I stumbled across a question about this over on r/homebrewing. It’s apparently a yeast product that can directly ferment starch sources without a mash. It seems to be marketed mostly for distilling, but has anyone tried it for making ersatz sake or chicha or something similar?
im busy rn so cant confirm the details but im 99% sure this is a variety of aspergillus oryzae or the red rice mold. it is basically a non super pure koji. it works in synchronicity with yeast where the mould breaks down the starch and the yeast ferments the sugar from that starch.
it is kind of a hassle to manage unless you have great temp control and it would work, but imho compared to the week+ of monitoring it and stirring its easier to just do a simple mash at 149F or whatever.
There’s some stirring the first three days, but we’re getting close to time of year when I could hold those temps just by leaving the fermenter in my un-air-conditioned storage room.
This sounds more like a yeast that is copackaged with some sort of amylase to me. That gets the DIY-er in me wondering whether you could achieve something sililar using Amylase plus a kviek yeast. I’ve been using Lutra dry yeast in my meads this year and I really enjoy the fermentation character I’m getting from my meads. I could see it working in a bastardized saki/soju type brew.
That may be what it is. The English on their website is pretty sketchy, but lists it as:
[quote]Angel leaven is a kind of specially-selected strain and enzyme for alcohol beverage fermentation with cooking or un-cooking process.
[/quote]
(Emphasis added.)
I can probably buy amylase and a yeast that I know I like for a better value at the homebrew scale. (I haven’t tried Lutra yet, but I’ve been reasonably happy with Voss.) Gelatinize the starch and add the enzymes, then pitch normal yeast.
Ever since my sister gave me some JT Melleck 100% rice whisk(e)y, I’ve thinking about how best to do a 100% rice beer.
This looks like a low temperature-activated amylase and dried yeast packaged together. It’s probably a distilling strain with high alcohol tolerance.
This product is designed for a contemporaneous starch conversion and fermentation in the fermentation vessel. You wouldn’t be able to use it for brewing unless you decide to ferment on the grain and then rack off the grain. You’re begging for infected beer because you’re never hitting pasteurization temperatures, not to mention ending up with a dry, thin beer.
This works for basically any starch conversion where you aren’t relying on pitching microbes to convert starches (e.g. sake) or enzymes in grain (e.g. mashing malted grains). A similar approach is used in distilled beverages to ensure full conversion especially with spirits made from a high portion of non-malted grains. It’s cheaper and easier to get amylase powder and yeast separately and accomplish the same thing. Although you can make a fermented rice beverage using this, you’re going to miss out on some of the fermentation flavor. The fungus used in sake to convert starches is responsible for the citrusy flavor in sake which I consider an important part of the flavor profile.
Thanks for feedback, everyone. I think what I’ll do is just stick with tradition in this case and find a high-DP base malt (maybe like Rahr 6-row) and do high percentage of rice with a traditional cereal mash process.