Sake Flashcards
What the word Nihonshu means?
- Japanese alcohol (sake)
What type of alcohol can be added in a sake?
- Known as jozo-alcohol, it is normally made from distilled rice or sugar beet and is unaged, colorless and often flavorless
What maximum of spirit can be added in a sake (in weight)?
- the final product must not exceed 10% of the weight of polished rice
True or False, producers can work with table rice varieties
- True, but more difficult to work with
What is the difference between Sakamai (sake rice) and Kakomai (table rice)?
- Sakamai tend to be heavier and about a quarter taller than table rice. It does have a spongier texture and has a unique ratio of fat and protein on the outside, with a particularly starchy center
What is the name of the white heart of rice?
- Shinpaku
Why sake rice is more expensive than table rice?
- It is more challenging to grow, due to wind and top-heavy crops. (sake rice is heavier than table rice)
Why sake is traditionally diluted?
- to avoid additional taxes
What is the average of alcohol of a finished sake?
- 15%-22% (cannot be more than 22%)
What is the official sake association?
- Japan Sake and Shochu Makers Association
Why are we using a kiki-choko for Sake competition (white ceramic cup with a blue bullseye pattern on the inside)?
- You can analyze the color of the sake with the white part and its cloudiness with the blue part
How is name the traditional Japanese cedar vessel?
- Masu
How is named the classic cup and decanter for sake?
- Ochoko: cup
- Tokkuri: decanter
What is the highest temperature we can served sake?
- 50 Celsius (122 F), it’s call Atsu-Kan
What is the lowest temperature can we served sake?
- 5-10 Celsius (41-50 F), it’s call Reishu
What is the top 3 Prefecture for production of Sake?
- Hyogo
- Kyoto
- Niigata
What is the top 3 Prefecture for the number of breweries of Sake?
- Niigata
- Nagano
- Hyogo
True or False, the ideal water for sake in high in iron and manganese
- False, it’s the opposite; low in iron to avoid oxidation and low in manganese to avoid discoloration. High level of potassium and magnesium is preferable, they contribute to the stabilization and flavor
What is the most important yeast used for sake?
- Yeast No.7 or Nagano, more than half of Japan’s breweries have used this yeast.
What is the most important sake rice type?
- Yamada-Nishiki
What the term Seimaibuai refers to?
- the amount of rice that remains after polishing.
Which machine is used for rice polishing?
- Seimaiki
What is the difference between Koji, Koji Muro, Koji-Kin?
- Koji: steam rice + yeast + Koji-Kin
- Koji Muro: Koji Room
- Koji-Kin: Fungus
What aspects on a finished sake is impacted by the Koji selected?
- Acidity
- Potential alcohol
- Aromatic potential
Why are we referring the fermenting process of sake as multiple parallel fermentation?
- The starch is converted as sugar and the sugar is converted to alcohol in the same time
Why lactic acid is crucial for the Moto or Shubo (fermentation starter)?
- It protects the fermentation from other, unwanted bacteria
What is the official term for a master brewer for Sake?
- Toji
What is the traditional method to cultived lactic acid during the Moto process?
- Called the Kimoto method, where the workers pound the mash with large wooden poles for hours at a time, cultivating naturally occurring lactic bacteria from the air
What’s the name of the main fermentation of Sake?
- Moromi
What’s the most delicate press for sake?
- Shizuku (tear drop or gravity press). The bag is hung inside a tank and only what drops out of the bag makes it into the bottle. Almost exclusively used for high end junmnai daiginjo
What is used for a filtration of Sake?
- activated charcoal
What is a Namazake?
- unpasteurized sake
True or false, Japanese law dictates that sake labels must state the date of bottling but not the production date
- True, this means producers can theoretically store sake for a year and then bottle it right before shipping
What is the name of an aged sake?
- Koshu
What is the lower category in sake pyramid?
- Futsushu
Between Honjozo and Junmai, which one has a rice milling requirement?
