Indica and Japonica. Indica is a long-grained variety adn Japonica is a short-grained variety.

Non-sitcky rice is that it is easier to handle than thicky rice.

1. Low protein content (7-8% in brown Rice) : The low protein content ensures that the rice shows good digestibility by koji enzymes during fermentation. Also, Sake made from the rice contains lower levels of amino acids an peptides, which could lead to rough and unclean flavours developing during storage. 2. Well-defined Shinpaku that is ideally flat and disc shaped : 3. Good water absorbency and broken down easily by enzymes druing the brewing process : Good water absorbency ensures the water can penetrate deep into the grain during washing, soaking, and steaming. And it also helps the rice break up more easily during fermentation. 4. Large grain (25-30g/1000 grains) : Having large grains ensures that he small amounts of undesirable components can be more completely removed with good resistance to craking.

1. iron levels must be close to zero 2. organic matter (for example bacterias) must be low.

1.magnesium 2.potassium 3.phosphorus

Tabel rice contains too much protein , liquids, vitamins and minerals that give undesirable flavour to the premium sake.

2-3%

1. Yamada-nishiki Main region : Hyogo, grows all around Japan but mainly in the south-west. Characteristics : Exceptionally large grains and large, well-defined shipaku. Late harvest, long stems, and large grains means lodging could be a problem. 2. Gohyakuman-goku Main region : Niigata, and west coast of Japan. Relatively cool regions. Characteristics : Grains are slightly smaller than Yamada-nishiki, but it is still large. Early harest. Good resistant to craking because it is firm. 3. Miyama-nishiki Main region : Nagano, mountainous cold north east regions (Tohoku). Characteristics : Good resisitant to growing in cool, mountainous conditions. 4. Akita-sake-komachi Main region : Akita prefecture only. Characteristics : It was developed to be an alternative to Yamada-nishiki, able to produce high quality sake but resistant to lodging and adapted to grow in colder retions. Large grains, well defined shinpaku. 5. Omachi Main region : Okayama, Hiroshima, few other south western regions. Characteristics : Very large grains. Omachi and Yamada-nishiki is two largest grained varieties. The shinpaku is also large. But the shape and soft texture makes Omachi very difficult to polish. Late harvest. Often served warm.

1. Gluey substances, deposited by both plants and amll animals that help retain water. 2. Contain a high percentage of clay particles. Clay particles are very small and help retain water and fertilisers. 3. Rich in nutrients, especially nitrogen. 4. Free of volcanic ash, which can disrupt rice growing.

There would be a significant risk that the extra flavour components would result in undesirable flavours and coarse textures in the sake.

Rice stalks, rice husks and green manure are mixed and used as organic fertiliser in Autumn. Silicate fertilisers are added in Spring.

Nitrogen comounds. Although it needs less than table rice, even sake specific rice needs high level of nitrogen to grow successfully and develop large grains with large shinpaku.

Calcium silicate, phosphoric acid and potassium.

1. when the seeds are sown 2. when the seedlings are planted out 3. when the plant begins to grow rapidly before the ears of grain appear.

The ideal daytime temperature is about 22℃, with high levels of sunlight and cool night.

The warm temperature about 20 - 25℃ with long hours of sunshine, cool night that should be about 9.5℃ cooler than days are ideal. Less high winds is ideal because windy weather can disrupt ferlisation, leading to fewer grains, and damage the rice plant.

Early harvest : transplanting in April, harvesting in late August Middle harvest : transplanting in May, harvesting September/October Late harvest : transplanting in June, harvesting in October/November Late harvest varieties require longer growing seasons before harvest, so there is more risk of damage due to typhoons in late September and October.

It helps to improve the percentage of grains that have a shinpaku.

Above special (toku-jo) Special (toku-to) First Grade Second Grade Third Grade Below standard

1. moisture content typically 15% or less, though some prefectures allow 15.5% or 16%. 2. The percentage that are broken, cracked dead or under-ripened.

polishing, washing, soaking, and steaming.

1. Reduce the levels of proteins, liquids, vitamins, and minerals in the rice grain. 2. Adjust the amount and distibution of moisture within the rice grain. 3. Gelatinise the starch so that the koji mould enzymes can break up the starch into sugar.

