Tried my hand at making makgeolli – 막걸리 – Korean rice wine in February. It’s Korea’s oldest wine and is still enjoyed today.
I used this recipe from Maangchi since I’ve never made it before and just want to get a feel for the process. Eventually I’d like to try looking into period recipes if I can find them.
Got the supplies from H-mart (the crock/jar, white rice, and nuruk – 누룩 – the starter culture) except for the yeast, which I already had on hand. If you have an Hmart or Korean grocery near you, give it a shot!
The process I used from Maangchi:
- Soak the rice
- Use a dehydrator to dry out the rice
- Mix in the water, rice, nuruk and yeast in the earthenware jar
- Place a folded piece of linen fabric on top of the pot before placing the lid
- Stir twice a day for several days
- Strain, dilute with water and add in sugar if desired
- Strain again and pour into bottles
Several days into brewing, the liquid is clear with the sediment on the bottom. The rice grains have lost their shape entirely. 
Straining straight from the jar. 
Pressing the liquid out from the solids. 
Diluting with bottled water. Added in sugar at this point. 
Straining again before bottling. 
Bottled makgeolli! 
After it’s settled, you can see the separate layers.
Homemade makgeolli doesn’t keep very long before it starts to turn into rice wine vinegar, so I took it to Meridian Challenge of Arms (MCA) and handed out a couple bottles. After sitting in the bottles with the added sugar, it became slightly fizzy, which is normal for makgeolli and a quality that I enjoy. The flavor was very mild, but had a hint of something floral and green and the yeast was present as well. It wasn’t as sweet as I expected, even with the added sugar, so next time I want to make sure I’m using chappsal – sweet rice. I used the rice we normally have on hand for meals and it tends to make a drier brew.
I’ve since read into makgeolli more and want to try another brew, but instead of dehydrating the rice, I want to steam it using the bamboo steamers I have. I’ve also come across a DIY Makgeolli set from Hyesun House that I really want to try to compare to what I’ve made. It looks like they instruct to steam the rice in a rice cooker, so I’d be curious to see how that affects the brew due to the water content of the rice. If I get it, I’ll write a review!
It was a lot of fun making makgeolli, even if a lot of it was just waiting for it to do its thing. I enjoyed having a period drink to enjoy at an event and I hope that I’ll be able to do it again soon! Let me know if you try it and what you think of it!