- Honjozo, 70% polishing or less
What is the minimum of Seimaibuai for Tokubetsu Junmai and Tokubetsu Honjozo?
- 60% or less
What are the two categories that require a seimabuai of 60%?
- Tokubetsu (Junmai or not)
- Gingo (Junmai or not)
What is the minimum of semaibuai for Daiginjo and Junmai Daiginjo?
- 50%
What is Nigorizake?
- It’s a coarse press sake or cloudy sake
Why is it incorect to call ‘Sake’ a ‘rice wine’ ?
- Sake is more than a fermentation
- In a single tank, starch converts to sugar and yeast consumes sugar to produce alcohol (and CO2) simultaneously in what is called multiple parallel fermentation
Speaking of ‘doburoku’ what do we refer to ?
- Rustic, unrefined homebrew sake made in millennia past.
How many rice varieties are recognized for sake production in Japan ?
- Over 80 sakamai (sake rice) varieties
- Sake-approved rice varieties of the subspecies Japonica
Speaking of ‘Shinpaku’ what do we refer to ?
- The heart of a rice grain (sakamai)
Speaking of ‘Tokutei meisho-shu’ what do we refer to ?
“special designation” or “premium” sake
Speaking of ‘Kurabito’ what do we refer to ?
- Brewery workers
What is the difference between ‘genmai’ and ‘hakumai’ ?
- Genmai = brown rice before milling
- Hakumai = white rice after milling
What is a ‘Futsushu’ sake ?
- This lower category comprises roughly 75% of all sake produced in Japan
- no seimaibuai rules, and additives are less prohibited
What is a ‘Honjozo’ sake ?
- brewed using a small amount of distilled pure alcohol to add texture and lighten the sake
- originally a way to compensate for the shortage of rice after World War II
What is a ‘Junmai’ sake ?
- The seimaibuai of Junmai must be stated on the label, but by law, there is no minimum.
- Seimaibuai of 70% or less is typical.
- The sake is made with nothing but rice, water, yeast, and koji mold (i.e., no brewer’s spirit).
What is a ‘Tokubetsu Junmai / Tokubetsu Honjozo’ sake ?
- To be classified as Tokubetsu Junmai, sake must be polished to at least 60%
- or somehow diverge from the producer’s usual methods.
What is a ‘(Junmai) Ginjo’ sake ?
- This sake, with a seimaibuai of 60% or less, is the perfect harmony of kaori (aromatic, fruity, floral style) and aji (textured, savory, taste-driven style). When spirit is added, the sake loses its Junmai prefix.
What is a ‘(Junmai) Daiginjo’ sake ?
- Often a kura’s most coveted sake, this style must have a seimaibuai of 50% or less.
- Some Daiginjo are polished so much that only 9% of the original rice grain
- They are often referred to as kaori.
- When spirit is added, the sake loses its Junmai prefix, and the final product gains roundness and texture by way of viscosity from the brewer’s spirit.
Speaking of ‘Toji’ what do we refer to ?
- Brewmaster
- Toji study at toji shudan or ryuha (“schools” or “guilds,” respectively), of which there are 26 today.
Speaking of ‘Karashi Kikan’ what do we refer to ?
- Coolling period after steaming the rice
Speaking of ‘Moto’ or ‘Shubo’ what do we refer to ?
- Day’s yeast starter
Speaking of ‘Koji Muro’ what do we refer to ?
- Room
- Usually resembling a sauna lined with wood or metal (the latter is arguably more sanitary)
- Rice is spread out on a large table and koji mold spores are delicately sprinkled over top in an almost ritualistic fashion.
- “Koji mold” is the name of the product sprinkled on the rice, and the resulting product is simply called “koji.”
Explain koji mold.
- Koji mold is found in ambient environments throughout Asia, and while it was discovered in China, Japan has championed it as their own spore and has dedicated research centers to its cultivation.
