What kinds of koji are there?

The types of liquor-making koji are mainly divided into Xiaoqu, Hongqu, Daqu and bran koji, each with its own characteristics. Many people want to know what kind of koji is good, which depends on their own needs. Want to brew Maotai-flavor liquor, Daqu is good. Xiaoqu is usually better if rice-flavor liquor and fen-flavor liquor are to be brewed. What are the specific types of koji and which yeast is good? Let's find the answer in the article! 1. What kinds of koji are there?

1, Daqu

Daqu is made of wheat, barley and peas, which are crushed, mixed with water, pressed into brick-like starter blanks and cultivated at artificially dug temperature and humidity. Daqu contains a variety of microorganisms, such as mold, yeast, bacteria and so on. And it is a multi-bacterial mixed (enzyme) preparation. The species and quantity of microorganisms in Daqu are influenced by the raw materials, koji-making temperature and environment. Because Daqu contains a variety of microorganisms, a wide variety of metabolites and flavor components are formed in the process of wine fermentation. At present, China famous liquor is mostly brewed by traditional Daqu method.

2, ditty

Xiaoqu, also known as medicinal liquor, Baiyao, wine cake, etc. Rice flour or rice bran is used as raw material, a small amount of Chinese herbal medicine or Polygonum hydropiper is added, Daqu mother is inoculated, and the culture temperature is artificially controlled. Because of the small particles, it is customarily called Xiaoqu. Xiaoqu mainly contains microorganisms such as Rhizopus, Mucor and yeast. Among them, Rhizopus has strong saccharifying ability and certain alcoholase activity, and is often used as saccharifying starter for Xiaoqu liquor and yellow rice wine. For example, Qionglai rice koji and Cantonese wine cake, which produce Xiaoqu wine, are all excellent Xiaoqu varieties for brewing yellow rice wine. Because the production method of Xiaoqu has been passed down from generation to generation, the microorganisms in Xiaoqu have been screened repeatedly, so that Xiaoqu has maintained its excellent quality.

3. Monascus

Monascus is a special starter for brewing yellow rice wine in China. It is made of rice inoculated with koji mother. Monascus mainly contains microorganisms such as monascus and yeast, which has dual functions of saccharification and fermentation. The wine made from red koji is called red koji wine, which has the characteristics of bright color and mellow taste. Yellow-coated monascus is a koji made of monascus, Aspergillus flavus and yeast. They are resistant to temperature and acid, and their saccharification and fermentation ability is stronger than that of Monascus. It is often used to produce yellow rice wine in Zhejiang and Fujian provinces.

4. Maiqu

Maiqu is a kind of koji widely used in China liquor-making industry. It is a multi-strain compound saccharification starter which takes wheat as raw material and is crushed by water. Maiqu mainly contains Aspergillus oryzae, Aspergillus flavus, Rhizopus, Mucor and a small amount of yeast and bacteria. Wheat koji mainly plays the role of saccharification, aroma generation and color enhancement in yellow rice wine brewing, which makes yellow rice wine have special koji flavor and mellow wine taste. According to the different production methods of wheat koji, it can be divided into treading koji, hanging koji, grass-colored koji, explosive wheat koji, pure wheat koji and pure wheat koji. Wheat koji is also used in rice wine production.

5.bran koji

Bran koji is made of bran as the main raw material, inoculated with mold and puffed. Mainly used in the production of bran koji wine, as saccharifying agent. Using bran koji instead of Daqu and Xiaoqu to produce liquor is a new production method after liberation. Its main advantage is that bran koji has strong saccharification ability, the utilization rate of raw starch is as high as 80%, and the grain saving effect is remarkable. The fermentation period of bran koji liquor is short, the raw materials are widely used, and it is easy to realize mechanized production. At present, this method has gradually developed from solid production to liquid production, and the role of bran koji has been replaced by liquid koji or enzyme preparation.

Second, what kind of koji is good?

What kinds of koji have been introduced in the last article, so someone asked, which kind of koji is good?

In fact, there is no unique answer to this question. There is no difference between good and bad koji, depending on personal taste, each has its own characteristics.

If you still don't know which one to choose, you must determine the type of wine you need to brew and the requirements for wine quality. For example, Daqu is needed for brewing Maotai-flavor liquor, and Xiaoqu (wine cake powder) is usually used for rice-flavor liquor and fen-flavor liquor. Choose according to your own needs, and generally you won't go wrong.