How to make sake
Sake is a traditional Japanese alcoholic beverage. Its making process is unique. If you know how to make sake, you will enjoy drinking sake even more! For the sake beginner, we introduce how to make sake!
How to make sake
Rice polishing – Seimai 精米
The process of grinding rice is called “MIGAKU – polishing”.
The outer fat and protein that are perceived as miscellaneous tastes are scraped off.
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Some sake labels indicate how much rice has been shaved.
A notation such as “X% polished rice” is called the milling ratio, which indicates the percentage of rice that has been polished from the brown rice. In other words, 60% milled rice means that 40% of the rice has been milled. The smaller the milling ratio number, the more polished the rice is! Considering that white rice is usually polished to about 90%, while sake is generally polished to 70% or more, you can see how much emphasis is placed on the subtlety of flavor! Some sake is made without rice polishing in order to enjoy the depth of the rice. Some sake is made without rice polishing in order to enjoy the depth of the rice! Sake made with a lot of polished rice is more refreshing and easier to drink, so please use this as a reference for your sake selection.
Rice washing and soaking – Senmai, Shinseki 洗米・浸漬
Wash the rice and soak it in water.
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If the water absorption time is too short, the rice will not be sufficiently steamed due to insufficient moisture, and if the water absorption time is too long, the rice will dissolve too much during the mash fermentation process. Another profound aspect of sake brewing is that the optimum water absorption time for sake brewing is not always constant! If the temperature is low, water will not soak in as easily, and the amount of water that can be absorbed differs depending on the variety of sake rice. The soaking time is changed in seconds depending on the climate and temperature at the time, and the variety of rice used to make sake, to ensure that the right amount of water is absorbed. Sake brewing is very delicate!
Steamed rice – Mushimai 蒸米
The rice is steamed in a steamer called a koshiki.
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Steaming makes it easier for “koji mold” to take effect in the following process. Steaming” instead of “cooking! Rice becomes fluffy, chewy, and delicious when cooked, but if sake is too sticky, the rice will dissolve during the brewing process, resulting in a cloying taste. Therefore, only the necessary amount of water is added by steaming. This is called steaming. The best steamed rice is the one that is firm enough not to stick to the hand!
Koji 麹づくり
The steamed rice is moved to the koji chamber.
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In the koji room, steamed rice is spread out and sprinkled with koji fungi to propagate in a temperature kept at around 35℃! The increased koji fungi is called koji, and it is essential for sake. Koji is responsible for converting starch into glucose. The glucose undergoes alcoholic fermentation to become sake. For example, the main ingredient of grapes, the raw material for wine, is glucose. Glucose undergoes alcoholic fermentation when water is added and time passes. Rice, however, is composed of starch. Since starch cannot be alcohol fermented simply by adding water, it must first be converted to glucose. That is the role of koji. It is truly amazing that the person who discovered koji, which breaks down rice into glucose, made sake!
Shubo 酒母づくり
Yeast and steamed rice are added to a mixture of koji and water, and fermentation takes place.
The state in which there is a large increase in yeast is called shubo (mother of sake). Since yeast is responsible for converting glucose into alcohol, sake cannot be made without a large amount of yeast. The yeast is increased to make the mother of sake.
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Yeast is a type of microorganism. One of the roles of yeast is to make bread swell.
When making sake mother, the surface of the mother will swell as time goes by. After even more time, popping bubbles will appear. At this time, it also has the power to produce an aroma, and just smelling it makes you feel like you’ve had a drink!
Shikomi 仕込み
The mother of sake is transferred to a large tank, and koji, steamed rice, and water are added in three batches to make moromi. This process is called “three-stage brewing” or “brewing.
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The reaction of koji mold breaking down rice into glucose and the reaction of yeast breaking down glucose into alcohol are occurring at the same time. If the entire amount is added at once to ferment, the yeast bacteria will not be able to multiply in time. This brewing method is unique to sake and not found in other alcoholic beverages. As fermentation progresses, bubbles start to appear, just as they do when the sake mother is used. After about three weeks to a month of slow fermentation, it is called “moromi,” and the prototype of sake is finally ready at this stage.
