C14 - Finishing - completed Flashcards
can sake be packed and sell immediately after filtration?
yes, some are sold in limited numbers as a seasonal product
why most of the sake needs to go through the finishing processes?
- clarity
- colour
- alcohol level
- stability
what are the processes in finishing?
- subtracting
- pasteurisation
- storage and maturation
- additions
what is not allowed to remove in finsihing?
alcohol
for all sake, what is the only ingredient permitted to add after filtration?
water
what are the techniques used in subtracting?
- sedimentation
- protein fining
- charcoal fining
- final filtration
what sedimentation does?
- after filtration, leaving the sake for up to a week to settle the sediments (small particles of rice or yeast)
- clear sake can be pumped off the sediment
- using a filter to filter out the sediments
what protein fining does?
- during storage, tiny protein particles suspend in the sake
- adding fining agent can make these particles to clump together
- and then filter out those larger particles
what is the functions of using active charcoal in charcoal fining?
- it’s an fining agent to reduce colour
- remove undesirable aromas, flavours, textures
- slow down sake ageing
- slow down the development of colour and aged aromas
what is the Japanese term of charcoal fining?
roka
when was the charcoal fining technique developed?
1911 - 1923
when was cleared sake most appreciated?
when the water-white style of Niigata style is developed in the late 1980s
when market trend is toward muroka style now?
- brewers believed roka also removed some positive characters
- roka makes the sake too thin and characterless
- in extreme cases, can even smell and taste the carbon
- muroka is more natural, richer and less manipulated style
what are the 2 main objectives of using filters in final filtration?
- produce a crystal clear sake
- remove yeast and bacteria for stability
why pasteurisation is needed?
- risk of deteriorating
- koji enzymes can continue breaking up starch fragment
- if temperature rises, yeast and microorganisms can feed on the residual sugar
- low acidity environment can let microorganism lives
- cannot add SO2 as preservatives because it won’t work on low acidity environemnt
which tool can be used to remove yeast and much more smaller bacteria?
special filters with very small pore size
what is hi-ochi kin?
a strain lactic acid bacteria
what is the problem of hi-ochi kin?
it can make the sake cloudy, oxidised and give unpleasant odour
what is not being removed by normal filtration?
koji enzymes
what is the problem of the remaining koji enzymes after filtration?
- increase sweetness
- accelerate oxidation
- loss of freshness
which tools can be used to remove the remaining koji enzymes?
- molecular filter
- heat
what kind of special sake can be produced by using molecular filter?
unpasteurised sakes that do not need to be kept cold
what is the disadvantage of molecular filter?
expensive
what are the effects of using heat for pasteurisation?
- deactivate koji enzymes
- kill any yeast and bacteria