What is sake? Flashcards
What are the effects of global warming to Yamada Nishiki cultivation?
- The ripening period has become early (Yamada Nishiki is a slow growing rice that ripens late and is best suited for regions that have a long autumn)
- Ripening period falls in the high temperature months and the grains do not fill sufficiently
In the sake making, what is the fermenting mixture of rice (steamed rice), rice-koji and water ?
Moromi(main mash 醪)
During the Taisho period, the main stream sake was dry sake with high acidity. State the possible reasons
- proliferation of lactic acid in the moromi
- the rice polishing ratio was at most 90% which caused the yeast become overly active=>the amount of acid in the moromi increased
- When the rice-polishing ratio is high, the steamed rice is not readily soluable=>the moromi ended up dry with little sugar
In what year the Food Agency categorized Hyogo into two districts (A and B) according to regional differences?
1951 (the following year the districts were changed into three categories A, B and C)
In what year “Washoku: traditional dietary cultures of the Japanese” was added to UNESCO’s list of Intangible Cultural Heritage?
December 2013 (believe this is contributing to the increase of sake exports)
What year recorded the highest production of sake and what quantity?
- 1973
- 1,766 thousand kiloliters
In what year the Hyogo Brewing Rice Special District Promotion Association changed the existing “A-Districts” to “Toku-A-Districts”?
1964
(Toku-A-Districts were further divided into Toku A-a, Toku A-b and Toku A-c Districts)
From then on, Yamada Nishiki was no longer cultivated in B and C-ranking districts.
Explain Mura-mai seido (village-rice system 村米制度）
- Said to have been established in Hyogo prefecture in 1887
- The practice continues still today
- A farming contraact between a specific sake brewery and a specific colony (a community small than a village)
- Motivated the farmers to work consistently to improve the quality of brewing rice that would appeal to the sake brewers
- Topography, physical soil characterstics and other factors affect the terroir were assessed to determine which areas were best suited for cultivation
- The colonies were ranked reflecting in the differences in transaction price
List the method of making ginjo-zukuri (吟醸造り）(3)
- Using highly polished white rice
- Slowly fermenting at a low temperature
- Increasing the ratio of sake cake
Three sake-brewing rice, Yamada Nishiki, Gohyakumangoku and Miyama Nishiki, what are the three varieties account for in percentage of overall inspeiction volume?
Approximately 60.6%
What are the requirements of brewing water(5)?
- Tasteless
- Odorless
- Colorless
- Transparent
- Not contain organic substances or harmful microorganisms
List the largest export destination (country) (4)
- People’s Republic of China
- U.S.
- Hong Kong
- Singapore
What was the most prominent strain of kaori-kobo developed in the mid 1990s?
“Alps yeast”
developed by the Nagano State Laboratory of Food Technology
Name the parent strain common to the followings:
* Dewasansan (Yamagata)
* Koshi-no-shizuku (Fukui)
* Aki-no-sei (Akita)
Miyama Nishiki
What land formations are best suited for sake-brewing rice cultivation?
Nice breezy areas:
* low mountains in the inlands
* foothills in between mountains
* areas at the foot of mountains or basins
* Hilly and mountainous land that expands in the east-west direction rather than the norht-south direction is especially preferrable
What is the process of pressing the moromi is called?
“joso” (上槽）
Name an ancient Chinese book mentioning sake
In “Gishi Toiden”, there is an account of “Wakoku’s Sake” (Chinese rullers used to call Japan “Wakoku”)
For sake brewing, rice used is Japonica, non-sticky paddy rice but in what process some breweries use glutinous rice?
The fourth stage mashing as the mochi-gome-yondan (fourth stage mashing)
In the mid-1990s, what type of kobo quickly became known?
Kaori-kobo (fragrant yeast 香り酵母）or Cerulenin-resistant yeast
Which brewing rice is the cross breeding of “Yamada Nishiki” and “Gohyakumangoku”?
Koshitanrei (越淡麗）
When brown rice has been milled, what is called?
Hakumai (white rice 白米) or
sei-hakumai (polished white rice 精白米）
Top 5 varieties by production volume (2020)
- Yamada Nishiki 28,342t
- Gohyakumangoku 17,561t
- MiyamaNishiki 5,710t
- Akita-sake-komachi 2,343t
- Omachi 1,987t
Which rice variety ranks as the No. 1 in production of sake-brewing rice?
