Sanitize.

Remember to protect the fermentation from light.

 

Day 1

Combine water, yeast nutrient, MgSO4 and KCl. Cover and refrigerate. (Do this first, so it's cold)

Prepare glutinous rice. Add rice to cold water to bring the mixture to about 70-75*F.

Add koji. Combine. Cover loosely with paper towel or aluminum foil.

Stir two times throughout the rest of the day with sanitized tool.

 

Day 2

Stir two times throughout the day.

Maintain room temperature.

 

Day 3

Remove yeast from refrigerator. Activate yeast packet. (3-5 hours)

Pour yeast into starter.

Refrigerate starter for 12 hours.

Return starter to room temperature. Stir with sanitized spoon.

 

Day 4-6

Stir two times throughout the day.

Maintain room temperature.

 

Day 7-9

Stir once daily.

Maintain room temperature.

 

Day 10-14

Refrigerate and let rest.

Sanitize bucket, stir stick, lid, airlock.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Main Additions:

 

Day 1 (First Addition)

Prepare glutinous rice. Add rice to water to cool it down.

Add all first addition ingredients into fermenter.

Add full contents of starter.

Carefully, put the fermenter into a cold water bath.

Cover loosely with lid. Stir every four hours.

 

Day 2

Stir twice daily. Still not airtight.

 

Day 3 (Second Addition)

Prepare glutinous rice.

Remove from water bath.

Add second addition ingredients after cooling the rice with the water.

Carefully, replace into water bath.

Stir twice daily. Still not airtight.

 

Day 4 (Third Addition)

Do in batches if necessary. Beware of overflow.

 

Prepare glutinous rice.

Remove from water bath.

Add third addition ingredients after cooling the rice with the water.

Take hydrometer reading.

Stir twice daily. Then seal at night.

 

*[next steps very subject to change]*

VERY CAREFULLY, bring outside (winter). Cover with newspaper or cardboard box to protect from light and help to regulate temperature.

 

Plan and build an igloo or small quinzhee. Make sure the airlock does not freeze. Wrap it with lots of insulation. Protect from light, bugs, bears, and college students.

 

Primary Fermentation:

 

Next 18-30 days

Ferment outdoors, protected from light. Aiming for 40-55*F. Be careful that airlock doesn't dry out or freeze.

 

Final Adjustment (2 days before next step):

 

Add steamed rice to sweeten and balance sourness. Wait two days and then rack.

 

Buy bottles (screwtop) in the near future.

 

 

Secondary Fermentation (7-10 days):

 

Sanitize secondary fermenter. Cover with cheese cloth or pour through a grain steeping bag. Carefully pour the brew into the secondary, reduce splashing. Allow the rice dregs to drip for at least a half hour in cold outdoor weather, preferably in an igloo. Squeezing is okay- there will be more filtration. Use a wine press if possible. Keep cold.

 

Tertiary Fermentation and Fining (3-5 days):

 

Sanitize tertiary fermenter and auto-siphon.

 

Carefully siphon the brew into the tertiary. Scoop out the lees and allow the rice dregs to drip (through doubled cheese cloth) for at least a half hour in cold outdoor weather. Do not squeeze- let gravity do it. Keep cold.

 

Fine with a fining agent. Let rest on an elevated stoop or table so it doesn't need to be moved for racking again.

 

Pasteurization and Bottling (Finale):

 

Sanitize bottles, lids, large pot, auto-siphon.

 

Siphon the fined huang jiu into the brew pot. Bring it to 140-143*F and keep it there for at least 5 minutes. Do not go higher. Stir out all of the bubbles. Leave no survivors.

 

Cover pot and put into ice bath. When the temperature is reduced to something manageable, siphon into bottles. Cap the bottles and proceed to chill the bottles and refrigerate.

 

Label bottles, after making sure everything has been thoroughly chilled. Use a weak glue/ peelable adhesive. Casein glue? Water based?

 

Possible addition of a lotus root + lotus seed extract?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Mushroom Man

I grew some mushrooms out of a t-shirt and wore it around campus...

 

test222222

testing testing twizzler twizzler

Summertime Brews

I've got about 19 gallons going in my (parent's) basement right now. Here we go with brew #1:

Bigfoot Barleywine

6-12-2010

6# Gold Liquid Malt Extract (LME)

6# Amber LME

8 oz. Carapils Specialty grains

8 oz. Caramel 40L Specialty grains

(Steeped 30 minutes then rinsed with cold tap water)

1 oz Chinook hops (55 min)

0.5 oz. Chinook (28 min)

0.5 oz. Centennial hops(15 min)

0.5 oz. Centennial (2 min)

2 oz. Cascade hops (2 min)

American Ale Activator Wyeast ACT1056

Water bath to chill brew pots (3 small pots, because big pots don't fit under our big ass microwave). Filled to 5 gal mark with cold, non-sterile tap water (well water). Stirred with paddle for 7 minutes to oxygenate. Will age 1 year. Our tap water is generally good for drinking, so I wanted to try using it straight up.

July 5^th:

Racked into secondary bucket. Pitched 1 packet of dry Red Star Pasteur Champagne yeast. Did not rehydrate yeast. Did not stir in. Included minimal amount of yeast dregs from the primary. Appearance is still cloudy and somewhat darkish.

Brew 2:

“Liquid Sex” Chocolate Mead

6-13-2010

Day 1:

20-22# Walgreen's Honey

2# Hershey Cocoa Powder

1 tbsp Yeast Nutrient

1 packet Lalvin D-47

Filled to 6 gal with cold well water, from the tap.

