Rice Wines in China

Rice wines ("Huang Jiu in Chinese alphabetic writing, and "Huang" meaning "yellow" in color ) are fermented alcoholic drinks produced from cereals with wheat QU or XIAO QU used as saccharifying and fermenting agents. They may have other traditional names in some regions, for example, "Lao Jiu" (aged rice wine) in Jiangsu Province, Zhejiang Province; "Shui Jji" (dilluted rice wine) In Jiangxi Province; "Chou Jiu" in Shangxi Province.
According to the latest nomenclature, Rice wines are general designation for all the fermented drinks produced from cereals. This category ranges from very primitive rice wine to highly sophisticated Shaoxing Rice Wine. Rice wines are usually yellow, red, brown or black in color; and they may be clarified into liquid, or turbidly suspended liquid; even they may be semi-solid, unfiltered mash ( "JIU NIANG").The Chinese have taken great pride in their rice wines all the time. The best rice wines are produced by traditional natural fermentation methods and sold without additives. Many such varieties are now available throughout the world. Most rice wines were prepared at domestically in ancient times. However rice wines are now manufactured commercially in modernized rice breweries by professional craftsmen on a large scale. The rice wines are being marketed in Hong Kong, Japan and the other countries and regions in South-east Asia.
The maximum percentage of alcohol in original pure rice wine is below 20 %, usually 15%-16%. It needs about 3 months from polishing of rice to pasteurization of rice wine before packaging. The rice wine maturation after being pasteurized varies place to place, usually from six months to 1 year. About 230 kgs of pure rice wine can be produced from 100 kg of rice.
There are several classification systems to classify the rice wines. Rice wines can be classified according to the production methods, the residual sugar content, and the sacchrification and fermenting agents used. But the most commonly used classification divides all rice wines into five types according to their residual sugar in the rice wines (Standard Classification ).