May 2023
General Updates
The basic recipe seems to be our main “go-to” along with the Ueda method blog post from Mike. We’re pouring more information into blog posts to aid your journey and we think those will continue to help.
Currently there are a few Topics in process:
Creating an Amazake Yeast Starter
Yodan, we dan, we all dan together.
Measuring/Tracking your fermentation
Tips for making Doburoku
Topics we’ve been asked to expand on:
Alternative Yeast to Sake Yeast
Koji Growing
If you have ideas for a weekly discussion, have an article topic you could contribute, or feel you can add to the community in other ways, please contact us. The global sake community needs your skills!
Website Updates
Just some basic organization, links and whatnot. We have found the search function to be less useful than hoped. We might need to write some extra features up for that. Stay tuned.
Beginning to work at filling out the remaining sections of the site so it doesn’t leave you hanging. Not really worth it if we’re not adding something you can’t find elsewhere, so we’re taking our time to really ensure it’s on point.
Notes this Month
We decided that this notes should be just that… Notes. So unless something requires more explanation, I’ll dump the call notes here and you can inquire about anything on the discord or on the next call.
We discuss Pasteurization
Links to a few blogs explaining their process:
Real Sake Makers Only 50-60% of the bottle should be in water. The important thing is to start with cold water. Turn off the heat when the water temperature reaches 60 -70 ° C. Check carefully until the temperature of sake rises between 60-65 ° C. Wait 30 minutes. You don’t need to heat it anymore.
Jukyu Brewery - Steams the bottles with his koshiki until they hit 62C, then places them into a 42C bath, and then when they reach 42, moves them into a separate tank and cools them with cold water.
Nanbu bijin - Nanbu Bijin bottle pasteurizing: 65C for 25mins, cool to 10C over 20mins, then to below 0C.
Glass breakage (Thermal shock)
warming up vs cooling down - compression differences on the glass. Okay to put 0C into 65C bath, but not okay to go straight from 65C to 0C bath. As @proctor says, “If you heat the outside, the outside expands, which compresses the inside. If you have hot inside and cool it, suddenly the outside is shrinking while the inside isn't”
Types:
Vat Pasteurization or low temperature
High Temperature/Short Time (HTST)
Ultra Pasteurization (UP)
Ultra-High-Temperature (UHT)
Methods:
Pinpoint
Inline
Choosing a method is based on: What is your goal and what do you want to do?
For sake, pasteurization requires different targets because the enzymes involved are different than other beverages. Temps required are 60-65C and unlike the west, don’t historically use Pasteurization Units (PUs) to determine the timing of the process.
Here are some common words related to pasteurization in Japan:
Hi-ire: pasteurization process itself
Ja-kan: sake pasteurized by transfer from one vat to another through a heated tube
Bin-Kan: bottled pasteurized sake
Namazake: unpasteurized sake
Namachozo: sake aged in vats, without pasteurization, then pasteurized before bottling.
Namazume: sake pasteurized before maturing in vats, then pasteurized just before bottling.
Hiya-oroshi: a namazume sake that is offered seasonally, especially in the fall.
Ja-kan: at the tank outlet, the sake circulates through a tube heated to 60-65°C before being transferred to a storage tank. This operation is generally repeated just before bottling. This method is suitable for sake produced in large quantities, such as futsuushu, honjozo, junmai. pasteurization of japanese ja-kan sake.
Bin-kan: in this method, the sake is first bottled (unpasteurized), the bottles are placed in a hot water bath for a few minutes, before being cooled quickly. This method is suitable for more fragile products, sake with delicate aromas such as ginjo and daïginjo. (source)
Bottle Pasteurization example:
Start at Storage Temp (probably -5C to 5C)
Cap all but one bottle which has a thermometer in it
Heat in a warm bath @ 65-70C
Take action
at 40C and 55C tilt/flip to homogenize
at 65C, cool it as fast as possible
Cooling techniques vary, but a popular method is a cold water shower or cold water bath
**If you dunk into cold water, use an intermediate 40C bath to avoid glass breakage
Jordan discusses Thiol Yeasts and his Latest Koji Batch
Thiol Yeast Test
Jordan is running a side by side of Thiol yeast vs Standard sake yeast
Thiol yeasts contain an enzymes that cleave off compounds that produce tropical flavors
Rice contains many bound thiols, so this experiment will be to see what happens.
Jordan shared his koji Data
Batch notes:
16.5% moisture dekoji
14.5% after cooling/drying
Ueda koji method was so simple, didn’t need to wake up at crazy hours.
JJ gave a presentation on Moto
JJ walked us through various types of moto and we all got a little too rowdy for our own good, but sake brewers need to relax.
