|
 Sake
is one of the most popular drinks in Japan, and plays an
integral role in Japanese culture and tradition. Sake has been
made in Japan for over 2,000 years, and significant advances
have been made in the production process throughout the years.
Though it is called rice "wine," the process of
making Sake has more in common with the brewing of beer. The
parallels with beer are many, because unlike wine sake is not
aged for more than six months. But sake should not be compared
too closely with beer, because it is not carbonated, and is
also considered a healthy drink because many of the impurities
in the rice are eliminated during the lengthy and complicated
brewing process.
Sake has
basically four ingredients. The first and perhaps most
important is rice, and there are approximately 46 types of
rice used to produce sake. That may not seem remarkable until
you consider that there are more than 120,000 different
varieties of rice in the world. Sake rice is selected because
it is has a larger kernel, and also because it is easier to
work with than other grains. In the first step of the brewing
process, the rice is "polished:" machines mill the
grain of rice to eliminate the outer layers, leaving only the
starch-rich "packet" in the center of each grain of
rice. Interestingly the milling process was once completed by
hand, or rather by mouth. Ancient sake production saw
"chewing parties" as part of a Shinto fertility
rite: a whole village would chew the grains of rice with nuts
and spit the chewed product into a large tub. Fortunately for
quality control standards and hygiene, this practice of
producing kuchikami no saké ("chewing in the mouth saké")
has long since been discontinued.
The polished
rice is then steamed, and "koji" is scattered folded
into the steamed rice. Koji is a yellow mold (also known as
Aspergillum oryaze) that is grown very carefully by the
brewmaster (toji) in a dark place. The koji grows on the
steamed rice, and converts the starch in the rice into sugar.
Yeast and water are then added to the mixture, and the quality
of both of these ingredients plays a major role in determining
both taste and quality. The yeast most commonly used is known
as Saccaromyces cerevisiae, but the experienced toji often
experiment with other types of yeast. The type of water used
ranges from mountain spring water to desalinated water from
the ocean – the important factor in both is mineral content,
and of course water that has not had chemicals like fluoride
added is essential. The mixture of yeast, rice, koji, and
water (known as "mash") is then allowed to ferment
for between 18 to 35 days. The temperature the mash is kept at
helps to determine the strength and dryness of the sake
produced.
Once the
mixture has fermented, it is "pressed" to separate
the liquid from the mash. Traditional preparation methods
included placing the mash in canvas bags and then squeezing
the liquid out of the bags using a wooden box known as a
"fune." Modern methods use a machine that looks a
little like a giant accordion. The extracted liquid is then
filtered, and is often pasteurized to kill off unwanted
bacteria. Most sake is then aged for up to six months to
increase its potency and flavor, and then more water is added
to increase the yield and lessen the alcoholic content.
The resulting
product is then sold to the consumer, and can be served alone
or in cocktails. Most sake is best consumed fresh, rather than
leaving it to age any further. There are more than 10,000
different varieties of sake, and though there may be slight
changes in the brewing process, the steps outlined here form
the basis of all sake production.
|
