*Originally published in 2015
Recently a farmer from Jagheung County donated some of his rice with request that it be made into makgeolli. His artfully grown rice comes in two varieties, three grain and five grain. Usually his rice sells for 20,000 per kilo so it was a delight that he was able to donate it.
Since this rice still has it's rough outer hull instead of steaming the rice whole it was ground up and made into a juk, or porridge instead. This would break up the protein-rich hull so the amylase from the nuruk's fungi could get to the starchy endosperm. The rice was also soaked overnight, longer than I normally do, to kick the rice into gear and get them to release some of their own amylases.
After the nuruk was added the brew was allowed to incubate for about 2 days. Here additional steamed rice was added to feed the little yeasties right when they were at their peak phase of growth. Makgeolli is often made in this multistage process where more rice is added while the brew is fermenting. If you add rice a second time after pitching the brew is known as an iyangju 이양주. If you add rice a third time then you have a samyangju 삼양주. If you only add rice one time it’s a danyangju 단양주. This recipe is an iyangju 이양주 recipe.
The farmer said he really enjoyed the result. It was a very sweet recipe that retained the character of the five and three grain rice. If you want to try using some whole grain rice in your brewing try your hand at this recipe and let me know how the results tastes.
Materials:
First Stage
- 0.95L water
- 100g nuruk
- 0.18g 3 grain or 5 grain rice
Second Stage
-0.9g brown rice or chapssal
Procedure:
First Stage
Ground rice preparation
Soak 0.18 kg of the 3 grain and 5 grain rice overnight.
Drain the rice for 30 minutes.
Grind the rice.
Make a porridge or juk
Add water and ground rice to a sauce pan.
Apply heat and constantly stir until thick and porridge like.
Allow to cool to 20-25 deg C.
Mix in nuruk.
Allow to incubate about 2 days stirring twice a day.
Second Stage (about 2 days later)
Make Steamed rice (See godubap procedure)
Allow rice to cool.
Add to the porridge from the first stage.
Allow to incubate until complete. (no need to stir during incubation on the second stage)