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Share your questions!
only one address
PureSakeisGood@gmail.com
list of questions
below
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
01/ What is junmai sake
02/ What does Junmai mean?
03/ How is sake drunk? Which sakes should be heated and why?
04/ How do you heat sake? At what temperature?
05/ How is sake stored?
06/ What is the colour of real sake?
CLASSIFICATION TABLE OF TYPES OF SAKE
07/ Understanding the current state of the market
INGREDIENTS FOR GOOD SAKE
08/ What is Koji?
09/ What is Kome-koji? How much?
10/ How many types of sake rice are there? What is the difference with food rice?
11/ Which water should be used?
12/ Yeast?
13/ The men
HOW SAKE IS MADE
14/ What is simultaneous double fermentation?
15/ The Kimoto method
16/ The Sokujo method
17/ The Yamahai method
18/ Discussion of these 3 methods
19/ Why do we polish rice?
20/ Why pasteurize sake? What is the difference with a namazake?
21/ Ginjo and Dai Ginjo ?
CONTEMPORARY HISTORY OF SAKE
22/ What was the quality of sake before and after World War II?
23/ Why did the traditional Junmai sake completely disappear during World War II?
24/ Why did sake with added ethanol continue to be the norm after the war until today?
25/ How did cold sake become popular from the 1970s onwards?
26/ Who revived Junmai sake?
27/ Has Junmai sake been saved?
DOCUMENTS TO DOWNLOAD
Sake making process
Table classifying the different types of sake
The struggle of Yoshimasa Ogawahara
THE PROFESSIONALS
Contact us for the price list
and other questions
puresakeisgood@gmail.com
01/ What is Junmai sake?
It is a Japanese fermented alcohol that contains about 5° to 22° of alcohol, most often around 15°, made only from rice, Komekoji, water and yeast. It is traditionally pasteurised and drunk hot. When it is not pasteurised, it is called namazake and is drunk slightly chilled. Some sakes and namazakes can be cloudy and are called Nigorizake.
02/ What does Junmai mean?
Junmai-shu = pure rice alcohol
This means that no additives (flavour enhancers, sugar and/or distilled alcohol) have been used during the production of the sake. Its colour is slightly yellow.
Only junmai-shu sake is real sake. There is no tradition of sake fortified with distilled alcohol in Japan. When alcohol or flavour enhancers are added, it means one of two things: either the brewer has no control over his fermentation, or he wants to increase the quantity produced to reduce costs. This goes against the grain of quality sake.
03/ How is sake drunk? Which sakes should be heated and why?
Sake is traditionally heated to open up the flavours. To heat a sake is a moment of truth that will bring out the qualities and defects. Only the very best sake can withstand the heating. After heating, it is drunk progressively, as it cools to cold.
Namazakes are not pasteurized and are best drunk at room temperature or slightly chilled.
There are no strict rules for tasting sake. Often it is the match with the food that will determine what to do. If there is only one strict rule, it is this: the food pairing allows everything and in the end it is always right.
So to be more flexible and to stay in the Japanese harmony, the Japanese hate conflict, I would say "if you want to drink hot sake, you'd rather choose a pasteurized sake, if you want to drink cold sake, you'd rather choose a namazake (unpasteurized sake) and in the end the food pairing allows everything and is always right.
04/ How do you heat sake? At what temperature?
Ideally, sake should be heated in a bain-marie, as this makes for a smoother and more even heating. Sake is heated to between 45°C and 70°C, sometimes more. You need excellent sake to be heated to this temperature. If this is not the case, bad tastes will appear, often a bad bitterness at the bottom of the mouth, or a very strong imbalance in the flavours, as well as alcoholic smells. In general, when the sake is not of high enough quality, the producers of these sakes advise drinking them cold. The cold, by anaesthetising your palate, will hide the defects. If you want to discover the pleasure of a real cold sake, drink a namazake instead.
05/ How is sake stored?
Before opening, it should be kept away from light at a cellar temperature or at a temperature not exceeding 20°C. Under these conditions, a good sake will keep for several years and improve. It will gain in aroma, finesse and depth. If you want to keep it much longer, 10, 20 or 30 years, some sake will need to be kept at a temperature close to 0° or even below. The cold slows down the aging of the sake.
