Arak is not directly fermented like beer or wine, but is distilled from fermented drink. Arak is a colorless, sugarless spirit distilled from either brem or tuak. Brem is rice wine made from glutinous rice and coconut milk. It usually is home made. Its alcohol content is about 7 to 9 percent after three days of fermentation. Old brem (more than three days old) is sour and contains more alcohol; young brem is sweeter. Tuak is a sweet wine made from the juice of the coconut palm flower. It is fermented for about one month. The alcohol content is about 5 percent. The distillation of brem or tuak brews contain 20 to 50 percent alcohol. The home-made arak can also be made from fermenting glutinous rice. The liquid from this fermentation is then distilled. This kind of wine is known as arak beras, rice-based arak.

 

 

 

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