brewing

KEN&#39;S QUICK MEAD

Water

raw honey

Orange

ginger fresh grated

acid blend

5 gram packet Lavlin 1116 yeast

Traditional Makgeolli (Korean Rice Wine) recipe that you can successfully brew at home with no special equipment. Ready in 10 to 14 days. Yields 5 to 6 cups.

Makgeolli (Korean Rice Wine)

kg sweet rice ((glutinous rice))

Nuruk starter (3/4 cup is about 95 g)

water

tsp yeast ((optional))

Tbsp sugar

Make Dry Rice (Godubap 고두밥) - Wash rice a few times in cool water until the water runs pretty clear. In the old classic Korean cookbooks, it says to wash 100 times but I&#039;m sure the rice was also not as clean as now. 😂 I think I wash about 5 times or so.

Soak rice in water for 2 hours for sweet rice, 3 hrs for short-grain rice and overnight for brown rice. You can soak longer (even up to 3 days) but change water after 8 hrs.

Drain rice in a colander for 30 - 45 min. Just completely remove any excess water.

Steaming - I use a bamboo steamer and line it with a non-stick silicone mesh and lay the rice then steam for 40 minutes or until the amount of steam coming up through the steamer is no longer really visible.

Spread out steamed rice on a tray so it can cool. Cool for 2 hrs or so until it&#039;s not warm to touch.

Prepare Rice (5 hrs before)

Sanitize your container by using soap and water then rinse if it&#039;s a non-porous container like glass or plastic. If you are using porous clay hangari jar or want to be extra safe, pour some strong alcohol like Vodka or Everclear and give it a swirl then discard. Let it dry completely.

Prepare Container

1 hr BEFORE - measure the amount of water you are going to use for Makgeolli. I use filtered water. Bottled water is also good. Add water to your container that you will be brewing in. Use warm water if you want to give it an extra boost. Add nuruk to water and let it soak for 1 hr. Break it up with your hands if you see big chunks of it. NOT a MUST but it helps to get a good start by activating the culture. Pretty similar to putting yeast in warm water first.

Prepare Nuruk (starter) and water

When rice is cooled, add RICE to your Nuruk water mix in your container. Rice should be dry enough that individual grains separate easily from each other.

With your hands, gently mix everything so that they are evenly mixed and there are no big chunks of nuruk left. Try not to smush or break the rice grains. It&#039;s best to leave each rice grain as whole as possible but do try to mix it all well. Because the longer you mix, things get warmed up allowing the yeast and enzymes to get activated. Giving your mash a great start!

Cover the container loosely with the lid and put it in a cool dry dark place for 10-14 days. Initially, you should not see any extra liquid.

Make Makgeolli

DAY 1 - 3: keep the lid loose (as it needs oxygen), mix 2 times a day with a wooden spoon or plastic spatula. On the 1st day, it won&#039;t be easy to mix as there&#039;s very little liquid. But that&#039;s how it should be. You will see more liquid appear in the mix each day.

DAY 1 of Brewing

DAY 4+, up to 10 to 14 days, don&#039;t mix and keep the lid completely closed. But check on the change. In low temps (65℉), it can take up to close to 2 weeks but on the average it should take about 10 days. At higher temps close to 75℉, it may be ready even before 10 days. Rather than just depend simply on the the time, you should closely watch for signs that it is ready and also do a taste test to see when you want to bottle it. Read my tips below on how to check if it&#039;s done.

Day 4+

Once the brewing is complete (or when you want to bottle), we need to filter the Makgeolli. Use a fine linen cloth or mesh filter bag to filter the liquid. The brew is ready to drink immediately but I like to store in the refrigerator for a few days so it can age a little and mellow out even further.

Filter

Optionally, you can dilute the finished Makgeolli by mixing with water (1/2 amount of total wine) and added sugar (about 2 Tbs for 1 batch using 1 kg rice). This will produce a drink similar to ones sold at stores. Less thick and with similar alcohol content of 6% and sweeter flavor. I personally don&#039;t like to do it but you can try a little first and see if you want to do it.

How to dilute (OPTIONAL)

Makgeolli is best when served cold. Normally, you will see sediments at the bottom of the bottle and you can mix it before serving for a milky texture or you can just choose to drink the clearer Cheongju on top (which we kind of like to do - also less calories).

How to serve Makgeolli

Learn How To Make Infused Cold Brew Tea in the comfort of your home without expensive equipment and gadgets to give you various flavored beverages. Pick your favorite teas to cold brew and enjoy making the perfect keto lemonade you admire the most.

How To Make Infused Cold Brew Tea

Room Temperature​ drinking water

Dry Lemon

Dry Berries Leaves

Dry Lavender

Dry Peppermint Leaves

Prepare Ingredients

Prepare all the dry leaves, berries, or herbs you plan to infuse. In our case, it is lemon, peppermint, lavender, and berries. Prepare a clean mason jar with the lid for each of the flavors.

Dry teas into the jar

Place your dry teas into the mason jar or any glass jar. Each of the herbs should have a separate jar. Make sure you have a lid for each. 

Add Water

Once all of the teas are in jars, add drinking water. If tap water is drinkable, it is perfect otherwise, pour bottled water. 

Close and steep

Fully close each jar and start with the steeping, infusing, and cold brewing process. For a bit stronger concentration, keep the jars on the kitchen counter for an hour and place them into the fridge later. Keep in the refrigerator for 8 to 9 hours, best overnight. 

Strain

Once your infused teas are fully cold-brewed, strain each one and store them in clean jars in the fridge for 3 to 4 days.

https://mediavine-res.cloudinary.com/video/upload/vurk5if3m8yvyazqvg4j.mp4

A simple guide to making this homemade Kombucha DIY - including a pomegranate kombucha flavour option - for tangy, fizzy and delicious kombucha every time.