Germ, Endosperm, Husk, Bran Shinpaku

Gelatinisation; It is the process where the tightly-wound starch granules are unravelled by breaking the intermolecular bonds between starch molecules. This opens up the starch chains so they become water-soluble and can be broken up by ensymes dissolved in that water. Gelatinisation requires heat, and so takes place during steaming. The gelatinisation temperatures for rice starch is particularly high (70-80℃) , compared. to temperatures in the 60℃ for barley and rye, and even lower for wheat and oats. Enzymatic hydrolysis; It breaks the starch grains into glucose molecules. This needs water and therelevant amylase enzymes. Enzymatic hydrolysis takes place during fermentation.

From the rice tank on the top, unpolished rice is dropped inth the polishing column. This normally consists of a vertical barrel with an abrasive rock grinding roller inside. It rubs away the outer layers of the grains or the rice. This abrasive action creates a fine rice powder called nuka.

A coarse grinding roller rapidly removes the bran and outer endosperm. And it switches to a finer textured grinding roller with a slower speed for the later stag when the rice gets smaller and inreasing fraction that is fragile shinpaku makes it more sensitive to the shock of friction.

Roughly 10 hours to reach 70 per cent seimai-buai(honjozo level) roughly 45 hours to reach 50 per cent seimai-buai(daiginjo level)

Polishing, washing, soaking, and steaming.

First, if the rice is destined to become koji, the mould will grow too quickly without producing the appropriate levels of koji enzymes. Second, if over-moist rice is used in the fermentation, the enzymatic digestion happens too quickly during the fermentaion. This results in the yeast having access to high levels of sugar, which makes it challenging for the brewer to control the fermentation as required. This would be a particular problem for ginjo and daiginjo style of sake.

1. Polishing ratio. ;The more the rice is polished, the less time it takes to absorb the water. 2. The temperature during growing season. ;When rice grown in very hot summers, it dends to become harder to enzymatically digest. This can be partly compensated for by longer soaking. 3. Rice variety. ;Rice firmness and absorbency varies depending on the rice varieties. 4. Water temperature. ;Colder water is absorbed by the rice more slowly. The water temperature is typically set in the range of 5-8°, but it can vary depending on the ambient temperature. 5. Initial and target moisture level of the rice.

30-35%

1. Soaking the rice in very small batces 2. Using cold water to slow down absorption 3. Timing the soaking using a stopwatch

1. It sterilises the rice. 2. It gelatinises the starch molecules. 3. It increase the moisture level from the 30% to around 40%.

Because the rice for koji need to be more moistured, less damaged cracked rice.

They use fake rice. Some brewers lay bags of fake rice, made from polypropylene, on the bottom of the steamer in order to raise the rice away from the steam inlets and prevent the rice of the bottom layer from becoming too moist.

This increased pressure raises the steam temperature and reduces the quantity of water droplets carried in the stam. This means that the steam can add more heat and leaves less water on the outside of the rice, to make it firm on the out side and soft on the inside.

It makes it possible for the entire steaming and cooling process to take place more quickly in 30-40 minutes, and many tonnes of rice can be steamed in a day. Traditional steamer need about 40-60 minutes only for steaming (not including cooling process) for 700kg bactch of rice.

It is rice that is added to a fermentation and not used to make koji.

The main purpose of koji is to provide enzymes that break down rice starches into fermentable glucose sugars.

1. Traditional wooden (Japanese ceder) koji room which can absorb and release humidity and atmosphere changes more smoothly, but it is expensive and difficult to maintain. 2. Mordern steel koji room which is more inexpensive and easier to keep clean but it require prcise systems to control temperature and humidity.

1. Flavins which give sake its colour 2. Amino acids and peptides. Amino acid is important nutrients for yeast and it contributes to the umami and very slightly to the acidity of the sake 3. Vitamins which are important yeast nutriens 4. Lipids including fatty acids and proteins 5. Other subtle aroma/flavour molecules, in particular a chestnut aroma.

Succinic, malic, and lactic. They mainly come from the fermenation starter and the yeast. Asperguillus oryzae produces very little acid.

1. Amylases It breaks starch molecules into small parts such as glucose, oligosaccharides, and limit dextrins. 2. Proteases It break down proteins into pepties and amino acids. If large quantities of proteases from the koji are presentin the main fermentation, this increases the level of amino acids in sake. If yeasts die and start autolysis at the end of fermantation, the yeast release amino acids that they have stored within their cells, leading to further increased amino acid levels. For most sakes, high levels of amino acids are considered undesirable, and the levels can be controlled by limiting the levels of proteases and minimising yeast death.

