Moon & Lion Brewing

Hibiscus Makgeolli Results We started this brew on January 21st and bottled on February 13th. Below is a progression of the fermentation, followed by bottling and tasting notes. For details on the process, see our previous post  Brew Preview: Hibiscus Makgeolli . Primary fermentation begins on 1/21. Room temperature is low, around 65 F. Our first photo is 9 days later on 1/30. Small voids are visible on the surface where CO2 bubbles floated to the top and popped. Notice the rice grains are still largely intact. The next snapshot is on 2/3. The rice grains are looking more soggy, but bubbles are still popping to the surface regularly. The whole brew looks thick due to the low water content of the brew. There isn't much difference on 2/7, but the edges of the rice grains are starting to blur.  Our final snapshot before bottling on 2/13. There is a slight glimmer to the top layer from the alcohol floating to the top of the brew. Bubbling has come ...

Brew Preview showcases what is currently in the works at Moon & Lion.  We are currently working on a Hibiscus Makgeolli , which adds hibiscus petals to the primary fermentation. This brew is inspired by Jeff Rubidge's Hibiscus Makgeolli . I was able to try Jeff's brew at a recent makgeolli meetup and it was fantastic. This is our take on it. The goal to infuse a bit of hibiscus flavor and aroma, and to impart some of the lovely purple hibiscus color in our makgeolli. A few notes on this makgeolli: This is a nuruk only makgeolli, which means no additional brewing yeast was used  during the process. A starter (석임) was used to activate the yeast within the nuruk. The starter typically takes 1-2 days to activate to full potency. The hibiscus used is actually a hibiscus tea, which is dried and not fresh. Using fresh hibiscus will likely require a much greater volume of hibiscus. I'm trying a new brand of rice for this brew and future brews: T amanishiki Su...