Yeast was hydrated and started with a couple tablespoons of honey in a mug. Cocoa was dissolved in slightly warm water, broken up, and brought to a boil over low-medium heat, with frequent stirring. This was quite a lot of cocoa- I wonder if it will ever mellow out. Plan to age for 2 years, which is why I am brewing the extra gallon. I am going to add 2# of honey in the near future.

Day 2:

~1 tsp Yeast nutrient dissolved in a small amount of hot water

Opened up the fermenter and stirred for about 5 minutes to give the yeast some more oxygen. Then I poured in the nutrient and stirred for another minute. This degassed the must and incorporated more oxygen for the yeast, which are bubbling faster already.

Day 3:

~1 tsp Yeast Nutrient dissolved in a small amount of hot water

Aerated then stirred in the nutrient, as before. I licked my stir paddle. The taste was highly chocolatey. Very “Hershey's” flavor. Very sweet, lots of honey.

Day 4: Stirred.

June 30^th: Added 2# honey and stirred well. Still a little bubbly, but definitely not as active. It looks like it will ferment (I was worried that the yeast may have already hit its alcohol tolerance). Taste is still good. Chocolate is huge.

The next three brews have no pictures, but here they are anyway. Brew 3:

Ginger + Star Anise Mead

6-20-2010

>1 gal batch

3# honey

½ packet 71B Yeast

Half star anise

Small piece of ginger cut into smallish bits

Ginger and star anise were covered in almost boiling water, which was allowed to cool. Then honey and water was added and shaken.

Day 3: Swirled in the bottle.

Brew 4:

Base Mead

6-20-2010

>1 gal batch

3# Honey

½ packet 71 B Yeast

The same process as the Ginger + Star Anise Mead, minus the hot water and spices. I plan to rack this onto blueberries and put in a few drops of blueberry extract.

Day 3: Swirled in the bottle.

Brew 5:

Chocolate Oatmeal Stout

6-20-2010

6 gallons

9.3# Dark Liquid Malt Extract

1# Victory (steeped 30 min)

1# Chocolate Malt (steeped 30 min)

10 cups Quick Oats (steeped 30 minutes, twice)

1 oz Goldings Hops (52 min)

.7 oz Goldings (28 min)

Tiny pinch of Irish moss

.3 oz Goldings (flamout)

Irish Ale Yeast. Wyeast 1056

This was a fuck up (edit: nah, not completely). Hopefully it will survive. It was in the microbial-danger-zone for like an hour because my wort wouldn't cool fast enough. So I stuck water bottles filled with ice in it, after spraying them with Oust. I pitched the yeast while the wort was still hot/warm and may have killed the yeast.

Day 3:

The yeast is alive, but probably produced off flavors due to the high heat. Bubbling is fine. Formed a strong tan-deer-brown head. Appears chocolate colored. Stirred for a few minutes. Taste was bitter chocolate and lots of coffee. I moved the brew bucket into a pot of water to help lower/regulate the temperature.

Day 4:

A bit bubbled out of the airlock, so I cleaned it up and changed airlocks.

And that's that.
-yip

Brewing Sake: Reflections & Kuchikami no Sake

The first sake I brewed was "Kuchi Kami no Sake," literally meaning mouth-chewed sake.

I learned about Kuchikami from videos by Beau Timken (Sake Master), Moyashimon (anime), and from my research going into sake and its history.

(moyashimon microbes)

So, anyways, the first thing I did was brush my teeth. Then, I walked into my college dinning commons got big plates of long-grain brown rice. I chewed it until it was a goopy consistency and let it fall out of my mouth (it's pretty difficult to spit). This takes a surprisingly long time. I felt so full afterwords...

But, I did this a couple times to simulate "feeding" my sake, like a mother bird in the nest with her young. It didn't seem to be bubbling readily, so I added a small piece of bread. This was in an open-topped (just a paper towel), wide-mouth, plastic container.

After that it did begin to bubble. I stirred it with a knife occasionally. When it bubbled, it rose a lot because it was so thick and the bubbles would get trapped by the rice. This is why I was so worried about overflow in my sake, which ALMOST overflowed (it kissed the top of the bucket).

Anyway, I let the kuchikami sit out at room temperature for a couple weeks. Then I started to move it in and out of the refrigerator. Finally, I just let it sit at room temperature for a few days.

I knew it would be bad. I took it and squatted down in front of a toilet with a spoon. This time I really did end up spitting it out, rinsing, using mouth wash, brushing my teeth, and spitting some more.

Taste:
It was soo sour. It was unbearable. I think that the lactobacillus spp. and acetobacter spp. (and some other wild microbes) were probably having a party in there, munching on my munched rice.

One of my unfulfilled goals is to take this traditional method and use a yeast starter, airlock, and temperature control to produce a "good" kuchikami no sake, but I don't know who'd drink it.

Importantly, doing this introduced me to shear amount of labor needed to produce sake.

My finished koji-fermented sake probably took like 50+ hours worth of labor.

Brewing Sake: Resources

Great sites on the process:
http://www.taylor-madeak.org/index.php
http://homebrewsake.com/recipe/
http://kyotofoodie.com/sake-learning-to-make-sake-at-kitagawa-honke-sake-brewery-in-fushimi-kyoto-part-1/
http://www.kikusui-sake.com/home/en_s_1.html

Koji making:
http://www.taylor-madeak.org/index.php/2008/10/17/growing-koji-for-homebrewing-sake

The Chemistry (oh baby!):
http://www.brewery.org/library/sake/cover.htm