Protease enzymes are produced most rapidly at 34-37℃. If brewers want to minimise amino acid, the pass quickly through these temperatures. (to minimise the production of protease) If brewer seeks high levels of umami (amino acid), they can achieve this by lingering longer in this temperature range.

Yellow, balck and white.

Yellow koji mould produces very low levels of citric acid compared with black and white. Acidity has for a long time been regarded as undesirable by many Japanese sake drinkers. Black or white mould produce more specific style sake similar to wine, and some of sake drinkers like it.

1. Powdered. It is mainly used for automated koji-making process. It is suitable for larger scale production. 2. Granulated. ItIt is used for hand-shaking methods to distribute mould to rice. It is suitable for the smaller prodcution of premium sake, especially for ginjo category sakes. It can make the sake lighter style.

So haze and tsuki haze.

In so-haze, the koji mould covers the entire rice grain and sends many hyphae into the centre of the rice grain. This is encouraged by inoculating with a relatively high quantity of mould conidia and using rice grains with a higher moisture content, though if the moisture level is too high this leads to undesirably uneven mould growth that fails to penetrate into the grain (called nuri-haze). So-haze koji has high levels of enzymes, vitamins, sugars, amino acids, fatty acids, and peptides. By using koji made in the so-hae style, a brewer ensure there are high levels of enzymes, causing a more rapid starch-to-sugar conversion. This style of koji is typically used to support a warmer fermentation, giving more body and flavour to the final sake, but the higher levels of fatty acids lead to decreased ginjo aromas.

1. Futsu-shu, to boost the flavour intensity and compensate for some of the dilution that occurs when jozo alcohol is added. 2. Premium sake with intense flavours, full body, high acidity and high umami.

In the tsuki-haze style, the koji mould grows in a lightly spotted pattern over the rice grain. A cross section of the grain shows places where well-developed mould hyphae have grown into the centre of the grain and others where there are no hyphae at all. It taks a great deal of skill to creat this style of koji. The brewer needs to ensure that; 1. The amount of Koji mould conidia used is restricted. 2. The level of moisture in the grains is controlled and kept at a low level. 3. The koji room is relatively warm and less humid. Tsuki-haze is ideal for the very slow, controlled cold fermantations that are needed for the development of ginjo aromas.

If the level of fatty acids produced by the koji mould is too high, this can inhibit the formation of isoamyl acetate, which is one of the main esters that contirbutesto ginjo aromas. Therefore, if the brewer wants their sake to have high levels of this ester , it is important to restrict the funal growth, to keep lipids at low level.

It minimise the prodcution of proteases, and the the levels of vitamins and prteins produced by the limited mould growth are also lower, leaeding to a more lightly textured and delicate style of sake.

1. Ginjo and Daiginjo sakes, where purity and delicate texture are desired, together with ginjo aromas, low acidity and low umami. 2. Honjozo made with a lean texture and restrained aromas such as Niigata tanrei Karakuchi style sakes.

1. Bringing in (hikikomi) 2. Spreading the spores (tane-kiri) and initial mould growth 3. Re-breaking up (kirikaeshi) 4. Mounding (mori) 5. Middle work (naka-shigoto) 6. Final work (shimai-shigoto) 7. Sending out (de-koji) and drying (karashi)

It is the process that the temperature of the rice is reduced to 32-35℃, and then steamed rice is transferred to the koji room.

The aim is to inoculate the rice grains with koji spores and encourage mould germination and growth. If a brwer is making so-haze they will add a greater quantity of spores whereas they will add much less if they are making tsuki-haze.

Hours 1-3 after bringing in, and the initial mould growth lasts until hours 10-12.

The aim is to ensure even growth of mould, and avoid “hot spots” occuring. For hand-made koji, the brewer unwarps the rice, spreads it back out over the bed and meticulously works through the rice grains, breaking up any clumps. The rice is then wrapped back up again, and the ambient temperature and humidity in the koji room helps the mould to continue to grow for another 8-12 hours. For fully automated machine made koji, the rice is broken up by the rotatig rollers, and the temperature and humidity anre automatically set high enough to continue encouraging the growth ouf mould.

The aim is to manage the level and distribution of the mould growth, and start the drying process.

