Basics of Sake Production Flashcards
Understanding Sake: Explaining Style & Quality Chapters 1 & 2
What is sake?
An alcoholic beverage made from polished (white) rice with water and kōji, fermented with yeast.
What is the typical alcoholic strength of sake in comparison to distilled spirits?
Sake: 15-17% abv
Spirits: 40%+ abv
Aside from fermentable sugar, which components are present in grapes (and thus wine) but not in rice (and thus sake)?
Grapes -
- High acidity
- Distinct aromas and flavours that are present in the final wine
- Colour pigments
- Tannin
Rice -
- Low levels of acidity
- Little flavour
- No colour pigments
- No tannin
In beer production, how is starch converted to sugar?
Whole unpolished grains (usually barley) are encouraged to germinate. The grains produce enzymes that convert starch to fermentable sugar. Grains are heated to stop the conversion process.
> Malting
Malt can be toasted, dried with smoke, or charred, which adds extra flavours
In sake production, how is starch converted to sugar?
Polished grains of rice are used. They cannot be encouraged to germinate as the part that would grow into a plant is removed during the polishing process.
Kōji mould is grown on steamed rice, producing enzymes that convert starch to sugar.
Kōji has very little flavour other than a delicate sweetness.
Can sake be flavoured with other ingredients?
If sake is flavoured with other ingredients it can no longer legally be called sake.
When is rice planted, grown and harvested?
Planted in spring
Grown in summer
Harvested in autumn
How is rice grown?
Either in flooded rice paddies or sometimes farmed in dry fields (latter is common in USA)
What are the two main subspecies of rice?
Indica - long grain
Japonica - short grain
What are the two types of Japonica rice?
Sticky/glutinous
Non-sticky/non-glutinous
Which type of rice is used for sake production?
Non-sticky Japonica (short grain)
What is table rice?
High yielding and easy to farm non-sticky Japonica rice. Grown as table rice for eating, but also suitable for sake production.
What are the typical characteristics of sake rice? List the positives and negatives.
Negatives -
- Harder to farm
- Lower yields
Positives -
- Less protein than table rice
- Most of the starch granules are in a pure core at the centre of the grain
- Larger grained, so less likely to crack when polished
Why is the rice polished?
To remove protein, lipids, vitamins and minerals present in the outer part of the rice grain.
Any protein, lipids, vitamins and minerals that remain will impact the style and category of the sake.
What is present in the outer part of the rice grain before polishing?
Protein
Lipids
Vitamins
Minerals
Any protein, lipids, vitamins and minerals that remain after polishing will impact the style and category of the sake.
What is the polishing ratio?
The amount of rice that remains after polishing
What happens after polishing?
The rice grains are cleaned to remove any remaining rice powder. The rice is washed in small containers, large vats or a continuous rice polishing machine, depending on the size of brewery and style of sake.
The powder is made up of the outer layers of the grain and if it were used, would make the resulting sake less pure, more acidic and rough-textured
Describe the style of sake made from highly polished rice.
Pure Fruitier flavours Lighter body Lower acidity Lower umami
> this is not necessarily of higher quality, just a different style, although prices tend to be higher.
Describe the style of sake made from coarsely polished rice.
More savoury Less fruity More body More acidity More umami
> this is not necessarily of lesser quality, just a different style, although prices tend to be lower.
Put these actions that occur at the start of sake production into order:
Soaking
Washing
Steaming
Polishing
Polishing (to remove proteins, lipids, vitamins and minerals)
Washing (to remove excess power and impurities)
Soaking (to alter the amount and distribution of water in the grain)
Steaming (used rather than boiling so that the outside of the grain remains firm)
How long is the sake rice soaked for, prior to steaming?
This depends on the style of sake.
For the purest and most delicate sake, a stopwatch is used and the rice is soaked in small batches for a few minutes.
For other styles, there is less need to be so precise and soaking is done in large vats for a few hours.
How is the rice steamed after soaking?
Steamed in batches of approximately 1 tonne for 1 hour.
Large brewers have rice steamers that run continuously and are larger and faster.
How long are pure and delicate sake styles soaked for?
In small batches for just a few minutes (timed using a stopwatch)
How long are more robust styles of sake soaked for?
In large vats for a few hours
Why is the rice soaked and steamed before fermentation?
- Raises moisture levels within the grain to produce the best kōji
- Heat changes the structure of the starch so that kōji enzymes can break it down
- Disinfection of the rice, undesirable microbes are killed.
Soaking and steaming raises the moisture levels in the rice. Why is this important?
Soaking ensures that the rice absorbs enough moisture to be soft and moist on the inside.
Steaming rather than boiling ensures that the outside of the rice grain remains firm
These methods ensure that there is even distribution of moisture for producing the best kōji, and makes sure that the rice breaks up in the ferment at the correct rate.
Soaking and steaming changes the starch in the rice. How does this occur and why is this important?
The heat of steaming changes the structure of the starch.
This allows the kōji enzymes to break the starch down into fermentable sugars. Without heat, the kōji enzymes cannot break down the starch.
Soaking and steaming disinfects the rice. Why is this important?
The heat of steaming kills microbes that may cause contamination of the ferment.
What is starch?
A large molecule made up of lots of sugar molecules all linked together in a chain
What is an enzyme?
A type of protein that helps chemical reactions to take place without being used up in those chemical reactions. This means that only small amounts of enzyme are required to convert a lot of starch to sugar.