Reade H. build a custom water chemistry tool for sake brewers
Sake Water Chemistry Tool - Reade H
Huge thank you to our very lovely Reade for putting this together. You can expand upon it and add new profiles and efforts are already under way to add more to it from Mike S.’ personal calculations he’s compiled into a Khymos spreadsheet. So, check back for updates if you copy it for your personal use!
Sake Wein Tour with Head Brewer Matthias
Matthias, the head brewer and co-founder of Sake Wein in Austria, joined the Europe call on Saturday and gave us some details on what he is up to.
Given the costs of importing Japanese sake to Europe, he is finding many restaurants looking for local options. Germany has been an up and coming market for them and the craze of koji fermentation has spawned several side businesses. It will be very exciting to watch as the sake world expands further around them. 90% Arborio rice, organic farming, fresh mountain spring water from the alps, … you can literally feel the enthusiasm from Matthias as he details the aspects of his brewery process. It is a wonderful reminder that Sakaya Ban Ryu is just as true as ever.
Products
Junmai - Arborio batch
Namazake genshu muroka 90% table rice
Limited - Canarolli batch
Taste comparison - intended flavor profile
Tamagawa - bold, full flavors, high acidity. “loud” compared to main stream Japanese sake
High ABV … 19% genshu
Doesn’t measure acidity, but says it is high based on flavor.
Finished sake between SMV +1.5, SMV -1.5
Challenges
Consumer adoption
Alcohol content is perhaps the only problem. Customers find the alcohol content too high in genshu sake.
Trying different flavors or other things at Point of Sale to educate and offer different opportunities to break the ice
Distribution
Logistical problems - Very expensive to ship small quantities…. working with Wine makers to ship together and reduce costs
Plenty of scalability: Capacity currently @ 48000 bottles a year
Experiments
400kg of kasu for each batch- mostly recycled as waste, but trying to find places to use/sell too. (600 kg / batch) - 1800L tank
Organic/Natural Pharmacy using their kasu
Organic spice mill (germany) - does slow dry into powder so it can be used as a spice or rehydrated as a spice. (these companies are constantly looking for options for new products) capacity of 300Kg batch size
Awamori partnership
Taking the “one step at a time” approach and learning as they go through adaptation. Next question… “Do we pasteurize or not?”
Dabbling in private labeling
Equipment
Square moto tanks with cooling jacket to have larger size (cylinder would have to be too tall for ceiling) … love the adaptation
Moto tanks can also be used for Fune press 48hr pressing time
Tank Designs
Brewery tri-clover ferrule NOT a thing in Europe
Process
2 week moto (pure koji)
goes on smell for moto
smelling ginjo-ka, green apple, clean and crisp
2 week moromi
Brewing tricks
Daimon Shuzo
odorless, flavorless dummy rice (ダミー米)
Fresh tasting for 6 months (fruit), but dried fruit after 1 year
Oldest is 1.5years, no bad flavors, but it is changing over time
Wine is not cooled or pasteurized, but above 15% abv it kills things that can harm you, so it might taste bad, but it’s not going to harm you.
Stabilized ozone water as disinfectant (price per liter is basic zero) - Canadian company
Citric Acid for cleaning (organic)
Moto / Shubo - 100% koji, Arborio 90%, Vienna Alpine Snow Water, Hi-G, 901, Lactic acid. Potassium and Calcium additions
Abandoned/Retired Yeast OKAY to ship from the creator directly
1201 / 1101 yeast? very expensive
Daniel A. joined from Panama!
Shared local rice he’s using to brew with.
Using bioc spores from Japan.
We’ll look forward to what comes next.
Brewery Concepts around the Globe
Brewpub
probably the most profitable option around the world
examples: Moto-i, NAS, Kanpai, Ben’s American Sake,
Small Craft, local, self-distributed
examples: Dojima, Wakaze, Sake Wein, The Void Sake
Large Scale Brewery
main sake lines are about profit margins. Junmai, nothing special, quickest
Others
Proper / Rice Vice
Chio Graduated from her Internship!
Her thesis project was Doburoku!
Local Niigata G9 Yeast to produce Ginjo-ka
Taste is Green Apple, Muscat
Only 160x 500mL bottles produced
Please enjoy this amazing presentation from Chio on doburoku’s history and the details of her graduation project. She is a rising star on the sake and fermentation scene.
Jordan's Two-Step Homebrew Ratios
Jordan shared his latest quick 2 step fermentation for Homebrew.
Moto
10% of total rice
25% koji
1st Addition
30% total rice
25% koji
Final Addition
60% total rice
25% koji
Discussion around this:
Mike describes his adjustments for standard “Ratios” by increasing his koji ratios in the early Moto, Soye, and tapering off by the time you reach Tome, which is only about 70% the standard ratio. Basically his Moto ratio is about 37%, rather than the standard 33% or even 25% that you’d see in many recipes.
Okay, that’s all until next time. Please Send feedback.