After opening, it can be kept at room temperature for several months or even years. In any case, for long storage, it is preferable to protect the sake from UV rays and high temperatures. In general, a well-made sake is capable of withstanding sometimes surprising conditions, including namazake.
If the sake does not keep before or after opening, it speaks about its quality and also about the skill of the brewer.
06/ What is the colour of real sake?
The true colour of sake is slightly yellow. When sake is without colour, it is because it has been filtered with activated charcoal to remove the colour and bad taste this is totally mass production way. As it ages it will turn amber to black.
07/ Classification of the types of sake on the market
See table below, you need to know a little about the dark history of sake from the second world war to the 2000s to understand the current state of the market, which mixes drinks that are totally different under the same name of Seishu. In my opinion sake is junmai-shu or it is not!
08/ What is Koji?
Koji is a mould that transforms the starch contained in rice into sugar. This stage is called saccharification. It is called kojikin in sake brewery.
09/ What is Kome-koji? How much?
Once the Koji has developed on and in the rice grain and has begun to transform the starch into sugar, this rice is called Kome-koji. A minimum of 17.5% Kome-koji is required for successful fermentation. Since 2004, legislation has allowed only 15% to be used! In this case, an artificial enzyme must be used, without which it is impossible to complete the fermentation. The legislation does not oblige brewers to indicate its use on the label.
10/ How many types of sake rice are there? What is the difference with food rice?
There are over 170 varieties of sake rice. Compared to food rice, the core of sake rice is larger and contains more starch. The king of sake rice is called Yamada-nishiki. It was created in 1934 by crossing two rice varieties.
11/ Which water should be used?
You need pure spring water. Hard water is said to be better for making good sake than soft water, as it contains more minerals that will help the fermentation process. The potassium, magnesium and certain phosphorus compounds will feed the koji and the yeast, which will become more active and spread more quickly to invade the brew, reducing the possibility of it being contaminated by other pests. In fact the brewer's experience is the most important element, whether the water is soft or hard he will know how to act to obtain what he wants whatever the conditions.
12/ Yeast
There is some debate about yeast! What you need to know is that unlike wine where the grapes are just pressed, in sake the rice is polished, rinsed and then steamed to make it gelatinous, so that after all these steps the rice is free of its indigenous yeasts. Traditionally, it was the yeasts living in the air of the brewery that allowed the transformation of sugar into alcohol. The problem in this case is that as long as there is not enough lactic acid in the bottom of the tank (called shubo) to protect the fermenting juice, unwanted bacteria and yeast will come in and spoil the sake and give it a bad taste. Sometimes, even if there is not enough yeast, the fermentation cannot be completed. Sometimes, by chance, in the brewery environment, a dominant and good quality yeast would develop. At the turn of the century, researchers succeeded in isolating some sake yeasts for conducting sake fermentation. This was a revolution in sake production, as it greatly improved the quality of sake. There are many types of selected yeasts. The most commonly used are yeasts No. 6, 7 and 9. But today, laboratories are creating modern, highly aromatic yeasts that compensate for the loss of brewery know-how, and these new yeasts are very successful among brewers. At the same time some breweries, very much influenced by the natural wine movement which is very fashionable in Japan, are reverting to indigenous yeasts, these sakes are often very acidic, probably due to the lack of lactic acid at the beginning of the fermentation, sometimes the lactic acid will develop too much which will give a yoghurt-like taste to the sake.
13/ The men
More than any other drink, sake is first and foremost a complex know-how that would not exist without the work of man. There are five key words around these men and their work: Team, Knowledge, Understanding, Organisation and Pleasure. There is no good sake in the long term if one of these key words is missing in the daily life of these men.
14/ What is simultaneous double fermentation?
Sake production uses the "heiko-fuku-hakko" method which literally means "simultaneous double fermentation". The reason for using this method is that rice does not contain sugar or yeast, unlike grapes for wine. Producing sake therefore requires two processes: saccharification (toka), with the enzyme (Aspergillus oryzae) of the koji which
to obtain glucose from the rice starch. - fermentation (hakko) which, with the help of yeast (kobo), transforms
glucose into alcohol and carbon dioxide.
This double process is carried out simultaneously and in the same tank.
