Skip to main content
Support

Browse by category

All categories
Home

Alcoholic drinks from Northern China

Liang-millet wine (粱米酒)粱米酒

A 6th-century recipe from the Qimin Yaoshu for a wine of liang millet, which can be brewed in any season. The millet is split into three equal lots, steamed twice, and added a little warmer than the body to the qu liquid, with one to three nights between lots. It is ripe ten days after the third lot.

Fully documentedAlcoholic drinks11 days – 13 days

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceThe recipe's own ratios. 1 dou of coarse qu ferments 6 dou of millet, and each dan of millet takes 3 dou of water, a very low water ratio.
Coarse qu, cleaned as in the recipes before it1 dou to 6 dou of milletDivine qu is stronger; with it the brewer judges the amount[qmys-ws][qmys-siku]
Water3 dou per dan of millet[qmys-ws][qmys-siku]
Liang millet (粱米)Washed clean, split into three equal lots and steamed twice until soft[qmys-ws][qmys-siku]
Starterkoji/qu/mold-starter (coarse or divine qu)

Total time across the recorded steps: 11 days – 13 days

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
Close-up: water moving into a grain

What changes: The qu soaks until it starts to work

Step 1 of 4
Soak the qu until it works
Time
In winter the qu works in one night
Reported
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Yeasts

In spring, autumn and at mulberry-leaf fall the chopped qu soaks in cold water and the dregs are strained off once it works. In winter the qu is pounded to powder and sieved, the jar is steamed hot and wrapped in grain stalks, and the qu soaks in a thin, lukewarm liang-millet gruel made with the measured water; the dregs stay in. Output: working qu liquid.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

A 6th-century recipe from the Qimin Yaoshu for a wine of liang millet, which can be brewed in any season. The millet is split into three equal lots, steamed twice, and added a little warmer than the body to the qu liquid, with one to three nights between lots. It is ripe ten days after the third lot. Made in 4 steps over 11 days – 13 days. The longest step, ferment to ripeness and press, takes 10 days (Jia Sixie 2026).

Key numbers
Main step10 daysReported[qmys-ws][qmys-siku]Ferment to ripeness and press

What makes this one different

Made from liang millet rather than proso millet, in any season, with only three equal additions and very little water (3 dou per dan of grain). The millet goes in warm, not cold, and the jar is mud-sealed between additions.

Related ferments

Safety

A 2025 review of Chinese rice wine names ethyl carbamate, a potential carcinogen that forms from ethanol and nitrogen compounds during fermentation and storage, and biogenic amines as its main safety concerns; it speaks of rice wine in general, not of this recipe.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

Qimin Yaoshu chapter 66 (笨麴餅酒), compiled by Jia Sixie in the 6th century. Wikipedia dates the book to 544 CE on one account and to 533–544 CE on another.

Microbes
No study we found names its microbes.
Temperature, salt and pH
The 6th-century Qimin Yaoshu gives warmth only in words, and no study we found has measured this recipe.
  1. [qmys-ws] Jia Sixie, Qimin Yaoshu (6th century), juan 7, ch. 66 笨麴餅酒, 粱米酒法; transcription on Chinese Wikisource (齊民要術/卷第七), read 2026-10archive
  2. [qmys-siku] Jia Sixie, Qimin Yaoshu, Siku quanshu edition, juan 7, transcription on Chinese Wikisource (齊民要術 (四庫全書本)/卷07), read 2026-10archive
  3. [qmys-wp] Wikipedia, Qimin Yaoshu (dates the book to 544 CE on one account and to 533–544 CE on another)wiki
  4. [jiuqu-wp] Wikipedia, Jiuqu (qu as a starter that carries moulds, yeasts and bacteria; Aspergillus and Rhizopus its main functional moulds)wiki
  5. [peng2025] Peng B. et al. 2025, Rice Wine Fermentation - Unveiling Key Factors Shaping Quality, Flavor, and Technological Evolution, Foods 14(14), 2544paper