Shibori 搾り
Pressure is applied to the mash and it is strained (strained). This is called “squeezing.
By pressing, the mash is separated into water and solid matter. Simply put, the sake is separated into sake and sakekasu.
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Depending on the brewery, there are two ways to press the sake: by placing it in a bag and pressing it by gravity, or by using a machine called an automatic press-filter, the latter of which has recently become the mainstream method. The flavor of the sake changes depending on the pressing pressure, and this is one of the operations that reveal the individuality of the brewery!
Roka 濾過
After the sake has been pressed, it is filtered.
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Before filtration, sake can be a little cloudy and may have a slight effervescence. So filtration creates a clear sake! These days, it is common to filter through a filter. In the past, activated charcoal was often used, but since it also removes many of the flavor components, it is no longer the mainstream method. Once filtered, sake has a clean taste.
Hiire 火入れ
Immediately after filtration, the first fire is performed.
Heat must be applied to deactivate the yeast in order to prevent fermentation from proceeding and altering the flavor because of the yeast remaining.
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This process is also necessary to kill hi-ochikin, a lactic acid bacteria that can oxidize sake and give it an odor! The word “hi-ire” may remind you of a process that involves putting the sake directly into the fire. The product is pasteurized at 60°C to 65°C in a manner similar to a hot water bath. The key is to use a temperature that kills or deactivates the bacteria, but does not compromise the taste of the sake! This will keep sake tasty for a long time.
Chozo 貯蔵
Store for maturation.
Sake that has been stored and aged changes to a mellower flavor, making it easier to drink.
Sake is stored in tanks for about six months to a year after hi-ire, taking its time.
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There is also sake called nama-shu, which is shipped without storage, but the sake generally distributed is stored. Even if the sake is made in the same tank, you will notice a difference in taste when you compare the taste of the raw sake with that of the stored sake. This is one of the ways to enjoy sake, so please compare the two when you see them!
Chogo 調合
Matured sake is combined with or watered down (watered down) with sake from another tank.
The reason for this is that even if the same sake is made in the same way, each tank has a slightly different flavor.
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One of the reasons is the temperature difference depending on the location of the tanks. It seems that the slightest thing can make a subtle difference in the fermentation process. Also, sake can taste completely different even if the alcohol content differs by 0.5 degree! In order to get the right taste, water is added in some cases to fine-tune the taste. This process is called mixing. In this way, blending and adding water to the stored sake is done to create the final taste.
Bintsume 瓶詰め
This is the final process of packing into bottles and packs. This process is also very important! We cannot let up until the very end!
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Even at the bottling stage, if the temperature is not properly controlled, the taste may change or deteriorate. Each bottle is inspected one by one for foreign substances. Only sake that has passed the strict inspection is shipped. Sake brewing is a meticulous and delicate process from start to finish.
Ingredients and people are indispensable for making delicious sake.
We have explained how to make sake, but there are two essential conditions for good sake.
- Good “raw materials”
- A skilled “person”
These two are very important. Without good rice and water, no matter how skilled a person is in making sake, good sake cannot be made. In other words, good sake has both good raw materials and human skills.
In addition, rice, the raw material for sake, is produced by farmers.
Considering the process from the soil preparation of the rice, it takes a year at the earliest to produce sake. It takes about two years for the sake to mature. After a long time, sake is finally ready for consumption.
The Japanese people have a long history of labor and skill to produce delicious sake, and when you think that they are constantly updating their techniques, you feel sorry for the sake makers if you don’t take the time to enjoy it.
When you consider that countless sake products are released every year, it means that there are as many efforts and thoughts of the sake makers as there are sake products.
There are sake with many different stories, so when you drink it, I recommend that you look at the labels, flyers, websites, etc. and taste it together with the background of how it was made, so you can enjoy it even more.
Summary
How was it? Sake is delivered to us through a total of 12 processes.
After reading this article, I think some of you may want to actually see it.
Some sake breweries are offering programs to actually experience sake brewing and rice planting, so if you are interested, why not participate?
We hope you will enjoy “the sake life” by learning more about sake and Japanese culture.