It’s kinda beer, it’s kinda wine, it’s kinda neither

It’s rice.

I’m Peter Chung and I’ve been homebrewing Korean makgeolli for six years and am finally on a path to being able to have more people in Chicago try this incredible beverage.

Chicago is a food and drink city. Yet, we’re the largest city in the U.S.A. that doesn’t have a rice wine brewery (neither sake, makgeolli, nor any other rice alcohol). Chicago deserves its own craft rice winery.

What’s makgeolli?

Makgeolli (mock-GOAL-lee) is an unpasteurized alcoholic rice wine from Korea.

Despite being made from rice, it’s not a distilled liquor. Instead, it’s fermented slowly using a starter culture, like kombucha, except makgeolli’s culture is made from wheat. Fermentation transforms makgeolli from just rice and water to a complex, often fruity, alcoholic beverage.

When fermentation is complete, the creamy rice sediment is included in each bottle. This gives makgeolli its full body, and distinctive appearance.

Makgeolli is easy to drink and easy to fall in love with. Cheers!

So what is Yido?

Yido is a shortened form of 제2의도시 - which means second city in Korean. Right now it’s a home-brew project with a dream of being Chicago’s craft rice brewery. As a homebrewer, I can produce and give away up to 200 gallons of alcohol a year. So that’s what I’m going to do! Reach out to me at peter@yidobrews.com to get a sample.