How-to: DIY Homemade Kombucha

brown sugar

glass container big enough

muslin cloth

Begin by sterilising all of your glass containers and utensils by rinsing them with boiling water then drying them in the oven at around 120C, till completely dry.

Begin by preparing your sweetened tea. Put the tea bags and sugar in the glass container. Boil the water and pour in the glass container over the tea and sugar. Stir.

Let the tea steep for 30 minutes, then remove the bags- this is your sweet brewed tea.

Let the tea cool down to room temperature. The liquid needs to be at about 20-25ºC, so the SCOBY can survive in it. When the tea has cooled down, add the Kombucha culture SCOBY along with the starter liquid. Note that it might float at the surface or sink to the bottom. *

Cover with the material of your choice and secure with the elastic band or a rubber band. This allows for proper air circulation. I used muslin cloth because I've never had issues with flies in my apartment. However, if you're even slightly worried about this then use a kitchen towel, some breathable cotton or even a couple of paper towels, so no flies will be able to wriggle their way into the jar. 

Store in room temperature, away from sunlight (!), for between 7-14 days. Temperatures at around 20-23ºC will result in a slower, less sour Kombucha. A little higher temperature of 24-27ºC means the kombucha will ferment faster. Make sure the temperature never goes above 30ºC as then the kombucha will have an unbalanced flavour. In the UK I'm used to lower temperatures, so I keep it in a warm cupboard in my kitchen and check on it every few days. 

Knowing when the kombucha is ready:Look at the darkness of the tea when you first add the SCOBY. As the liquid ferments, it will become slightly cloudier. This is one sign that the process is working.

You should also notice a difference in smell. Your homemade kombucha will start with a very neutral 'tea' aroma but will get more 'vinegary' during the fermentation process. 

Note* If it begins to smell rotten or 'cheesy' though, then this can mean something has gone wrong, and there may be mould on your SCOBY.

After about seven days, taste test a bit of the brew with a clean spoon. If it tastes slightly fruity and not like &quot;regular&quot; tea, it is ready. If it still tastes tea-like, wait a couple more days and try again. Feel free to stop the fermentation at a time when the brew suits best your taste buds and palette. As you get used to brewing homemade kombucha you'll quickly learn the fermentation time that suits your taste buds the best.  Mine is around 9-10 days.

When the brew is ready, pour out most of the liquid into your desired bottles. Keep a bit of the brew, so the SCOBY doesn't dry out. You can keep the SCOBY this way, even if you are not making more kombucha right way - just keep it in its jar at room temperature, not in the fridge. 

Next, you need to decide if you want to flavour your kombucha, for a second ferment. I've had different advice regarding the next step, with the leaflet that came with my SCOBY telling me to refrigerate the kombucha for a few hours, allowing it to carbonate - before enjoying.  However, my kombucha-making friends swear by leaving theirs at room temperature -saying that refrigeration stops the carbonation process.  I'd say experiment to see if it makes a massive difference for you. Mine carbonated in the fridge as well as out of it.  I've personally found that my plain kombucha can get fizzier, the longer it's left in the fridge. I've also heard that it doesn't really 'go off' as such and can be kept indefinitely  - if refrigerated-. To be safe, I like to consume mine within a month, though.

Flavouring/second fermentation of your homemade kombucha:This is my favourite part of the process - where we can flavour our homemade kombucha and allow it to get its second fermentation and carbonates like soda.  Sweet, fruits added to the kombucha will encourage a lot of carbonation for super bubbly results. My current favourite option is pomegranate kombucha - I love the fresh, punchy flavour. 

To get pomegranate juice, first, deseed two pomegranates in a bowl of water. This is an easy way to get the seeds cleaned. Then using a nut milk bag or a muslin cloth, squeeze as much juice as you can. This is your fresh pomegranate juice. 

To flavour 2L of pomegranate kombucha, you only need about 3/4 cup of fruit juice. The fruit juice only needs to be about 10% of the total liquid content. Of course, you can add a bit more or less, to suit your taste. 

Use bottles (or a big bottle)  with caps that can withstand pressure. The natural sugars from the fruit will lead to natural fizz (creation of CO2). Fill up only about 3/4 of the bottles for this pomegranate kombucha.

Keep the bottles in room temperature, in a warm dark place for around three days. And every day, &quot;burb&quot; the bottles to remove the pressure (open and close the caps lets the CO2 out).

Taste test the flavoured brewing kombucha in 3 days. The longer you leave it, the fizzier it will get until it suits your taste. **

Once ready, refrigerate. As long as it's refrigerated, I've heard you can keep it indefinitely. I usually consume it within 2-4 weeks, while preparing new batches consistently - so I never run out. 

Kombucha is best enjoyed cold or over ice. It can also be added to cocktails. I drink kombucha daily since beginning to make my own kombucha at home, and I love it. 

Fermentation/brewing your homemade kombucha DIY:

https://content.jwplatform.com/videos/tKKup5Ri.mp4

Homemade Kombucha DIY

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KEN'S QUICK MEAD

Makgeolli (Korean Rice Wine)

How To Make Infused Cold Brew Tea

How-to: DIY Homemade Kombucha

Top 4 brewing recipes from across the web

The most viewed brewing recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

Top Tags

KEN&#39;S QUICK MEAD

Makgeolli (Korean Rice Wine)

How To Make Infused Cold Brew Tea

How-to: DIY Homemade Kombucha

The most viewed brewing recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine

KEN'S QUICK MEAD