Sake Flashcards
What is a Jizake?
Microbrewery
regional sake
What is unique about the production of Sake?
Made by multiple parallel fermentation: Starch converts to sugar and yeast consumes sugar to produce alcohol (and C02) simultaneously.
What is a kura?
Sake brewery
Which two prefectures received GI status from the WTO in 2016?
Yamagata (all of it - Yamagata GI))
The breweries of Tengumai, Kikuhime, Tedorigawa, Manzairaku and Takasago in the town of Hakusan in the Ishikawa Prefecture (Hakusan Kikusake GI)
What do the Yamagata GI rules state?
51 breweries of the prefecture must use rice and koji grown in Japan, use only Yamagata water, and bottle and store their sake in the Yamagata
What is doburoku?
The rustic unrefined homebrew sake made in the past
What does the term sake refer to in Japan?
refers to all acohol
What is the most appropriate word used for Sake in Japan?
Nihonshu - “Japanese alcohol”
What are the 5 key ingredients of sake?
Rice, water, yeast, koji mold and brewer’s spirit (distilled alcohol).
What are the two overarching official categories within sake?
Junmai (no brewer’s spirit)
Arukouru Tenka or Aruten (spirit added)
What styles are included in Junmai?
Junmai
Junmai Ginjo
Junmai Daiginjo
What are the styles of Arukouru Tenka / Aruten?
Honjozo
Ginjo
Daiginjo
What is brewer’s spirit known as in Japan and what is it made from?
Jozo-alcohol
normally made from distilled rice or sugar beet - unaged, colorless and flavorless
What are the four main islands of Japan?
N to S
Hokkaido
Honshu
Shikoku
Kyushu
Climate of Japan?
Cool to sub-tropical
What are two rice strains used used to make rice in Japan?
Indica (long grain) - for consumption
Japonica (short grain) - Sake
What is Japonica rice like?
Difficult / expensive to grow
High absorption rate / fragile
Large shinpaku (heart) / starch
What % of total rice production is Japonica?
1%
sticky / non sticky (preferred)
Primary Japonica Rice Varieties.
Omachi (1859) Long history
Yamada Nishiki (1923) Difficult to cultivate
Gohyakumangoku (1938) Large production
Hattan Nishiki (1973) Shorter height
What is shinpaku?
The heart of the rice grain.
What % alcohol does sake ferment to?
8-22%
-final product diluted to 15% to avoid additional taxes
-legally, can’t have higher than 22%
Soils preferred for rice paddies?
Water-retaining soils of silt, clay and loam
What type of climate does sake rice like? What does the climate do for the rice?
Strong diurnal shifts
-hot days
-cold nights
-cause the starch from the outside of the grain of rice to be collected into its center to make a good high concentration of starch
What is shinpaku?
The heart of the rice grain.
What are the five grades of size for classifying rice?
Santoh (Grade 3)
Nittoh (Grade 2)
Ittoh (Grade 1)
Tokuto (Special Grade)
Tokujo (Higher Special Grade)
-premimum sake must be made from rice that has been given one of these five grades
How is special designation or premium sake labeled?
Tokutei Meisho-shu
This is the top six grades of sake: Honjozo-shu, ginjo-shu, daiginjo-shu, junmai-shu, junmai-ginjo-shu, junmai-daiginjo-shu
Are preservatives, coloring agents, flavors or fragrances allowed in sake?
No - regulated by government
How long is the production cycle of sake?
1 year
July 1 - June 30
What is a seimaiki?
A sake rice milling machine
What is seimaibuai?
Refers to the amount of rice that remains after polishing.
This sake has a seimaibuai of 7% whose milling roll is made with diamond crystals.
Super 7 Junmai Daiginjo made by Hakurakusei from Miyagi in Northern Japan
What style does lower seimaibuai produce typically?
More elegant, delicate flavors and vibrant aromatics.
What style of sake with higher seimaibuia produce?
more rustic and savory styles of sake.
Why do they mill sake rice?
To remove the protein-rich outer shell, revealing the starchy heart of the rice.
What is Futsushu?
“Normal sake”
Makes up about 80% of the market
Made with a lot of distilled alcohol to increase yields
What does honjozo imply?
The addition of brewer’s alcohol (pure distillate).
Honjozo-shu 70% remaining
What is required for junmai?
The producer must print seimaibuai on the label, and use only water, rice, and koji (no brewers alcohol).
THERE IS NO LONGER A REQUIRED SEMAIBUAI FOR JUNMAI.
-usually more robust, structured and umami driven
What is required for Tokubetsu Junmai and Tokubetsu Honjozo?
Tokubetsu designates a more highly polished rice or a special bottling
Sake must be polished to at least 60% seimaibuai or somehow diverge from the producer’s usual methods
-i.e. if a Junmai is produced by the traditional Kimoto method, and this is outside of the brewery’s usual style, as long as this is noted on the label, the sake’s seimaibuai could be 70% and the bottle still labeled as Tokubetsu Junmai
What is required for (Junmai) Ginjo?
Sake with a seimaibuai of 60% or less
-aromatic, fruity, floral style
-when spirit is added, the sake loses its Junmai prefix
What is required for (Junmai) Daiginjo?
Sake with a seimaibuai of 50% or less
-delicate, vibrant exotic fruit and floral
-when spirit is added, the sake loses its Junmai prefix
What is kaori?
(Junmai) Daiginjo that is polished to 9% of original rice grain
What is a toji?
Brewmaster
What does soaking the rice do before steaming it?
the rate of soaking will affect the way the rice cooks when steaming and ultimately the way the koji mold interacts with the steamed rice
How long is rice steamed?
What does steaming do?
40-60 minutes
Breaks up the starch molecules and sterilizes the rice
-makes the rice hard on outside and soft on inside
-encourages the koji mold to work toward the moist, starchy center once it is introduced
What is the koji muro?
Koji room
What is karashi kikan?
cooling period for rice after steaming
What is the moto or shubo?
The starter for sake: koji, yeast, additional rice, and water.
Why is the non-koji rice at the bottom of the steaming tank and the rice that will be sprinkled with koji mold at the top of the steamer?
Rice that will be sprinkled with koji mold needs to more gently cooked.
What is kakemai?
Non-koji rice
What is Kojimai?
Rice that will be sprinkled with koji mold.