- There are less than 10 koji mold producers in Japan, but they all have an array of unique koji to offer.
- The koji chosen by the toji will affect everything from acidity to potential alcohol and aromatic potential
- Not just for sake production, koji is a catalyst for fermentation in other fermented products such as miso, soy sauce, and mirin. The koji used for sake production is usually yellow koji (Aspergillus Oryzae), while black and white koji are used for shochu production, and typically in warmer climates.
How do you call the equivalent of the must (non- or low- alcohol) for sake – served to kids ?
- Amazake
Speaking of ‘Moromi’ what do we refer to ?
- The main fermentation (multiple parallel)
- Starts 2 weeks after ‘moto’ / ‘shubo’
Explain ‘Multiple Parallel Fermentation’ ?
- The Moromi will transform rice in 2 steps
- Starch to Sugar
- Sugar to Alcohol
Speaking of ‘Kasu’ what do we refer to ?
- Solids that remains after fermentation
- Equivalent to Marc of wine
Speaking of ‘Shizuku’ what do we refer to ?
- ‘Tear Drop’
- Gravity press
Speaking of ‘Shiboritate’ what do we refer to ?
- ‘Fresh squeezed’
- Right after press saké, that can be bottled right away
Speaking of ‘Arabashiri’, ‘Nakagumi’, ‘Seme’, what do we refer to ?
- Three different sake from types of pressing
- Arabashiri = first run, barely cloudy
- Nakagumi == taken from the middle, considered the best
- Seme = final run, may be included in a batch but never sold on its own
Speaking of ‘Muroka’ what do we refer to ?
- Non-charcoal filtered sake
Speaking of ‘Hiire-Sake’ what do we refer to ?
- Twice-pasteurized sake
True or False ? Japanese law dictates that sake labels must state the date of bottling but not the production date.
- True
- Producers can theoretically store sake for a year and then bottle it right before shipping
Which wood essence is important in the sake world ?
- Cedar
- Barrels in Japan are produced from native cedar trees
Speaking of ‘Taru’ what do we refer to ?
- Barrel
Speaking of ‘Ogoshu’ what do we refer to ?
- Extra aged sake
- Anything produced more than one brewing year ago may be called ogoshu
Speaking of ‘Koshu’ what do we refer to ?
- Aged sake
Speaking of ‘Miyamizu’ what do we refer to ?
- ‘Shrine Water’
- Runs down Mount Rokko in Hyogo Prefecture
- This water is used for 25% of all sake in the country
Speaking of ‘Genshu’ what do we refer to ?
- Undiluted sake
- No added water
- Almost always noted on the label
Speaking of ‘Yamada Nishiki’ what do we refer to ?
- Rice variety
- Considered the best
Speaking of ‘Nigori’ what do we refer to ?
- Sake bottled with its lees
- Cloudy appearance
- A looser mesh is used during the pressing process
Speaking of ‘Akazake’ what do we refer to ?
- Red Sake
- Made with unapproved red rice variety, or red koji
Speaking of ‘Nihonshu-do, Sake Meter Value or SMV in English’ what do we refer to ?
- Measurement of the specific gravity of sake
- Density of sake compared to the density of water
- This number ranges from -4 to +14, where higher is drier
Speaking of ‘Karakuchi’ and ‘Amakuchi’, what do we refer to ?
- Karakuchi = Dry
- Amakuchi = Sweet
Chiyonosono brewery is renowned for…?
- Being the first who does not add alcohol (pioneer in the junmai category)
What is it?
- A Sake pressing machine
What are the two official GI of Sake?
- Yamagata GI
- Hakusan Kikusake GI
Put in order Moromi, Moto, Joso
- Moto
- Moromi
- Joso
What is Sokujo?
- a modern way of inoculating the moto with acid lactic speeding up the traditional methods of Kimoto
What is Ki-ippon?
- Term for Sake made at one brewery kind of like estate bottled
What is the name for free pressed sake?
- Shizuku-Shibori