By this brewing method, the resulting sake can have a
surprisingly high alcohol content of over 20%. This method requires great skill, experience and talent.
15/ The Kimoto method ?
The Kimoto method was used during the Edo period. It involves crushing the rice during the creation of the shu-bo (yeast starter), to allow and help the koji to transform the starch into sugar. This process is called yama-oroshi. At that time, the polishing rate did not exceed 90%, and no one knew how to select the yeasts. It is therefore indigenous yeasts that allow the transformation of sugar into alcohol. Lactic acid is produced naturally, allowing a natural selection of resistant yeasts and protecting the fermenting juice from bacteria. This technique is only useful in the case of brown rice that has been polished around 80 to 90% (% of rice remaining after polishing). When the rice is polished above this level, it is no longer necessary to crush the rice to allow the koji to convert the starch into sugar. Today, legislation allows the use of pure selected yeast for the Kimoto method.
16/ The Sokujo method
At the beginning of the Meiji era, a group of breweries hired chemists to study fermentation methods and invent better machines to increase polishing. As a result of their work, the process for selecting and isolating yeast and how to make lactic acid was discovered. These discoveries made it possible to simplify the manufacturing process and to better control the fermentation. In order to prevent the development of airborne yeasts, two steps were taken: lactic acid was added to the shu-bo tank (yeast starter) at the beginning, mixed with water. Then, about 12 hours later, the selected yeast is added and takes up all the space. This is a revolution in the process, because these two discoveries prevent the multiplication of undesirable and uncontrollable yeasts and bacteria. This method was successful from the outset, but it really took off in the 1930s with the discovery of yeast number 6.
17/ The Yamahai method ?
The Yamahai method was invented after the Sokujo method which allowed a better understanding of the fermentation process. From then on, brewers wanted to improve the Kimoto method, where the rice had to be crushed, an exhausting and labour-intensive activity. Yamahai means without Yama-oroshi "not to crush the rice". With the technical progress in polishing, which allows for a 70% polishing rate, it was realised that it was no longer necessary to crush the rice, as the koji could transform the starch into sugar by itself. This method works from a polishing rate close to 90% (this is interesting, because perhaps this method could have been used as early as the Edo period); it also renders the Kimoto method useless, as soon as the rice is polished at a rate lower than 90%. By the time the Yamahai method was invented, yeast selection was known. The brewer has the choice between selected yeasts and indigenous yeasts that allow the transformation of sugar into alcohol. Lactic acid is produced naturally, however, to protect the shubo (the yeast starter) from undesirable bacteria and yeasts.
18/ Discussion about these 3 methods
Nowadays, many brewers are again using the Kimoto method with rice milled beyond 70%, which is completely unnecessary and only for commercial purposes. The idea is to benefit from the aura of a return to the purest ancestral tradition. The absurdity goes as far as producing Daiginjo (rice polished to at least 50%). These brewers even claim not to use selected yeast. In fact, if you use yeast from the air, you have no control over the quantity and quality of the yeast. The consequences are random production and quality of sake. In most cases, brewers then use selected yeasts without telling the consumers, which is allowed by law, because they cannot afford to lose their production.
In summary, the Kimoto method should only be used with brown rice, polished at least at 80% or less. Lactic acid will be produced naturally and the consumer will be told if there is an addition of selected yeast or not. (Whatever the polish level is, if the result is good and makes beautiful fusional food pairing then we should do so low profil, in sake the end often justifies the means)
Below 80% rice polishing ratio, if one wants to use a more natural method, we will use the Yamahai method which will also produce its own lactic acid, and we will tell the consumer whether we are using selected yeasts or only air yeasts. It is also important to tell the brewing context of an indigenous yeast sake. If for example a brewer uses selected yeasts for his other sakes in the same brewing place, it is likely that the yeast that will develop naturally will be the same as the selected yeast, the brewery environment is no longer neutral, it can be said that there is probably a contamination by the selected yeast of these brewing areas.
The sokujo method is the most rational method in the sense that it is easier and safer to brew sake. Naturally produced lactic acid does not affect the taste of the sake, so there is no contraindication to using separately produced lactic acid; and the use of selected yeast prevents the development of bad yeast that can spoil the taste of the sake.
