Literature. Drinking. 【文飲】

My first batch of yeast cakes is running out, and I think they had some process issues, so I wanted to make a new batch. I decided to try the second yeast cake recipe: YE2 又造神麴法：Another method for making exceptional yeast cakes 其麥蒸、炒、生三種齊等，與前同；但無復阡陌、酒脯、湯餅、祭麴王及童子手團之事矣。 Take equal quantities of steamed, stir-fried and fresh wheat, and join them as in the previous recipe, but without the north-south cross, the offering of alcohol and dried fruit/meat, the cooked noodles, offering to the “yeast cake king” or having children shape the cakes. 預前事麥三種，合和細磨之。七月上寅日作麴。溲欲剛，擣欲精細，作熟。餅用圓鐵範，令徑五寸，厚一寸五分，於平板上，令壯士熟踏之。以杙刺作孔。 Prepare the three kinds of wheat as before, join them and finely grind them.  On the third day of the seventh month, make the yeast cakes.  Wet them so they are “firm [more water than “just add a little”].”  Pound the mixture until it is evenly mixed and fine.   Make it into cakes using a round iron mold, 5 thumb-joints across, and one and half thumb...

In the hunt for Song dynasty poet Su Dongpo 's mead recipe, we discovered last time that his recipe for "honey wine" is probably not using honey as a primary fermentable. But we do have Zhang Bangji's report on Su Dongpo's recipe .  I have no idea whether it's really  Su Dongpo's recipe, but at some point it doesn't matter.  They were contemporaries, and his recipe is just as reasonable and period as Su Dongpo's unknown recipe for mead. I'm brewing a one gallon batch because I have my shiny new weng -simulant, a large-mouthed jar.  The local homebrew store had them, and I think they'll do well.  It comes with a lid with a hole for an airlock, but because it's got a mouth and isn't a bowl, fitting cloth over it should also be easy.  How much air to allow in is a battle for another day, so I'm going to go the modern route on this one and use an airlock. This thing holds a gallon, so I'm going to scale the recipe to...

Pennsic was a whirlwind of activity, and despite me promising to update this blog "real soon I promise" life got in the way. I think this is a good time to take inventory of what I've figured out over the past year or so.  There are a lot of unanswered questions, but I've made a ton of progress nailing down this process. Yeast Cakes I've got a recipe for "exceptional" yeast cakes that worked once, last year. I tried to make it a month ago and it rotted 😑 But hey, it worked once. I also learned that the warning about "don't store this in a sealed container or it'll turn black and get gross" wasn't kidding, since my cakes did just that.  Mr. Jia wasn't joking, apparently. The recipe as I handed it out at Pennsic is posted at the bottom. Brewing I made one rice wine for Pennsic that was delightful.  Sweet, dark, saucy, it was great.  I didn't get to panel it, sadly.  I made one short-wine a while ago ...

Now that the yeast cakes are ready , and nice and dry (they firmed up quite nicely after drying), I'm ready to start making wine from them. Qimin Yaoshu  is structured around the yeast cakes, and to help keep them straight, I'm numbering them and the wines that are attached to each cake recipe.  These yeast cakes are the first "exceptional" yeast cakes, so I'm calling them YE1, and below are the translated directions to make two different wines using them, a millet wine (YE1W1) and a rice wine (YE1W2). I'm starting the process of making these now, and I'll report back once I have some more photos to show.  For sizing, the recipe clearly tells us that one volume of yeast cakes is enough for 21 or 18 volumes of grain, which means something like 60 volumes of alcohol, if you figure that you get about as much liquid out as cooked grain, which is about three times the volume of the dry grain. Since I'm making this to hopefully panel at  ...

Week 4 至三七日，出之，盛著甕中，塗頭。 After another seven days, bring them out, pack them into a weng , and seal the head [with clay]. Still not having a  weng , I settled for some air-tight glass jars.  I think that, because I was simulating the hut with a plate and some boxes, this stage was pretty much a no-op compared to stacking the cakes on the plate like we did last week. The cakes smell about the same as they did the week before: sweet and caramely, with some odd alcoholic notes.  They leave behind a pretty large amount of a dark brown liquid.  I didn't taste it. Week 5 。至四七日，穿孔，繩貫，日中曝，欲得使乾，然後內之。 After another seven days, bore a small hole in each cake, thread a rope through them, air the whole string in the sun, really make sure it’s dry, and then place the cakes inside. The cakes are still really damp, about the same as last week, and have the same smell.  I think that they came out of the "hut" way too damp, but I'll have to r...

Last time, on yeast cake adventures, we flipped  the yeast cakes . Today, we're going to gather  them.  Excitement! 至二七日， 聚 麴，還令塗戶，莫使風入。 After another seven days, gather the cakes, again mud the door, allowing no wind to enter. I double checked to see if there was more meaning to that word (bolded in the original and in the translation), and there really isn't: 聚 jù Middle Chinese dzjuX collect(ion), assemble, gather together, group(ing); (a)mass, accumulate. assembly of 3 or more celestial bodies in the same lunar lodging. community, populace; settlement. So I guess I'll make a pile of them. The wetter cakes The dryer cakes - they're still quite damp This time, the cakes smelled much more interesting.  I got strong caramel notes - I'm reminded of some kind of cookie my grandmother used to make but I can't put my finger on it.  I also get some floral notes.  It's interesting how much the aroma changed from last week.  I w...

Last week, I started making yeast cakes , which I will hopefully use as a starter culture for future wines. The recipe takes a month, and here we are on day 7, where Jia Sixie tells us, 至七日開，當處翻之，還令泥戶。 At dawn on the seventh day, at the appropriate time flip them over, and once again seal the door. I didn't remember to flip the cakes at sunrise, but I did flip them this evening. These are how I've been storing the cakes, in my closet at about room temperature.  It's no thatched-roof hut, but it will have to do. The cakes are surprisingly damp.  Like, dripping with water damp.  There's condensation on every surface.  I think I might have actually trapped too much of the water inside, although it's hard to say at this point.  There's a little fungal growth visible as small white spots (this appeared a few days in), but not much. They smell sweetly of alcohol, nail polish and flowers, so I think there's fungal shenanigans going on.  T...

I said I'd make these after Christmas, but schedules be damned, I'm going to do it early. Earlier I posted the close translation of the first of the exceptional yeast cake recipes.  I'll redact it below, but since this is before making it I might need to come back with some changes and some refinements. Before we start, though, I want to post a warning: Most alcohol production is pretty safe.  There are very few microbes that can grow in the acidic, alcoholic, nutrient-poor environment that is fermented wine, beer or what have you, and also  cause you ill.  Yeast does a really good job at turning unfermented liquid into fermented liquid, so the window for spoilage that could cause illness is very small.  Pretty much nobody worries about food safety when it comes to fermenting wine or beer at home. (1) However.  This recipe is a deliberate infection of grain with molds without  the presence of alcohol.  It is entirely possible that molds w...