THE SECRETS OF SAKE

Brewed as early as 4800 B C in the Yangtze valley (now in China), sake has been the staple alcoholic beverage of Japan for centuries and once upon a time of Chinese too.

Although erroneously called a rice wine, sake is a beer. It is brewed, but few westerners can associate this clear still beverage with beer.

Sake comes in a staggering array of qualities. Today the majority of sake production in Japan, but now Oregon, California and Australia host sake brewers taking advantage of low ingredient and labour costs.

 Sake has played and continues to play an important role in the Japanese culture and religion. It is used in almost all Shinto ceremonies, and served at weddings, at christenings of buildings, at the opening of new homes, or even when purchasing land.

 

When the Japanese obtained the sake recipe in 300 A D only naturally occurring yeasts could be used. There were no cultivated yeasts. Some clever Japanese then invented “ chewing-in-the-mouth sake “. It was a ceremony during which a whole village would gather to chew up rice, chestnuts and millet and regurgitate in to vats. Then yeast would start the fermentation. Later on bakers accidentally discovered the efficacy of yeasts, and over time invented techniques to preserve them for future use.

Today sake is brewed using highly scientific and hygienic techniques, and the product by all accounts has a finer, more distinct and deep flavour. During and after World War II alcohol and glucose were added to rice mash, increasing yields by as much as four times. Today, only the least expensive sakes are produced this way. Quality sake brewers never add anything other than pure water (the best is hard water from Kobe prefecture in particular the Fushimi district in Kyoto, Japan’s former capital. Fusihimi’s biggest allure is water quality. It is rich in carbonates, phosphates and potassium and contains little iron that can degrade sake or manganese that can discolour it. Today many breweries chemically filter city water to get the desired balance), koji, yeast and rice. Of the 120 000 rice varieties, only 46 have been identified as suitable for sake production. Sake production starts with polishing the rice. Polished rice yields better sake. (Some brewers polish the rice down to 50 percent of its original size using only the “ heart “ of the kernel). After polishing, the rice is washed, soaked, and then steamed.   The steamed rice is processed through three different stages.

The first stage is the production of koji. To produce koji, fungi spores (aspergillus oryzea) are first mixed into the steamed rice, which is then stored in a humid and warm room. After approximately 34 hours, the mixture turns to koji.

 The moto (base) represents the second stage of the production. Moto consists ogf blending koji, water, yeast and steamed rice. The moto matures in approximately two weeks.

The third stage involves making of moromi (sake mash) by adding steamed rice, koji and water to the moto. The starch in the steamed rice is converted to sugar by the koji, while the yeast ferments sugar into alcohol in this way two processes – conversion of starch into sugar and fermentation of the sugar take place simultaneously. (Parallel Combined Fermentation System).

The fermentation of the moromi is completed in about five days. The next step is pressing to obtain the first crude sake. The liquid is then pasteurised at low temperatures and allowed to mature for approximately six to twelve months.

During the maturing process samples are tested for quality and flavour.

Sakes are then blended to achieve uniformity and balance. Sake consumption is decreasing. Japanese drink now more beer, and hard liquor . Sochu, a crude Japanese alcoholic beverage, is gaining market share due to its low price. In 1988 there were 1800 brewers, now this number is down to 1500, and chances are it will decline even more, as larger organizations constantly take market share from smaller brewers. 

Daiginjo-shu is considered to be the best quality followed by ginjo-shu, tokubetsu honjozo, tokubetsu-junmai and junmai-shu.

High quality sake should be enjoyed chilled.

Sake served lukewarm indicates the presence of minor taste flaws.

A.B.S