Yamada Nishiki
Which brewing sake was developed specifically for cold regions and early-growing and is hard and does not dissolves easily?
Gohyakumangoku
What are the minerals considered to be active ingredients in sake making (source of nutrition of microorganisms and promote the proliferation of koji-kin and yeast) (4)?
- Potassium
- Phosphorous
- Magnesium
- Calcium
In the Showa period under kyu-betsu-seido, what was the most common sake called and how was it bottled in?
- “regular” sake currently known as futsu-shu(ordinary sake 普通酒)
- Issho bin(1.8-liter bottle 一升瓶)
Asian rice consumed in Japan can be classified into two subspecies(2)
- Japonica (Japanese shorty grain variety)
- Indica (Indian long grain variety)
In the Showa period, what was a classification system in which sake was categorized into three grades - “special”, “first” and “second”?
kyu-betsu-seido 級別制度 (each grade was subject to different liquor tax rates)
What are the two well-known fragrant yeasts in the past decade?
- Kyokai yeast No. 1801
- Meiri M-310 yeast
What was the main brewing rice variety Hyogo breweries were using as their koji prior to the World War II?
“Chugami-mai” from Ibaraki, Osaka
What materials are abundant in the germ and outer layers of rice(5)?
- proteins
- fats
- minerals
- vitamins
- other nutrients
Name the three men who either developed or found Yamadabo, the mother of Yamada Nishiki
- Seizaburo Yamada who found a rice plant growing well in his field and developed it around 1870s in Taka-gun Hyogo
- **Shinzaburo Tanaka **who found a rice plant in Ise City, Mie and brought it back to his home in Yokawa-cho, Miki City, Hyogo
- Kanbei Higashida who brought it from Ibaraki City, Osaka to Yamada-cho.Kita-ku, Hyogo to produce it locally
What year recorded the lowest production of sake and what quantity?
- 1948
- 105 thousand kiloliters
How are the portions which have been grounded off from the brown rice used
- Fertillizers and animal feed (outer layer)
- Ingredients for nukazuke (pickles commonly consumed by the Japanese) (middle layer)
- Rice flour to make snacks like crackers and sweet dumplings, rice noodles and breads (inner portions)
In which time period themometers became widely available?
Taisho period
Which rice strain was created in 1978 at Nagano Agricultural Experimental Station by mutation breeding using gamma ray on “Takane Nishiki” rice seeds?
Miyama Nishiki (美山錦）
What were the number of licensed breweries in 1980 and 2020?
- 1980: 2,947
- 2020: 1,550
Name the shinpaku shapes (2) that are prone to cracking during polishing and must be handled with care but has superior absorbendy and saccharification properties
- Eye-shaped
- Spherical
What are the characteristics of Akita-sake-komachi sake?(3)
- Little zatsumi
- fine umami
- light aftertaste
What is soil type of many Yamada Nishiki-producing areas called?
Claying soil mainly comprised of montmorillionite
What are two cultivation methods of rice called?
- Paddy rice (rice grown in paddy fields)
- Upland rice (rice grown in farmland)
Name the two classifications of “sake making water (shuzo yosui 酒造用水)?
- Brewing water (jozo yosui 醸造用水）: Directly influences the substance of sake
- Bottling water (binzume yosui 瓶詰用水）: used for bottling
What is “mixed culture”?
Using a mixture of fragrant yeasts with traditional yeasts
What rice grade or higher can be used for specially designated sake?
Restricted to Grade 3 or higher
In which breweries Iwai mainly used?
Fushimi area and Kyoto
Which brewing rice was developed by cross-breeding “Shinko sake No. 437 (later named Shirotae Nishiki)” as mother and “Shinko No. 444” as father in 1987 and registered in 1997?
Hitogogochi
In what year so-called “winter era” happened when the taxable volume sake plummet suddenly?
Around 1996
According to the Yamagata Sake Brewers Association this brewing sake produces sake “(that) is soft and has HABA or breadth, the way the sake’s flavor grows and expands on the tongue
Dewasansan
Name the seeds of rice plant?
