Homemade koji process
First, the overview of the small song
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Xiaoqu is also known as liquor medicine, white medicine, wine cake, small medicine, etc., the traditional Koji is made of rice flour (rice bran) as raw material, artificial control of the culture temperature. Because the particles are smaller than the big koji, it is called the small koji. The manufacture of Xiaoqu is a concrete embodiment of the unique fermentation process of the creative use of microorganisms by the working people of our country. Add or don't add Chinese herbs, naturally culture or inoculate koji, or inoculate purebred root mold and yeast. The microorganisms in Koji are mainly root mold, endosporus, lactic acid bacteria and yeast, etc., and although their microbial species are not as many as Daqu, they still belong to the "multi-micro" saccharification and "multi-micro" fermentation of koji. As far as the culture of microorganisms is concerned, it is a kind of natural selective culture. In the treatment of raw materials and the use of Chinese herbal ingredients, it can provide favorable breeding conditions for effective microorganisms, and generally use seedlings that have undergone long-term natural cultivation for inoculation.
The use of traditional Chinese medicine to make koji is a feature of traditional small koji, according to research, China began to use traditional Chinese medicine as early as the Jin Dynasty. According to research, most of the Chinese herbal medicines in the wine koji have the effect of promoting the reproduction and growth of microorganisms and increasing the aroma of liquor, but there are also some Chinese medicines that are not obvious in the mechanism of action, and some are harmful. Modern production practice has proved that with less or no use of drugs, you can also make a better quality koji, and you can also brew good wine, which not only saves medicinal materials, but also saves grain and reduces costs. In the production of Xiaoqu liquor at that time, these two traditional Xiaoqu production methods have made significant contributions to the brewing of Xiaoqu liquor, these methods have been passed down from generation to generation, and after long-term manual screening, the excellent strains of Xiaoqu in China have been preserved, providing the basis for the reform of materials and raw materials for the cultivation of modern Xiaoqu pure cultures.
Second, the main microorganisms in the small song
The main function of Koji is to provide live dormant winemaking microorganisms, Koji microorganisms include mold, yeast, bacteria and a small number of actinomycetes, of which the main role in the brewing process of Koji wine is root mold and yeast.
1. Mold
The bacterium generally includes root mold, Mucormycetes, Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus niger, etc., of which the main root is leaned on.
Common root molds in Koji are Rhizopus tonkinesis, Rhizopus pe-ka, Rhizopus japonicus, Javanese root mold (Rhizopus javanicus), Rhizopus chinesis, Rhizopus decemar, rhizopus black root mold nigricans), Rhizopus formosaensis, etc.
There are certain differences between species in terms of growth characteristics, adaptability, saccharification strength and metabolites.
The rhizobium used for the production of koji requires rapid growth, strong adaptability and saccharification, and a certain acid-producing capacity;
The ability of root mold fermentation to produce alcohol is not high.
The most commonly used strains in production are AS3.866, Aspergillus albicans, Lycanthus Lycanthus, Q303 and so on.
where AS 3. 866 has strong saccharification power, can generate organic acids such as lactic acid, and has high viability of wine-changing enzymes, which is the most widely used strain;
White aspergillosis, rice root mold has strong saccharification power, high acid production, and has a certain wine production capacity, mostly used for rice bran koji and loose koji;
Q303 has fast growth rate, strong saccharification power, less acid production, low viability of wine-based enzymes, stable performance, and is widely used in Guizhou and other places. middle
Rhizome is rich in amylase, of which the ratio of glycosylated amylase to liquefied amylase is 1: 3.3, while Aspergillus oryzae is 1: 1 and Aspergillus niger is 1: 2.8.
Root mold can cut off the α-1,4 bonds and α-1,6 bonds in the structure of rice starch, so that the starch is more completely converted into fermentable sugar.
Because the root mold has a certain activity of liquorase, it can make the whole fermentation process of Koji wine continuously while saccharification, so the fermentation effect is more thorough, and the starch wine rate is higher.
However, the protease activity of root mold is low, the requirements for nitrogen sources are relatively strict, and organic nitrogen sources such as amino acids are required, and if organic nitrogen is lacking, it will affect the growth of mycelium and the formation of amylase lines.
2. Yeast
There are many types of yeast in the traditional koji, including Saccharomyces, Hansenula, Candida, Endomycopsis, Trichosporon, etc., of which the main role is yeast and Hanson yeast.