Whatever the method, great care must be taken at every stage, the sake must be given time to develop, and the team must be passionate about its work. This is something that mass production will never have.
In short, there is no wrong method, there are no wrong tools, the important thing is the intention to make the sake. A craftsman will normally always care about the quality of his product over the yield. Now, according to Yoshimasa Ogawahara, a brewer should master the sokujo method perfectly, because this method allows all possible combinations. Once you understand the role of each step, you can then play with all these steps to get where you want to go and achieve consistency. Consistency is the main quality of a Japanese craftsman, to understand nature in its different states and to know what to do to reach our goal. That's why in Japan the work of a craftsman is a life's work. Then once we understand, we can play with nature and use other methods.
However, nothing should be done at the expense of the quality of this consistency, because the sake maker is first of all a craftsman and sometimes also an artist.
19/ Why do we polish rice?
The core of sake rice, called 'shinpaku', is almost exclusively
made of pure starch. The outer layer of the rice consists
of proteins, fats, minerals and vitamins.
It plays a characteristic role in the taste of sake, but can also give it
an unpleasant taste if there is too much of it.
The polishing ratio is the amount of rice left after polishing. For example, a 60% polishing ratio means that if 100kg of whole grain rice is used, only 60kg will be left after polishing. Some sakes require polishing to the core of the rice or shinpaku (heart of the grain). The size of the shinpaku varies depending on the rice. For example, for Yamada-nishiki rice, the shinpaku is about 40% of the whole grain. To reach this 40% polishing rate, the polishing time required is approximately 80 hours (below 40%, the quality of the core remains stable, and polishing more rice will not bring any taste benefit).
20/ Why pasteurize sake? What is the difference with a namazake? ?
Sake obtained without pasteurization is called 'Namazake' literally 'raw sake'. It is obtained just after pressing, it can be micro filtered or not, reduced in alcohol or not. I prefer it genshu in their entirety. The qualities of a good Namazake genshu (whole in alcohol, without adding water, between 17° and 21° approximately) a great presence, a nose and obvious flavours, a great drinkability like a wine, explosion and length like a spirit but without the fire of alcohol.
It is a real product with character!
Why, when you have a product with so much character and uniqueness, do you pasteurise it?
What does pasteurisation consist of? Hi-ire is the operation that consists of heating the pressed liquid (seishu) to about 65ºC, in order to completely stop the fermentation. This process is usually done in two stages: the first time just after shibori (extraction), then a second time in the autumn, after ripening during the summer, at bottling. Before the second hiire, water is added to the sake to adjust its alcohol content to around 15°. This process is called wari-mizu (dilution with water).
Let's go back in time. A long, long time ago, at a time when breweries in the Kyoto Nara region wanted to sell their sake in Edo (Tokyo), the sake was shipped by boat and mainly sake did not stand up to this. The breweries probably had the idea of using pasteurisation to help preserve the sake. Then little by little the breweries, the consumers, realised that by heating the sake to drink it, the sake found back its body but without ego, without drawing attention to itself and that when one ate with the sake new surprising flavours appeared.
With time, we understood that pasteurisation had changed the nature of sake from dominant to servant, that the reason for its existence of pasteurised heated sake is to live for the food, more precisely for the food pairing, pasteurised heated sake reveals its complexity through the food pairing, it is a trinity between the mouth, the food and the sake, which will give birth to 3rd flavours, we are totally in a fusional matching. sake makes love with the food for the pleasure of the mouth
That's why if you really want to understand sake, you have to heat it up and eat it.
If sake is a product of Terroir, it is only through the combination with local food that it asserts it.
21/ Ginjo and Dai Ginjo ?
Ginjo sakes appeared in the 20th century with industrialisation and the progress of rice polishing techniques. New flavours appeared, more fruity and floral. Daiginjo means great Ginjo, a sort of Grail of purity, by polishing the rice more and more to reach the heart of the grain. The most used rice, the king of rices as it is called, is Yamadanishiki because it has the biggest heart of all the rices, between 35% and 40% of the rice grain, it is important to know that beyond 35%, the heart of this rice becomes homogeneous. It is therefore unnecessary to polish the rice grain further. Below 35%, it is just commercial. Ginjo sake is slowly matured by lowering the temperature to around 7°C during the entire fermentation process, but there are no official rules regarding temperature.
