Xiāng is a Chinese style Rice Spirit Distillers Recipe Kit. Inside you will find all the ingredients and guidance you need to easily mix, make, ferment and distill a nice and clean Rice Spirit. Xiāng uses 100% Pure Australian Medium Grain Calrose Rice as the base ingredient and an authentic Angel Leaven (yellow label angel yeast) widely used in China and across Asia for making Rice Wines and Liquors. If you are a fan of high quality pure Chinese Rice Spirit you will enjoy Xiāng and her sweet fragrant aroma and pure taste! Well, what are you waiting for? Mix, Ferment and Distil Happiness and remember to always distil safely and enjoy responsibly!
Ganbei | Cheers!
Targets:
- SG Target: 1.051
- FG Target: 1.000
- Wash ABV: 6-8%
- Target Final Spirit ABW: 40% ABV
- Batch: 21L Wash
Fermentables:
Aids:
- Koji Starter | Aspergillus Oryzae | Amazake 20g
- Still Spirits | Yeast Nutrient Light 60g
- Still Spirits | Turbo Clear 130g
Recommended Equipment (Not Included in Kit):
Make Koji Starter
- Sterilise all equipment with alcohol or vinegar.
- Soak rice in water for 12-24 hours.
- Steam 2kg of rice until cooked (Do Not use rice cooker, as rice will be too soggy).
- Sprinkle 3g of Koji Starter over cooled rice and mix thoroughly.
- Ideally keep in a warm humid environment until fermentation begins (approx. 24 hours at 35-38℃).
- Keep Koji moist using a damp cloth.
- Keep temperature under 40℃, breaking up and mixing Koji if needed.
- After 50 hours the Koji should start to give off sweet chestnut smell, it is now ready to use or store. Can be stored in freezer for up to 3 months.
- Healthy Koji should have lost its opaqueness and white on the surface. When not mixed it should be packed into blocks and taste sweet.
Make Rice Spirit:
- Steam the remaining 5kg of rice. Once cooked allow the rice to cool to room temp before mixing in the 2kg of Koji you prepared earlier.
- Add the Koji / Rice mixture to your fermenter (recommended to use a BIAB) and top up with 23L of water - you should end up with approx. 28L of total solids and liquid in your fermenter.
- Rehydrate 5g of LALVIN | EC-1118 yeast by dissolving the sachet in 50ml of 30-37℃ Water. Leave standing for 10-20 minutes before pitching into your fermenter.
- Hold temp between 15-25℃ the lower the temp the longer the fermentation the better the end result. (recommended 16-18℃ for 3 week fermentation)
-
Regularly aerate the wash for the first couple of days and perform a staggered yeast nutrient on days 2, 3 and 5 (20g of Still Spirits | Light Yeast Nutrient).
- When FG reaches 1.000 and fermentation has stopped cold crash for 24-48 hours to let yeast and Koji settle at the bottom and top.
- Syphon out or filter out the liquid, avoiding the Koji rice and yeast deposits floating at the top and bottom of the liquid.
- Stir the wash vigorously to remove all of the gas. Once degassed, add the contents of Part A of the Still Spirits | Turbo Clear and stir well, then leave to stand for 1 hour.
- Part B: After 1 hour, slowly pour Part B of the Still Spirits | Turbo Clear evenly over the top of the wash while carefully stirring the top surface of the wash only to help spread it evenly. Do not stir vigorously as this will disrupt the clearing process. Leave to clear for 24 hours. During this time Part B will drop down from the top, taking all unwanted yeast and sediment with it to the bottom.
- Syphon out into still avoiding the floating solids as much as possible to avoid burning during the distillation. Alternatively filter out the liquid.
- Syphon liquid into your still, recommended using a reflux column still. Complete a stripping run suggested to collect low wines down to 5-10%. Discard the first 50ml (fore-shots).
- Complete a spirit run making cuts to blend to taste separating the head, hearts and tails
- Blend the cuts to your taste and dilute down to 40% abv.
Further Reading and Watching and Knowledge Sources:
How to use Angel Leaven (Yellow Label Yeast) Correctly
Rice & Easy: Extract Brewing for Maximum Crispness
Improve Your Mead with Staggered Nutrient Additions | American Homebrewers Assn