Makgeolli is a lightly sparkling Korean rice wine you can brew at home with just three ingredients: rice, water, and nuruk (a traditional fermentation starter). The process takes about seven days for a basic batch, and while the steps are simple, getting the ratios and temperatures right makes the difference between a clean, slightly sweet brew and a sour mess.
What You Need
A basic single-stage batch (called danyangju) requires:
- Rice: 1 kg uncooked glutinous (sweet) rice or short-grain rice
- Nuruk: 100 g (10% of the uncooked rice weight)
- Water: 1 liter (a 1:1 ratio to uncooked rice by weight)
Nuruk is a dry, disc-shaped fermentation starter sold at Korean grocery stores or online. It contains wild molds and yeasts that do two jobs at once: the molds break rice starches into sugar, and the yeasts convert that sugar into alcohol. If you’re using standard supermarket nuruk, stick with 90 to 100 g per kilogram of rice. Some brewers also add a pinch of dried baker’s yeast to ensure a strong, reliable fermentation, but it’s optional.
For equipment, you need a steamer (bamboo or metal), a wide-mouth glass jar or food-safe container that holds at least 3 liters, a breathable cloth or loose lid, a long spoon for stirring, and cheesecloth or a muslin bag for straining. Sanitize everything that touches the cooled rice or fermenting liquid. A spray of high-proof liquor or a no-rinse sanitizer like Star San works fine. You don’t need to be as rigorous as beer brewing, but keeping tools clean prevents mold from taking hold.
Preparing the Rice (Godubap)
The rice needs to be steamed, not boiled. Boiled rice turns mushy and clumps together, making it harder for the nuruk to penetrate evenly. The goal is firm, separate grains with no raw center.
Start by washing the rice gently four or five times until the water runs mostly clear. Avoid scrubbing the grains hard. Soak the washed rice in cold water for 2 hours if using sweet (glutinous) rice, 3 hours for regular short-grain rice, or overnight for brown rice. If you soak longer than 8 hours, change the water. After soaking, drain the rice in a colander for 30 to 45 minutes to remove all excess water.
Line your steamer with a silicone mesh, cheesecloth, or steaming cloth and spread the rice in an even layer. Steam over high heat for about 10 minutes until steam rises visibly through the rice, then reduce to low heat and continue steaming for 40 minutes to an hour. The finished rice should be cooked through but still firm, not sticky or wet. Spread it out on a clean tray and let it cool to around 25°C (77°F) before mixing. Hot rice will kill the microorganisms in the nuruk.
Mixing and Starting Fermentation
Crumble the nuruk into fine pieces and combine it with the cooled water in your fermentation vessel. Stir until the nuruk begins to dissolve. Then add the cooled steamed rice and mix everything thoroughly with clean hands or a sanitized spoon. The mixture will look like a thick, wet porridge.
Cover the vessel with a breathable cloth secured by a rubber band, or use a lid set loosely on top. You want gases to escape without letting dust or insects in. Place it somewhere with a stable temperature around 25°C (77°F). A kitchen counter works in mild weather. Avoid direct sunlight and drafts.
Managing the Seven-Day Ferment
For the first three days, stir the mixture once or twice daily with a sanitized spoon. This introduces oxygen, which helps the molds produce the enzymes that break down the rice starch. You’ll notice bubbling within the first day or two, and the mixture will start to smell yeasty and slightly sweet.
After day three, stop stirring and leave the vessel alone. The fermentation shifts from starch conversion to alcohol production, and the yeasts work better without oxygen at this stage. Over the next few days, the bubbling will slow and eventually taper off. The liquid will begin separating from the solids, with a cloudy white layer forming beneath a layer of rice sediment. When active bubbling has mostly stopped and the mixture smells pleasantly tangy rather than aggressively sour, fermentation is essentially complete. This typically takes seven days total for a single-stage brew.
Temperature matters more than you might expect. If your room runs cooler than 20°C, fermentation slows significantly and can stall. If it’s warmer than 28°C, the brew can turn overly sour or develop off-flavors. Keeping things near 25°C produces the most balanced result.
Straining and Diluting
Once fermentation is done, you have what’s called wonju, the undiluted base. Strain it through cheesecloth or a muslin bag into a clean container, squeezing gently to extract as much liquid as possible. Some of the finer rice sediment should pass through the cloth. That’s what gives makgeolli its signature milky appearance. You’re only removing the large chunks of spent rice.
The strained wonju is strong, typically between 12% and 18% alcohol. Commercial makgeolli sits around 6% to 8%, so dilution is standard. A good starting point is 3 parts makgeolli to 1 part cold water, but adjust based on your taste. If you like it thicker and more potent, use less water. If you want something lighter and more refreshing, add more. You can also sweeten it with a bit of sugar or honey at this stage.
Bottling and Storage
Transfer the finished makgeolli into bottles and refrigerate immediately. The cold slows fermentation but doesn’t stop it entirely, since the brew is unpasteurized and still contains live yeast. This means two things: the flavor will continue to evolve in the fridge, and carbonation will build up in sealed bottles. Use flip-top bottles and burp them daily for the first few days to release pressure, or leave the caps slightly loose.
Fresh makgeolli tastes best within the first week or two. Expect a shelf life of roughly one week to one month in the refrigerator. Over time it becomes progressively more sour and acidic as the remaining sugars ferment out. Many people enjoy this tangier profile, but if you prefer it sweet, drink it sooner rather than later.
Going Beyond a Basic Batch
The single-stage method described above (danyangju) is the simplest way to make makgeolli. Once you’re comfortable with it, you can try a two-stage brew called iyangju. You start with a smaller initial batch (the mitsul, or base stage) and let it ferment for a few days, then add a second addition of freshly steamed rice and sometimes more water (the deotsul, or second stage). This extends fermentation to about 10 days but produces a smoother, more complex flavor with better sweetness. A three-stage version takes around 12 days.
You can also experiment with different rice types. Glutinous rice yields a sweeter, fuller-bodied makgeolli. Regular short-grain rice produces something drier and lighter. Some brewers mix the two. The nuruk itself varies between brands, and artisan nuruk made with wild-caught microorganisms creates more complex flavors than mass-produced versions, though it’s less predictable. The core technique stays the same regardless of the variations you try: steam the rice, cool it, mix with nuruk and water, ferment at room temperature, strain, and dilute.