Sake Flashcards
How sake is made?
a chosen type of rice is milled, or polished, to remove some of the protein-laden outer husk of the rice grain. Many consider Yamada Nishiki the superior type of rice. The pure starchy heart of the rice grain (shinpaku) produces the best sake, and sake is labeled according to the degree to which it has been milled (seimaibuai).
After the rice has been milled, it is rinsed, soaked in water, and steamed in successive stages. A first batch of steamed rice is inoculated with the koji-kin, a green, powdery mold. The mold grows on the steamed rice for about two days; the steamed rice upon which the mold is cultivated is the koji. Yeast, additional rice, and water are added to the koji to create the starter, known as moto or shubo. The moto develops over a period of two weeks before it is moved to a larger vessel for fermentation. Koji, water, and steamed rice are added to the moto in three successive stages, creating the moromi, or fermenting mash, which doubles in size with each addition. Once the final addition has been made, the sake will ferment for up to 45 days and reach an alcohol content of approximately 20%. Water is typically added to lower the final alcohol level to around 17%. The sake is then pressed and is usually filtered and pasteurized.
Brewed alcoholic beverage (not distilled)
Sake may range in style from?
dry to sweet
Regardless of sweetness, quality sake is best served?
lightly chilled or at room temperature
Although sake may be served in wine glasses to enhance its aromas, the beverage is traditionally decanted from the bottle into a ?
tokkuri—a ceramic flask with a narrow neck—and then poured into an ochoko (small cylindrical vessel) or the more ceremonial sakazuki cup. If warm sake is requested, the tokkuri may be placed in a bath of hot water. Sake is generally meant for consumption shortly after the bottling date, as it does not usually improve with bottle age.
Name the styles of Sake
Junmai 70 (prior to 2004) Provided the producer prints the term seimaibuai on the label, and uses only water, rice, and koji, the milling percentage may now be higher than 70%.
Honjozo 70 A slight amount of brewer’s alcohol (pure distillate) is added to the sake before pressing.
Ginjo 60 If labeled Ginjo, the sake will be honjozo in style, with brewer’s alcohol added. If no distilled alcohol is added, it will be labeled Junmai Ginjo.
Daiginjo 50 If labeled Daiginjo, the sake will be honjozo in style, with brewer’s alcohol added. If no distilled alcohol is added, it will be labeled Junmai Daiginjo.
Name the special styles of Sake
namazake (unpasteurized sake)
nigorizake (“cloudy” coarsely filtered sake)
taruzake (sake aged in wooden barrels)
Jizake (sake from a smaller kura (brewery)
genshu sake (undiluted sake)
Which are the primary ingredients for Sake?
Rice: Special sake rice (shuzo-kotekimai) with high starch content.
Water: Often sourced from pristine local springs.
Koji Mold (Aspergillus oryzae): Used to convert rice starches into fermentable sugars.
Yeast: For fermentation.
brewer’s spirit (distilled alcohol)
Sake is an ancient beverage, produced for over?
2,000 years in Japan
Which are the GIs of Sake?
two prefectures: the entire prefecture of Yamagata in the north (Yamagata GI)
Hakusan Kikusake GI
What is Nigorizake?
is named for its cloudy appearance. Essentially, this is sake bottled with its lees and can be called cloudy Sake but it is not unfiltered.
Is there a sparkling Sake?
Yes
In sparkling sake production, moromi fermentation can be arrested while the sake is at just 8% ABV. From here, the brewery can add their own rice-based liqueur de tirage to induce the second fermentation in bottle. With no official production method and low acidity in comparison to traditional Champagne grapes, this category is a challenging one, often yielding sweet or cloying bottles
What is Red Sake?
Akazake (“red sake”) can be made in a variety of ways. One is using unapproved red rice varieties, letting their pigment bleed into the moromi. In Kumamoto, ash is added during production. In Niigata, a rare red koji is used. There are also yeast strains that give the finished product a red tint. Some sake is left to oxidize until it takes on an amber or reddish color. All of these are acceptable forms of red sake, though the term is unregulated
The most famous water is?
At 80% of the finished product, water is the primary component of sake
miyamizu, “shrine water” that runs down Mount Rokko in Hyogo Prefecture into the historical Nada area
What is Futsushu ?
This lower category comprises roughly 75% of all sake produced in Japan
What is semaibuai?
The seimaibuai (pronounced “say-my-boo-eye”) is a key term in sake brewing that refers to the percentage of a rice grain that remains after polishing. It directly affects the flavor, aroma, and classification of sake. The lower the seimaibuai percentage, the more the outer layers of the rice have been polished away, leaving the starchy core.
