Sake Flashcards
Seimaibual
Milled rice
Milling
Amount of rice kernel left after milling
Effect quality and style of the finished sake
The more milled rice the more delicate and complex the sake
Shinpaku
White heart
High in sake
Most famous rice
Yamada nishiki 1936 hyogo
Highly fragrant complex sake
Well rounded
Hints of vanilla
Gohyakumangoku 1938 Niigata rice
Air
Clean
Light
Dry finish
Omachi 1859 okyma
Heirloom sake rice
Yields layered mild fragrant
Nutty earthy tones
Kura
Sake brewery
Water in sake
Can use pure, treated spring or well water
Most profound character on final product
Kura can be set up in specific places due to water quality
Famous water sources for sake
Hyogo
Kyoto
Niigata
Shizouka
Koji
Mold called aspergillus oryzae
Fungus used to produce many japanese products - soy sauce, miso, sake
How is rice Koji produced
Innoculating Koji onto steamed rice
What does Koji produce
Enzymes necessary for breaking down rice starch into fermentable glucose in sake production
Why is rice Koji important
Heart of production
Misstep can lead to diff results
Making it is a carefully tended process - round the clock watching
Junmai-shu
Pure rice wine
At least 30% of rice polished away
No adding of distiller alcohol
Junmai gingo
At least 40% of rice polished away
No alcohol added
Junmai daiginjo
At least 50% of rice polished away
No alcohol added
Honjozo-shu
At least 30 of rice polished away
A small amount of distiller alcohol is added
Ginjo-shu honjozo
40% of rice polished away
Distilled alcohol added
Daiginjo-shu honjozo
At least 50% of rice polished away
Distilled alcohol added
Genshu
Undiluted
Can be high as 22% alcohol
Kimoto
Lactic style, made by heavy stirring process
Namazake
A special 5th designation for non pasteurized sake
All four seimaibuai may be Namazake or not
Nigori
Milky
Unfiltered
Cloudy
Usually sweet
Shizuku
Free run
Not pressed
Taruzake
Aged in cypress casks
Nihonshu-do
Aka sake meter value SMV
Lower or negative numbers indicate increasing sweetness
Higher positive numbers indicate drier sake
Scale from -5 to +10
What can impact the perceived sweetness or dryness of a sake
Hardness of water
Acid content
Temperature
Other
Sake making process
Milling of rice
Dry the rice to equalize the moisture level
Wash rice soaking draining
Steaming cooling
Rice, Koji production, inoculate Koji on steamed rice
Shubo prepare yeast starter
Morimi produce sake mash, fermentation, adding jozo if needed
Pressing separate liquid from solids
Filtration, 1st heat pasteurization
Aging process (some sake indefinitely)
Blending, tasting, warmizu, 2nd pasteurization
Milling of rice
Time
2 days
Dry the rice to equalize moisture level
Time
30 days
Wash rice, soaking, draining
Time
1 day
Steaming, cooling
Time
1 day
Rice, Koji production, inoculate Koji on steamed rice
Time
2 days
Shubo prepare yeast starter
Time
14-20 days
Morimi produce sake mash
Fermentation
Adding jozo if needed
Time
14-20 days
Pressing separate liquids from solids
Time
7 days
Filtration, 1st heat pasteurization
Time
1 day
Aging process
Time
2-6 weeks
Some sake age indefinitely
Blending Tasting Warmizu, 2nd pasturization Bottling
2 days