Rules to be respected to have the Ginjo designation: polishing ratio should be less than 60% polishing (semaibuai), even less than 50% for Daiginjo.
colder fermentation temperature during the moromi stage, which results in a 10-day longer fermentation time. This makes a total of about 33 days.
more gentle pressing.
greater care in the production process at all stages.
22/ What was the quality of sake before and after World War II?
Before the Second World War, all sake was Junmai, that means pure rice, without any additives or artificial enzymes. Most of them were drunk hot. After the Second World War, all sake was made with added alcohol (ethanol) and flavour enhancers and sweeteners, as required by law. These sakes were called sanzoshu, which means "three times more alcohol with the same amount of rice", and the Japanese continued to drink them hot because it was part of the culture. But since heat brings out all the flaws, the Japanese started to drink it cold or even iced. And most of them stopped drinking it, especially the new generation who turned to beer and western spirits.
23/ Why did the traditional Junmai sake completely disappear during World War II?
When Japan entered the war, it was a country mainly composed of farmers. These farmers went off to war, which led to a shortage of rice. This shortage led to a national rice rationing policy by the Japanese government, which lasted until 1968. The government distributed the quantity of rice to each person, and the breweries were no exception to this rule. As the quantity of rice was insufficient to continue producing the quantity of sake that Japan needed, the government developed a technique with the addition of alcohol and flavour enhancer, which made it possible to produce the same quantity of sake using three times less rice: Sanzoshu was born. The Ministry of Finance then passed a decree requiring all breweries to produce 100% of their sake with added ethanol, including at least 35% of their production in Sanzoshu quality. 50% of the breweries were then closed down to become arms depots, while the others had to obey and apply the national policy. Sanzoshu sake became the norm, and it was not until almost 30 years later that any producer dared to challenge this situation.
24/ Why has sake with added ethanol continued to be the norm after the war until today?
Quite soon after the war, the amount of rice produced returned to normal, but the country, which had been totally destroyed by the American bombing, had to rebuild. Sake, unfortunately, was the main source of taxes, and there was no way that these taxes could be reduced. If the breweries had started making junmai again, the quantity of sake would have fallen, as it takes a lot more rice to make traditional sake.
The second reason why the producers did not question this way of making sake was that this technique made it possible to make sake at a lower cost and to have high margins. So the Japanese gradually turned away from sake in favour of Western spirits and beer. It was not until 1966 that a producer dared to break out of this pattern.
25/ How did cold sake become popular from the 1970s onwards?
We can't say exactly what made the market move in the first place, whether it was consumer taste or a change in strategy on the part of brewers' associations. In reality, it is often a combination of circumstances more or less spread out over time. We can therefore relate some facts. The first fact is that post-war sake was of very poor quality, and that heating it made it even worse. The second fact is the history of Ginjo sake itself, which appeared at the beginning of the 20th century as a result of technical progress in rice poloishing machin.
At the beginning of the 20th century, two associations also appeared, which created competitions. The first was an association of brewers, and the second was a government association. It was the Ginjo and Daiginjo (great Ginjo) sake, which created new fruity smells, tending towards apple or citrus fruits, that won these competitions. However, during these competitions, the sake is drunk cold. We also notice at the beginning that these particular smells of ginjo sakes tend to disappear when the sakes are heated. This is why we think that these sakes are fragile. Today, it is becoming clear that the brewing process must be mastered perfectly in order to heat a ginjo sake. Few breweries have reached this level. These Ginjo sakes were produced in very small quantities, with the aim of presenting them in competitions. Before the war, these sakes were obviously all Junmai. After the war, all sake, including Ginjo sake, contained added alcohol and flavour enhancers. So here we are again in the 60s and 70s, competitions are still held, sake during these competitions is always drunk cold, and ginjo sake always wins competitions. Consumers turned away from hot drinking sake because of its very poor quality. At the same time, sake producers realised that adding pure alcohol,( ethanol), would enhance the ginjo taste. The so-called quality production was oriented towards this type of sake, and the consumers followed, which was the glory hour of cold sake on the rock.
