Tōhoku: Akita Flashcards
Which two pre-Meiji names are associated with Akita?
Dewa
Mutsu
What industry boosted sake production during the Edo period in Akita?
Mining
What feature of the environment was important for trade in Akita historically?
Rivers (transportation in both southern and northern Akita)
The Sea of Japan (Kitamae trade route)
At what temperatures have Akita brewers historically brewed sake?
Cold!
Used to perform kanzukuri – with fermentation lasting about a month
What is the modified version of the traditional method associated with Akita?
Akita-ryu kimoto method
What is the Akita-ryu kimoto method?
What does it result in?
Using a hand-operated electric drill with a special bit attached, to replace the wooden poles used in yama-oroshi
It results in a relatively anaerobic environment, minimising oxygen in the tank, thereby encouraging lactic acid bacteria to propagate.
This itself results in an ultra clean kimoto sake
Which key producer of kōji-kin and sake yeast is based in Akita?
Akita Konno Moyashi
What styles of sake do Akita brewers tend to focus on?
Junmai-shu
Many produce yamahai / kimoto sake too
Which brewery in Akita experiments with black and white kōji-kin?
Asamai Shuzō (Amanoto)
Which Akita breweries are using cedar keoke moromi tanks?
Yamamoto brewery
Aramasa brewery
What is the name of Akita’s only tōji guild?
Sannai Tōji
What does the Sannai Tōji guild focus on?
What does this mean specifically?
The guild focuses on natural brewing
This means:
- no mixing of tanks or blending of ingredients
- no addition of water at the end of fermentation
- no charcoal filtration
What is NEXT FIVE?
A collective of five younger brewers in Akita
They work together each season to craft a special sake, each overseeing a segment of the brewing process
What are the important rivers/river basins for rice cultivation and sake brewing in Akita?
Yoneshiro River (N Akita, forming in Ōu Mountains, water for breweries)
Omono River (C Akita, flowing N from Mt Daisen, water for rice cultivation and breweries)
Yokote Basin (S Akita, water for rice cultivation)
What is Akita known for throughout Japan?
Why?
Its high quality rice
Long sunshine hours allow for high quality rice cultivation
Which is Akita’s predominant sake rice?
Akita Sake Komachi
When was Akita Sake Komachi developed / registered?
1992 / 2003
Which rice is Akita Sake Komachi similar to?
What style of sake does this make it good for?
Similar to Yamada Nishiki –> good for ginjō-shus
Which yeast is Akita Sake Komachi highly compatible with?
AK-1 Ginjō Yeast
How is Akita Sake Komachi similar to Miyama Nishiki?
Cold resistant and therefore suited to Akita’s cold climate
What is Akita Sake Komachi’s
- grain size?
- starch content?
- protein content?
- resistance to cracking?
- Large grain
- High starch
- Low protein
- Resistant to cracking
Which rice variety originates in Nagano but is widely cultivated in Akita?
Miyama Nishiki
What is Miyama Nishiki valued for?
Large plump grains
High ratio of simpaku
Low proteins
Parenting cold climate strains e.g. Dewasansan, Akionosei, Yumenokaori
Which Akita sakamai variety was developed in the late 1980s, in an effort to cultivate Akita’s first ginjō rice?
Gin no sei
What is distinctive about Gin no Sei’s shinpaku?
It has a small shinpaku, sometimes dubbed the mystery shinpaku since light does not define it as with Yamada Nishiki
–> can be milled to daiginjō levels without cracking
What is Gin no Sei’s protein content?
What does this mean for the final sake?
High protein content
Elegant flavours with deep taste but less aroma
Is Akita’s water generally soft or hard?
What does this lend to the sake?
Soft
Mellowness
Which two association yeasts were isolated in Akita?
Kyōkai Yeast no. 6
AK-1 (Akitaryu Hanakōbo) aka Kyōkai yeast no. 1501
Kyōkai Yeast no. 6 is now the ____ yeast distributed by the Brewing Society of Japan.
Kyōkai Yeast no. 6 is now the oldest yeast distributed by the Brewing Society of Japan.
(Isolated 1939 at Aramasa Shuzō, who actively use it today)
What are the characteristics of Kyōkai Yeast no. 6?
Promotes a powerful fermentation –> ideal for cold temps
Comparatively low fragrance and mild flavours for a ginjō yeast
When was AK-1 isolated?
What was it isolated as?
1990
Ginjō yeast
Kyōkai yeast no. 1501 (aka AK-1) is the first kyōkai yeast developed only as a ______ yeast
Kyōkai yeast no. 1501 (aka AK-1) is the first kyōkai yeast developed only as a non-foaming yeast
Kyōkai yeast no. 1501 produced pronounced aromatics of refreshing ______ and requires, like Kyōkai no. 6, ____ temperatures during fermentation
Kyōkai yeast no. 1501 produced pronounced aromatics of refreshing melon and requires, like Kyōkai no. 6, low temperatures during fermentation
Kuratsuki Kōbo are the _____ yeasts that ______________.
Kuratsuki Kōbo are the natural yeasts that live on the walls of the brewery or are propagated from the brewery’s moromi
Discuss the significance of the Yokote Basin
Located in the southern part of Akita, this area is very important. A lot of high quality rice is grown here. It is also home to the Sannai Toji, which is Akita’s local toji guild.
What are the significant characteristics of the Sannai Toji?
Sannai Toji:
Natural brewing without stirring. The tanks have convex bottoms and stir themselves.
No blending of ingredients.
All Genshu
All Muroka