Yeast species often used in the cultivation of loose koji include RasseIXII., 1308, Saccharomyces k, and Rice yeast.
Among them, 1308 and K's yeast have strong fermentation power, fast speed, can withstand 22 ° Bx sugar content and 12% (volume fraction) alcohol concentration, and can withstand higher fermentation temperatures, and still grow well at pH 2.5 ~ 3.0, suitable for semi-solid fermentation.
RasseXII. and rice wine yeast have good adaptability, strong fermentation power, stable wine production, good wine quality, and are also commonly used strains during inoculation of Koji pures.
In order to improve the quality of liquor, some raw vanillis can be added to the koji to increase the total ester content in the finished wine. Commonly used strains are AS2.297, AS 1.312, AS 1.342, AS2.300, Jifen I., Fen II. and so on.
The common feature of these yeasts is strong ester production capacity (mainly ethyl acetate), but the low ability of alcoholic fermentation, such as excessive dosage, will make the liquor production significantly reduced.
3. Bacteria
Since the Koji culture system is open,000,it creates conditions for bacterial invasion. How to reduce the pollution of bacteria is a problem that cannot be ignored in the production of Koji wine.
In the production of koji, the common "pollution circle" mainly includes lactic acid bacteria, acetate bacteria and butyric acid wine.
A certain amount of acid-producing bacteria will make the bacterial tank, which is too large to pollute the small koji fermentation sperm acid, which is good for the production of "raw" and controlled, but too much is harmful. It affects the yield and quality of wine.
Third, the production process of xiaoqu
1． Soak the rice: Soak the rice in water for 3 to 6 hours.
2 Crushing: The soaked rice is crushed into rice flour and sifted with a fine sieve of 180 mesh.
3． Ingredients inoculation: 3/4 of the rice flour is used to make the blank, the remaining 1/4 of the rice flour is used as the coating powder, the dosage of herb powder is 3% of the amount of wine blank powder, 2% of the chen koji powder, 60% of the water, mix well.
4． Blank making: Mix well to make wine cakes, cut into 2 cm size granules, and sieved with bamboo sieves to round into wine and medicine blanks.
5． Coating: Roll the surface of the blank with a layer of fine rice flour and control the moisture content of the billet to 46%.
6． Peiqu: room temperature control at 28 °C ~ 31 °C, the wine blank into the koji chamber, after 20 hours of incubation, mold hyphae growth is vigorous, the temperature control at 33 °C ~ 34 °C, the maximum is not more than 37 °C, 24 hours later, in order to promote the propagation of yeast in the blank, the room temperature should be controlled at 28 °C ~ 30 °C, the product temperature below 35 °C, maintained for 24 hours. After a total of 48 hours in the room, the temperature drops and the song matures.
7. After the mature koji is removed, it is dried or dried in the oven and stored for later use.
Fourth, the production of Koji and Koji wine has the following main characteristics.
(1) There are many varieties of raw materials used, such as rice, sorghum, corn, rice, wheat, buckwheat, etc., which is conducive to the deep processing and comprehensive utilization of local grain resources and agricultural and sideline products.
(2) Most of them are fed with whole raw materials for brewing, and the raw materials are cooked separately.
(3) The use of small koji containing active root mold and yeast as a saccharification fermentation agent, which has a strong saccharification and wineization effect, and the amount of koji is small, mostly 0.3% to 1.2% of the raw material amount.
(4) The fermentation period is relatively short, mostly about 7 days, the wine yield is high, and the starch utilization rate can be selected by 80%.
(5) The equipment is simple, the operation is simple, and the scale can be large or small. At present, there are group enterprises that have formed professional division of labor, decentralized production, centralized storage, blending and sales. 
(6) Xiaoqu wine has a soft, pure and refreshing style, and has formed different styles of xiaoqu wine such as rice aroma, medicinal aroma, drum fragrance, and xiaoqu fragrance, which has been generally accepted by consumers at home and abroad. Such as Guizhou Dong wine, out of the flower wine, Jeonju Xiangshan wine, Xiamen rice wine, Wuhua Changle roast, Bo wei Yubing shochu, Sichuan Yongchuan, Jiangjin sorghum wine, Guangdong Tangsanjing wine and so on are famous Xiaoqu wine.
(7) Because of the pure aroma of wine, it is an excellent wine base for the production of traditional medicinal wine and health wine, and is also the main source of wine for the production of other aromatic wines.