At the stage of mounding (mori)

1. Bed koji (toko-koji) ;Rice is kept on the bed used for all the previous stages, and the entire koji making process is completed on the bed. This method creates much biggger batches of koji then the other hand made methods, but the most precise control of koji mould growth is not possible. It most suitable for futsu-shu, honjozo, junmai and even some ginjo, but itis unsuitable for daiginjo. 2. Box koji (hako-koji) ;Rice is transferred to medium-sized boxes called hako or koji-bako.This method can be used for a wide range of sake including daiginjo. 3. Tray koji (futa-koji) ; Rice is transferred to tiny containers called futa or koji-buta. This allows the most precise control of temperature and water content in the rice, but working each box is very labour intensive. It is suitable for the best daigijo sakes, but the it is not necessarily optimal.

No, it is not possible so far. But it is now possible to make tsuki-haze of the higherst quality using partially automated machines.

The key aims are to encourage the release of heat and to encourage drying out in the rice grains. If a brewer is making koji for a ginjo style of sake, they should complete this stage quickly because this is when koji passes through the temperature range at which protease enzymes are most actively produced.

The excess heat can kill the mould.

The aim is to continue drying out the rice grains, and to continue releasing the heat created by koji mould activity.

The purpose is to stop the koji mould growth by cooling down and drying out the grains.

The vessels are commonly moved out of the koji room to a location that iis maintained at a. cool and dry amibient temperature with fans to speed the cooling process by blowing cool air. The cooling area is kept dry in order to avoid condensation caused by rapid temperature drop. Koji spends another half to full day at the drying area until the moisture level is reduced to 10-15 per cent.

It is an option for brewries that make sake throughout year. However, lactic acid bacteria can be harmed when the koji is frozen and the resulting loss of these bacteria may be problematic when attempting to make a kimoto/yamahai shubo. Lactic acid bacteria are not killed by instant freezing, but can be significantly damaged if there is a freeze-defrost cycle.

It is the most famous mineral-rich water that found at Nada area in Kobe. The faster, more complete fermentation tedns to restrict the development of floralginjo aromasa. leading to more restrained and drier styles of sake.

Fushimi water near Kyoto leads to less vigorous fermentations and partly accounts for the softer style of kyoto sakes.

This is because the development of strong yeast strains and koji mould strains that help to ensure the yeast have the correct amount of nutrients even when using low mineral water.

1. They make ethanol from fermentable sugars. 2. They create aroma compounds and precursors to aroma compouds. 3. They create organic compounds, including acids.

Malic, succinic and lactic acid

The yeast for sake can continue working in higher alcohol and lower temperature environment than the yeast for wines or beers.

The two in general use are number 6 and 7. Number 6 is isolated at Aramasa Company in Akita city. Number 7 is isolated at Miyasaka Brewing Company in Suwa city. They ferment extremely reliabley and strongly. They produce more acidity than yeast strains developed more recently and produce more muted aromas. Thearomas produced by number 7 are generally felt to be slightly more fruity and floral than number 6. Number 11 is a variant bred from number 7, but is especially good at fermenting through to dryness in high alcohol conditions. This makes it ideal for dry, non aromatic sakes.

Number 9 and number 10 are the most successful examples. Nunber 9 is Kumamoto yeast. It is the starndard yeast for ginjo sakes Number 10 is Meiri yeast, isolated in Northern Japan and screened at Meiri Shurui in Mito city.

Y is Yamada nishiki rice, K is Kumamoto number 9 yeast, 35 is the polishing ration of 35%. It was a formula to win gold medals in the competition in the early 1990s.

Number 14 and number 1801. Number 14 is Kanazawa yeast. Number 1801 is created by crossing 9 and 1601. These are sometimes referred to as “modern yeasts”, in contrast to he “classic yeast” 6,7,9 and 10. 1801 is today’s current standard for competition style sake, creating pronounced ethyl caproate (apple and melon aromas). 14 produces more isoamyl acetate (pear or banana like aromas).

1. Shizuoka yeast strains know for isoamy acetate driven banana-like aromas with lowe acidity. 2. Akita yeast called as AK-1. It is ideal for long low-temperature fermentations and it produces low levels of acidity and pronounced ginjo aromas. 3. Hiroshima yeast. It is suitable for the prodcution of highly aromatic sakes.

Dried yeast can be the cost effective option that enavles the brewer to skip the shubo altogether. Because ampoule yeast cannot be exported outside of Japane, the are the only opti9on for sake breweries outside of Japan wishing to use the Japanse yeast strains. All dried yeast are low foaming versions.

The purpose of the shubo is to create an acidic enviromnet using lactic acid so that a sufficiently concentrated population of fermentation yeast can develop safely and spoilage from other microorganisms can be avoided.

Below 10℃.It helps to limit the activity of the microorganisms that could cause spoilage.

