Brewing My Own Makgeolli! – The Second Fermentation (Additive Brewing)

The flour makgeolli brewed on January 30, 2025, is in a moist condition.

By February 1, 2025, it had a slightly sour taste.
However, by the morning of February 2, 2025, a fragrant apple aroma and alcohol smell had started to fill the air!
Thinking it was the perfect moment, I secretly washed 1.2 kilograms of sweet rice and hid it in the electric rice cooker.
As soon as I got off work on February 2, 2025, I jumped right into the additive brewing process!

 

ortunately, my wife didn’t use the rice cooker, so my cleanly washed rice was safe.
When making makgeolli, the process of preparing the steamed rice is said to be the most challenging and important step.
However, I decided to make it very easy and straightforward using the electric rice cooker.

 

I put 1.2 kg of rice in the cooker, adding enough water to just cover the soaked rice, and I quickly cook it!
While the rice is cooking, I prepare the table by laying down some parchment paper to pour the rice onto once it's done.

 

In this photo, I made the rice twice.
The first batch turned out so well that when I poured it out, there were still some uncooked grains mixed in. I gathered the uncooked grains and cooked the rice once more.
Steamed rice is important, but I’m not worried. So far, all the makgeolli I’ve made has included rice that wasn’t perfectly steamed, yet it still tasted great!
Usually, the base makgeolli is strained using a muslin bag to filter out the nuruk before proceeding with the additive brewing.
However, my daughter seemed to disagree, fussing and needing a diaper change. By the time I took care of that, it was too late to strain the mixture, so I decided to skip that step and directly mix the steamed rice into the fermentation vessel.

 

For about 20 minutes, I gently touched and mixed the rice grains one by one.
I was a bit worried when I felt some clumps that seemed like scorched rice, but I mixed it diligently!
Throughout the night, my right hand was filled with the refreshing apple aroma and the lovely scent of the fermenting makgeolli.
I’m thinking about making samyangju, but I’m wondering when I should proceed with the final additive brewing!

It seemed like the fermentation was too slow, so I added a bottle of 750 ml of Kuksundang fresh makgeolli... (cheat key)!

 

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Brewing My Own Makgeolli! – Final Additive Brewing