Tricks for limiting alcohol in lacto fermented rice water ?

Hi  !

I want to lacto ferment rice water, using the Takashi Hirasawa recipewebpage.. so basically :

100 gr brown rice for 1l water ( 1:10 )
1 % salt
3 % brown sugar

It's not really for the rice, but the probiotic LAB rice water.. however, even though alcohol will be limited, am very sensitive to it... ( Lyme disease )

are there any tricks that I can do to try and minimize the amount of alcohol produced ?

Maybe less sugar, or add the sugar a few days after the first activity / bubbles ?

thanks for any tips !

Hey, welcome to Permies!

When making other lacto ferments, salt is added to deter the growth of other organisms and give the lactobacillus an edge.
As the lactobacillus grow, the acid they produce further suppresses other organisms.
I suppose you could add more salt and add  acid to your rice water.

You could also inoculate the rice water with a bit of yogurt or a single cabbage leaf,but that would be counter productive if you are trying to cultivate local microorganisms.

William Bronson wrote:You could also inoculate the rice water with a bit of yogurt or a single cabbage leaf,but that would be counter productive if you are trying to cultivate local microorganisms.

Interesting idea, thnaks  !!  a cabbage leaf would still be inoculation with wild LAB's ...

which health wise are stronger and better able to compete with the other wild bacteria / yeasts in your gut

( non wild LAB starter kits are not as strong )

Why not just ferment rice without the sugar?

Or do something like this:

https://permies.com/t/54482/Homemade-Lactobacillus-Serum

Yes! ... I was debating doing it without any sugar, so I think I will


That LAB serum is interesting.. it has been going the rounds in as Lactobacillus fertilizer on the gardening forums as well

I ultimately decided not to do that one, because this method seem more susceptible to mold..

Even if the milk step gets rid of it ... it could still contain spores.. not great if your have compromised immune system ( or for anyone right ? )

I also like the idea of doing a rotation of small batches, so to end up with a more active brew

Mother of vinegar converts alcohol into vinegar.