The acidic protects the fermentation starter and allows the yeast to become the dominant microoganism. This is because sake yeast can thrive in an acidic environment, but, other microoganisms that can spoil a sake cannot.

1.Sokujo-moto 2.Kimoto 3.Yamahai 4.Bodai-moto

It is the most widely used method for producing the shubo. It is used for almost all sake production today. First, a brewer extracts enzymes from koji by soaking koji in water for several hours, then lactic acid, yeast and steamed rice are added. The temperature is kept at 18-25℃, an ideal temperature for both yeast multiplication and koji enzyme activity, rather than the 6-7℃ that had been used for previous centries. Initially, the rice is still solid and hard to stir in the mixture, so the brewer pumps over the liquid from the bottom of the tank to sprinkle it over the top. This enables the koji enzumes to digest starch from the rice without stirring. The pumping over starts 8-10 hours after all ingredients are added and contines for half a day.

It is the most widely used method for producing the shubo. It is used for almost all sake production today. The desirable effects are follows; 1. It is much quicker than the traditional methods, taking about 14 days rather than 28 days. 2. The process can be controlled more precisely, in particular the level of acidity ( whci can be lower than the amount typically produced in the kimoto or yamahai method). 3. The shorter time and avoidance of the need to rely on bacteria to create lactic acid means there is less risk of variation or anything going wrong so it can be made anywhere and anytime of the yeast. 4. The flavour profile is purer, with less acidity and complexity present.

This is a smiplified version that starts at a similar temperature to a standard sokujo-moto, but the shubo is not subsequently chilled. Instead, the warm temperature is maintained the whole way without chilling sown as per the standard method. The whole process takes half the time of the standard sokujo-moto, so is complete within one week. This method tends to make a lighter and cleaner style of sake.

This method was invented in 1940 in Hiroshima in order to make a successful, risk-free shubo in the warmer climate areas of Japan. This method include the process ‘boilling’ the shubo to sterilise it and reduce the risks of brewing sake in the summer months. This is very efficient for finishing the shubo in a short period and the method is especially suitable for very pure, clean styles of sake. However, the shubo is at risk from spoilage during the time the temperature is falling, and the brewer must cool the shubo rapidly to minimise risk.

1. Akita-style kimoto ; Instead of the yama-oroshi, the manual padde-pounding process of kimoto, an electrically powered mixer is used to mix the mash into a paste in a tank. Because shubo is mixed more rapidly without much contact with oxygen, this style of shubo tends to be cleaner and the shubo can be made with less risk of contamination. 2. Adding a lactic acid bacteria culture ; 3. Yama-oroshi in plastic bags; The yama oroshi process is conducted by adding the rice and koji mixture into plastic bags, then encouraging the nitrous acid reaction to take place inside by periodically massaging the bags.

It involves manually breaking down the rice and koji mixture using large wooden paddles or poles in a wooden or stone trough. This process helps to homogenize and mix the rice, koji, and water to create a consistent mash called “moromi” or “moto.”

1. The microbial populations can create interesting flavours that add to the complexity of the final sake. 2. They tend to have rich flavours 3. They tend to have higher acidity than normal sokujo-moto sakes. 4. The yeast grown in kimoto or yamahai may tend to have more tolerance to ethanol and high temperature than yeast grown in sokujo-moto. 5. Especially for yamahai, some brewers deliberately aim for complex nutty and caramel flavour that are the result of deliberate exposure to oxygen.

It also called mizu-moto, and it is the oldest shubo method.

It is used for moromi fermentation. The sake fermented in kioke could be more expensive the the one fermented in staineless or enamel lined tanks.

1. First addition (hatsu-zoe) add 1/6. Fermentation starter, water, koji, steamed rice 2. A day off (odori) add nothing. 3. Middle addition (naka-zoe) add 2/6 total 3/6 water, koji, steamed rice 4. Final addition (tome-zoe) add remaining 3/6 water, koji, steamed rice

The faster production and higher yield per tonne of rice, together with ther reuced dependence on koji, make this a cost effective option for inexpensive sake production.

Typically 16-18℃ is ideal for rich junmai, and 8-12℃ is ideal for daiginjo.

Number 9 or 10,14 and 1801 . 6 and 7 are suitable for reliable fermenters. 9 and 10 is early ginjo yeast. 14 and 1801 are the low acid ginjo yeast.

1. Isoamyl acetate (banana) 2. Ethyl caproate (green apple or melon)