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Fermentation Atlas

Alcoholic drinks from Mongolia, Buryatia, Kalmykia, Tuva, Khakassia, Inner Mongolia

Shimiin arkhi (milk spirit)шимийн архи

Cow's milk or airag is fermented with a backslop starter for two or three days until it is sour and lightly alcoholic, then distilled in a cauldron topped with a wooden barrel and a pan of cold water. The clear spirit is weak, about 10–14 %, and the curd left in the cauldron is dried into aaruul. Distilling the spirit again gives stronger grades. Made in 4 steps over 2 days – 3 days. The longest step, ferment the milk with the old starter, takes 2–3 days (Namsaraev Z 2026) and runs at 20 °C (Namsaraev Z 2026). Lactobacillus helveticus and other lactobacilli, dominant in the khurenge starter and Yeasts of the genera Trichosporon or Monosporozyma do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step2–3 daysReported[namsaraev2026]Ferment the milk with the old starter
Temperature20 °CReported[namsaraev2026]Ferment the milk with the old starter
AciditypH 3.3Measured[namsaraev2026]Ferment the milk with the old starter
Fully documentedAlcoholic drinks2 days – 3 daysMore alcoholic drinksMore from ChinaMore from RussiaMore from Mongolia

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceA common Buryat home batch in a 70 L plastic barrel. About 10 L of fermented milk gives about 1 L of spirit.
40–50 LMilk, usually unpasteurised at home[namsaraev2026]
10–15 LKhurenge from the previous batch ("mother khurenge") · Kept in the barrel as the starter[namsaraev2026]
Starterbackslop (khurenge or airag from the previous batch)

Total time across the recorded steps: 2 days – 3 days

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
SugarAlcoholCO₂20 °CpH 3.3shapes, not to countLactobacilli sourYeasts

What changes: Stirred daily under its foam, the milk sours and turns faintly alcoholic

Step 1 of 4
Ferment the milk with the old starter
Time
2–3 days
Reported
Temperature
20 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
pH 3.3
Measured
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactobacilli sour
Yeasts

Output: khurenge (fermented milk).

Flavour
sour, sour-alcoholic, then bitter when strong
Texture
thick and creamy, with foam on top and curd at the bottom
Colour
white

Microbes at work in this step

lactobacilli sour the milk; yeasts make a little alcohol and gas

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

What makes this one different

Shimiin arkhi is one of the very few spirits made from milk. Milk sugar gives at most a few per cent alcohol, so the drink is distilled, and redistilled, to make it stronger and to keep.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Darasun (Buryat)Distilled from khurenge; once distilled up to 40 times and named by the number of cauldrons.
  • Arza, khorzo, sharza, dunThe successive redistilled grades, rising from about 9–11 % to 50 % in 20th-century Mongolia.
  • Open and closed distillationThe spirit runs out through a tap in the barrel, or collects in a cup hung inside it.

Safety

The usual spirit is weak, about 10–14 %. The redistilled grades are much stronger; a Mongolian saying calls khorz "strong, harmful alcohol". No safety limits specific to milk spirit were found.

History and sources

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

Buryat darasun goes back at least to the Mongol Empire of the 13th–14th centuries. The Khalkha Jirum law code, revised in 1709, set a fine of two head of large livestock and three sheep for stealing a milk starter. In 1906 Buryats were recorded distilling in advance, up to 40 times.

  1. [namsaraev2026] Namsaraev Z., Nanzatov B., Kozlova A., Barkhutova D., Izotova A. et al. 2026, Microbial diversity and production of milk spirit using traditional Buryat fermentation and distillation technologies, Scientific Reports 16:17769paper
  2. [ncch-mongolia] National Center for Cultural Heritage (Mongolia) 2022, The traditional technique of distilling milk alcohol (shimiin arkhi), IRCI Research Databasearchive
  3. [s1] Wikipedia, Kumis (arkhi distillation) (outline only)wiki