Introduction:

The aged yellow wine in Yunxian County has a long history and was invented by folk people. In the recent years, aged yellow wine was brought to Wuchang and other areas by the immigrants from Yunxian. The residents favored it and soon learnt to make it. It is not difficult to brew Yunxian aged yellow wine, every housewife may brew it at home, but there is a set of unique techniques for yeast preparation and brewing.

Preparation method:

The main raw material of yellow wine is whole wheat flour or bran and Huashe grass.

The Huashe grass is collected in dog days and is soaked in clean water until it becomes sticky. The grass is then taken out of the water and used to mix raw material until the dough is kneadable. The dough is put into a mold and pressed into a brick shape. The bricks are covered and fermented until the fragrance of wine can be smelled. Then they are dried in the air. The longer the yellow wine yeast is stored, the higher its quality will be. The raw materials include glutinous rice, glutinous maize and corn. The preparation method: take a small amount of glutinous rice, steam it, stir in the yeast after cooling (if in summer) or after heating (if in winter), break the yeast brick into pieces before yeast stirring, soak it in clean water for several hours, filter it, mix it with the yeast water, put the mixture into a jar, cool the jar, then seal the jar and open the jar a half month later. At that time, the yellow wine will be made.

Yellow wine may be brewed throughout the year. The wine brewed with the overyear La water prepared on the ninth day of the ninth month in the lunar calendar is the best. It is recorded in the Journal of Yunxian County during the reign of Emperor Tongzhi in the Qing Dynasty: “all families brew wine with La water, which will not go bad over the year.”

Features:

Yunxian aged yellow wine is kept in cans. The longer it is stored, the better it will be. It has a bright yellow color, an aromatic smell, a slight taste of plum and a strong aftereffect. Excessive drinking will not do harm to health. Drinking it makes your cheeks pink in spring, relieves summer heat in summer, calms your nerve in autumn and dispels cold and keeps you warm in winter. It is an ideal drink in the four seasons. Often drinking it may strengthen bones, build up physique and lengthen life.

Yunxian aged yellow wine may resist oxidation, enhance immunity, promote blood circulation, retard aging, prevent cancer, reduce blood pressure, relieve fatigue, remove stasis and resolve static blood. The aged yellow wine made from red glutinous maize can also treat irregular menstruation, postnatal blood stasis and other gynecological diseases. Therefore, it has become a good habit that the puerperal women in Yunxian drink yellow wine during confinement. The extract and pills made from yellow wine may treat traumatic injury, relieve swelling and stop pain. In Yunxian, there are more than 100 ready-made Chinese medicines made from yellow wine. Yellow wine holds an important role in Chinese medicine.