Unhulled rice
What is a term used to describe the shinpaku too big or displaced to the side where the germ is?
“White belly” (it will easily crack when polished and the target rice-polishing ratio will not be achieved)
The Liquor Tax Act in Japan refers to sake as?
“seishu”(clear sake 清酒)
In what year and month, “sake” was designated as a geographical indication, and only seishu that has been made in Japan using rice produced in Japan may be called “sake”?
December 2015
What effects in moromi occured in the days when there were no cooling facilities?
As it was difficult to control the temperature of moromi, the moromi using hard water tended to end up dry becauce the abundant minerals quickened fermentation and sugar absorption
True/False: the quality of the koji has little effect on the resulting ginjo aroma properties
True
In which period Shinto shrines, Buddhist temples and private brewewers began producing sake?
Heian period (794-1185)
Until the Taisho period the quality of sake was unstable and and a contamination trouble occured during production. Name the term used to describe it
Fuzo (rotting of the moromi, similar to acidic spoilage 腐造)
What names given to rice that is suited for sake brewing?
- Shuzo koteki mai (sake-brewing rice 酒造好適米）
- Koteki mai (brewer’s rice 好適米)
- Saka mai (sake rice 酒米）
- Shuzo mai (sake-brewing rice 酒造米）
How does high temperature during toujuku-ki affect the rice?
Higher temperature, longer the chains of amylopectin, faster the beta-formation and the steamed rice tends to remain undissolved, meaning more sake cake, less sake obtained and a lighter quality sake.
What are the requirements for Sake making water for Manganese compared to tap water
- Sake making Water: 0.02 ppm or below
- Tap Water: 0.05 ppm or below
Describe the structure of Shinpaku
A random cluster of miniscule starch grains (starch crystals) that are loosely bonded with wide gaps in between (which gives a cloudy appearance due to irregular reflection of light)
Name Akita-sake-komachi’s mother and father strains
- Aki-kei shu 251 (mother)
- Aki-kei shu 306 (father)
What koji type is used for futsu-shu and for ginjo-shu?
- futsu-shu: so-haze (overall propagation 総ハゼ）
- ginjo-shu: tsuki-haze (spotted propagation 突きハゼ)
What are the characteristics Kobe Group stratum that is said to produce good brewing rice?
Abundant is plant fossils and comprise alternative layers of clay and sandy-soil
Two species that rice plants can be broadly divided
- Asian rice
- African rice
Name the year and place Aiyama (愛山) was created, and the year designated as “brand variety of the growing district”
- 1941
- The brewing testing areas of Hyogo
- 1980
How much the outer-layer of the brown rice has been removed for a rice-polishing ratio of 60%?
40%
In Edo period what was used instead of brewer’s alcohol?
A shochu (焼酎）called “hashira-jochu”
What is the percentage of total weight. of brewer’s alcohol, saccharides, acidifiers, etc for futsu-shu to the weight of polished rice used?
Must not exceed 50%
What milling method was used before water-mills developed at the end of Edo period and what was it called?
- Man-powered milling
- Ashibumi seimai (feet-stamping milling 足踏み精米)
List the breakdown of the grades of the sake-brewing rice
- Extra fine: 0.9%
- Fine: 17.6%
- Grade 1: 57%
- Grade 2: 14.2%
- Grade 3: 7.4%
- Below standard: 2.8%
Which brewing rice was created by cross-breeding of “Hokuriku No. 12” and “Tohoku No. 25 (Norin No. 17) at the Nagano Agricutural Experimental Staion in 1939 and and currently is mainly produced in Niigata Prefecture?
Takane Nishiki
Aside from Sasa Nishiki from Miyagi, which varieties show good properties for sake brewing (up to 8)?
- Akitsuho (mainly produced in Kochi)
- Asahi and Akebono (Okayama)
- Oseto (Kagawa)
- Nakate-shinsenbon (Hiroshima, Yamaguchi)
- Nihonbare (Shiga, Yamaguchi, Fukui)
- Matsuyama-mii (Ehime)
- Yukihikari (Hokkaido)
- Reiho (Saga, Nagasaki)
In what year Yamada Nishiki marked the largest cropping area acreage?
1963
(7,840ha: 2019 harvest was 5,435ha)
What was polishing rate by ashibumi seimai (foot-stamping milling)?