From the 1970s onwards, Junmai sake resurfaced after almost 30 years of oblivion. The very few producers no longer mastered the manufacturing process, which led to bad tastes in the sake. The cold and charcoal filtration techniques will mitigate these defects. As a result, junmai sake is much drier and consumers have become accustomed to a very sweet sake. It has been a 30 year battle to really revive junmaishu and to start to change the image of heated sake. Consumers and producers rediscover slowly the reasons for heating sake.
Since the 2000s, quality heated sake has made a comeback. More and more producers have reached a satisfactory level of manufacturing quality, allowing their sake to be heated. It cannot be said often enough that heat reveals quality and defects, and only very high quality sake can withstand heating and reveal all its secrets.
The only exception is namazake, unpasteurised sake, which is not heated and is best drunk at room temperature.
26/ Who revived Junmai sake?
Yoshimasa Ogawahara is the father of the contemporary traditional sake called "Junmai". While still a student, he decided that what he wanted to do was to make Junmai and nothing else. He thought before anyone else that this was the only way for sake to continue to exist in the future. If he doesn't do it, the Japanese will continue to turn away from their favourite drink, breweries will continue to close, sake production will continue to decline, and sake will disappear.
What you have to understand is that in Japan it is foolhardy to question the system alone and to oppose the group. The group is more important than the individual, it's a country where you have to be one with the group. If you oppose the group, it will try to put you back on the right track and even crush you if necessary. Yoshimasa is 20 years old when he decides that his life will be to revive Junmai sake. He is full of enthusiasm and recklessness. In 1966, while still a student, he applied to the tax office for permission to brew Junmai again. This was refused, as there was no precedent for it since the Second World War. In 1967, he applied again, in his last year of university, and for the first time since the war, he obtained official permission for a brewery to brew Junmai. The tax office allowed him to brew the symbolic quantity of 3000 litres. Yoshimasa managed to convince them that he wanted to do his dissertation on junmai, so he needed to test it under real conditions. The tax office gave him permission, thinking that after he would then follow the national policy of sake with added alcohol. Yoshimasa never stopped making Junmai, and it was a 20-year battle to gradually increase the quantities produced, at the risk of the Shinkame Brewery's existence. In 1987, the Shinkame brewery became the first brewery to brew only Junmai !
27/ Has Junmai sake been saved?
No, Junmai sake is not saved. It is a fragile ecosystem between several trades and raw materials that are also in danger. The rice farmers: a minimum number of breweries are needed to keep the farmers producing rice for sake, which is much more difficult to produce than food rice. Yoshimasa estimates that a minimum of 1000 breweries is needed. The number of breweries continues to decline, with only about 1,200 left.
The Tanekoji producers, essential for the Koji to develop and allow the saccharification process, producing Komekoji. There are now only 6 companies left in Japan.
Kojibuta producers, an indispensable tool for making good komekoji.
The water is also in danger, the Japanese mountains are left abandoned, losing their soil little by little, following the disappearance of the traditional wooden habitat. Today, the Japanese use reinforced concrete for buildings and synthetic materials for small prefabricated houses. Poor soils deplete water, and its flow is also less constant.
Finally, legislation on manufacturing processes favours industries, and thus mass production. This creates confusion about what quality sake is, and reduces the market for those who make real Junmai.
1/ A quality label created by the Japanese government that puts Junmai sake and sake with added alcohol on the same level: sake is a natural fermentation that naturally reaches over 20°.
2/ Komekoji rule: official minimum quantity 15%. What you need to know is that below 18% komekoji, you need to use an artificial enzyme to make the saccharification. These artificial enzymes are also used to control the flavours. If these enzymes are used, there is no obligation to mention their use on the label.
3/ Rules on polishing: these tend to suggest that the more the rice is polished, the higher is the quality of the sake. Before 2004, you had to polish at least 70% (% of remaining rice) to make Junmai. After 2004, Junmai can supposedly be made at 100%, it means without polishing. In fact, this does not mean that the rice is not milled, it just means that the part that was removed to mill the rice can be recovered and made into Junmai. This rule also makes it possible to crush the rice and make Junmai.
Thus, although the quantities of Junmai appear to be increasing, it is most likely that it is only the industrially produced Junmai that gives this impression. Mass production seeks to produce more and more, reducing costs, and has no need to maintain the sake ecosystem that is essential for breweries aiming for quality sake.