C2 - An Overview of Sake Production - completed Flashcards
What is the main raw material for making sake?
Steamed white rice
What is the function of water and kōji in making sake?
Rice is a solid with a starchy core that needs water and kōji to convert the solid starch into a sugary fermentable liquid.
What else is need to convert the sugars into alcohol?
yeast
Briefly describe the growing cycle of rice by season
- planted in spring
- grown in summer
- harvest in autumn
Rice is an ___ ___ crop
edible cereal
How long can rice be stored once it’s harvested?
a few months
What kind of land can the rice farmed?
- flooded rice-paddies in Japan
- dry fields, usually in the USA.
What are the two main subspecies of Asia rice?
1 - long grained (Indica)
2 - short grained (Japonica)
What are the two types of rice subdivided under Indica and Japonica?
1 - sticky (glutinous)
2 - non-sticky (non-glutinous)
Which type/spice of rice is only be used for brewing sake?
the non-sticky short grained rice.
List a few of the characteristics of the non-sticky short grained rice
- easy to farm
- high yield
- grown in Japan and elsewhere
- as table rice for eating
- also suitable for making sake
What are the challenges of growing sake-specific rice?
harder to farm and lower yields
Why the sake brewers like to use the sake-specific rice?
it’s easier to separate cleanly the starch from the proteins and other undesirable parts of the rice grain
Which 3 reasons make the sake-specific rice easier to separate the starch from the proteins of the rice grains?
- they contain less protein then table rice
- most of the starch granules lie in a well-defined almost pure starch core
- they are larger-grained, therefore less likely to crack when polished.
What is the first step to process the rice before being used in sake production?
polishing
What is the purpose of polishing the rice?
to remove the:
- proteins
- lipids
- vitamins and
- minerals
in the outter part of the rice grain.
Leaving just the starchy core
What is the polishing ratio referred to?
The amount of the remaining rice after polishing.
What is the difference between table rice and sake-specific rice in terms of polishing
table rice are less highly polished than rice used in sake brewing
Why the polishing ratio will affect the final style and category of the sake?
Polishing determined the amount of the rice is polished and the amount of proteins, lipids, viatmins and minerals that remain.
What is the second step after polishing?
- the rice grains need to be cleaned to remove any remaining fine rice powder
What is the purpose of cleaning and removing the fine rice powder?
- the powder is made up of tiny fragments of the bits of rice was trying to remove, they would make the sake less pure, more rough-textured and acidic.
How the fine rice powder is removed in the cleaning process?
by washing, either in:
- small container
- large vats
- or a continuous rice polishing machine
Characteristics of sake made from highly polished rice:
- have purer, fruitier flavours
- lighter in body
- lower acidity and umami
Characteristics of sake made from less highly polished (coarsely polished) rice:
- have more savory
- less fruity flavours
- more body
- more acidity
- more umami
- price tend to be lower