Around 90%
What is the term used to refer to the ripening period?
Toujuku-ki (ripening period 登熟期）
Why shinpaku rice is suited to sake brewing
- Good absorbency properties
- Good solubility in moromi
- Soft allowing koji-kin mycelium to penetrate into the gaps of the shinpaku, promoting koji with high enzymatic activity to be produced
- Absorb water quickly when steamed, the ideal property of becoming hard on the outside and soft on the inside
What are the types of special designated sake restricted to use brewer’s alcohol? (4)
- honjozo-shu
- tokubetsu honjozo-shu
- ginjo-shu
- daiginjozo-shu
When was the Sake Brewing Quality Label standards established?
November 1989
What year was the National Research Institute of Brewing (国立醸造試験所）(the present National Research Institute of Brewing (NRIB) 酒造総合研究所）founded?
1904
What is Nihon-shu?
A fermented alcoholic beverage like beer and wine tradtional to Japan
What triggered the expansion of cultivation of Yamada Nishiki by Hyogo breweries after the World War II?
In 1940, Enforcement of temporary rice-rationing regulative forced the breweries to use locally produced rice. Up to then they considered “Chugami-mai” mainly cultivated in Ibaraki, Osaka to be the best rice for making rice and were reluctant to try new varieties. This led to research on making koji with Hyogo produced rice including Yamada Nishiki
How was Miyamizu of Nada discovered?
A sake brewer Tazaemon Yamamura compared sake made from his Uozaki (Kobe City) and Nishinomiya (Nishinomiya City) and found that the sake made from Nishinomiya had superior quality and traced the reason to the water from Nishinomiya which contained abundant favorable minerals for sake making. Nishinomiya water is considered to be hard water while most of Japan has soft water.
What makes Miyamizu suited for sake making?
Miyamizu is rich in phosphorous, potassium, and chorine. These three minerals are vital compounds that promote the fermentation of the yeast. The minerals play an important role during the initial stages of the fermentation process.
Which prefectures are considered to be the northern limits of Yamada Nishiki in recent years (2)?
- Miyagi
- Yamagata
How does the percentage of rice grains that contain shinpaku?
Shinpaku appearance index (%) =
Number of grains containing shinpaku / total grain number X 100
What charactizes the rice containing an extremely high amount of amylose such as Indica rice?
Flaky without much stickness
Who discovered Omachi while a pilgrimage to Daisan Tottori and then planted once returned home and cultivated it in 1859?
Jinzo Kishimoto
Which strains were created by cross breeding Hattan No. 35 and Akitsuho?
- Hattan Nishiki No. 1
- Hattan Nishiki No. 2
List the top five prefectures of production of brown rice for brewing in 2020
- Hyogo 22,338t
- Niigata 11,223t
- Nagano 4,982t
- Akita 4,613t
- Okayama 4,029t
In the 1980s a new sake boom started. What was it?
Ginjo-shu (as well as nama-zake to certain extent)
What are the requirements for Sake making water for Iron compared to tap water?
- Sake making Water: 0.02 ppm or below (preferable nil)
- Tap Water: 0.3 ppm or below
In which period, extremely sweet and strong flavored sake became commonly produced and enjoyed?
From the late Taisho period to around 1940 => the drinking population increased significantly
What sake quality Gohyakumangoku is said to have realized?
“Tanrei-Karakuchi” (light, crisp and dry 淡麗辛口）
List weight of the senryuju of brown rice of a typical table rice and many of the large-grain brewing rice such as Omachi, Yamada Nishiki and Tamasakae
- About 20~22g
- Over 26g
What is the formulae to calculate True Rice Polishing Ratio(%)?
senryuju of white rice after polishing (g)/ senryuju of original brown rice(g) X 100
What are the properties required for sake-brewing rice?(5)
- Rice resistant to breakage during rice polishing
- Large-grained rice
- Rice wtih shinpaku
- Rice with low protein content
- Soft textured rice
What will be the result of original shape polishing?
The amount removed from the thicker portion will be 2/5(40%) of the of the longer portion. The amount of the bran layer that is removed will differ slightly depending on the portion of the brown rice. In terms of protein removed, this method is not satisfactory
