Makgeolli FAQ – Your Guide to Korean Rice Beer, Also Known as Korean R

New to makgeolli? Learn more about the history of Korea's oldest drink, how to enjoy it, how to store it properly, and the ingredients and calories for each Makku flavor.

Dating back to the 10th century, Makgeolli (막걸리) is the oldest alcoholic beverage in Korea.
Often referred to as "Korean rice wine" or "rice beer," makgeolli is a traditional Korean alcoholic beverage made from rice, nuruk (a natural fermentation starter native to Korea), and water. The name Makgeolli literally means ‘roughly filtered,’ and yes - it is roughly filtered!
Makgeolli has an opaque white appearance due to the delicate rice sediment remaining in the drink. The sediment greatly enhances the flavor, body and aroma of the drink, so be sure to give Makgeolli a quick stir or shake before consuming!
Makgeolli is brewed using a natural fermentation process with 3 main ingredients: steamed rice, water, and nuruk (a natural fermentation starter native to Korea).
Unlike most other brewed products, makgeolli is lightly filtered, thus retaining some rice sediment, and giving makgeolli its signature milky white color.
We brew Màkku using Gapyeong rice, and deep rock water, naturally filtered through layers of stone, drawn from 250 meters below. For our flavored varieties, we infuse real fruit purées for a fun and modern twist.
A traditional Korean fermentation starter, nuruk is a spontaneously fermented grain (ie. wheat, rice) cake that consists of various microorganisms and yeasts.
Nuruk’s microorganisms provide enzymes that break down the rice’s starches into sugar, and yeasts to convert the sugar into alcohol. Sometimes referred to as a ‘wild’ culture, the composition of a nuruk and its resulting microorganisms vary depending on the region where the nuruk is made.
Nuruk lends an earthy, sometimes ‘funky’ flavor profile to Korean alcohol (including makgeolli)! Nuruk is fundamental to the taste of makgeolli, and as a result, makgeolli tastes different from region to region (just like how a particular region's climate, soils and terrain affect the taste of wine).

Makgeolli can be gluten free, depending on what kind of nuruk is used.
Usage of wheat-based nuruk in Makgeolli lends to an earthier, funkier, more complex flavor, and usage of rice-based nuruk lends to a cleaner, simpler, taste.

To provide an easy to drink, smooth Makgeolli that also provides nuanced depth, we use a blend of both wheat and rice based nuruk. However, our resulting products all meet the threshold of being gluten free, as per the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (the U.S. government's regulatory arm that oversees food and beverage labeling, including some Alcoholic products).

The threshold for being gluten-free as per the FDA is <20 ppm (parts per million). Most people with celiac disease can tolerate foods with very small amounts of gluten, and other countries and international bodies
use this same criteria.

Our gluten level per can is <5 ppm.
- Original: 170cals, 13g sugar
- Mango: 180cals, 16g sugar
- Blueberry: 180cals, 16g sugar
- Passion Fruit: 180cals, 16g sugar
- Strawberry: 170cals, 13g sugar
- Coffee: 190cals, 16g sugar

Due to regulatory restrictions, we are unable to fulfill your order directly, and work with a third party fulfillment company to process and ship out all orders.
Your order is processed within 1-5 business days, and is shipped via UPS. You will receive a shipping notification with your tracking number once your package ships. Please note that some orders ship in multiple boxes.
For any order inquiries, please contact us at hi@drinksool.com, and we will work with our fulfillment company to assist you.

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