By Marcelo Paniza Paniza Brewing Co. How to Brew Sake By Marcelo Paniza Paniza Brewing Co.

What is sake? Also referred to as Japanese rice wine or NihonShu (日本酒; meaning 'Japanese liquor'), is a fermented alcoholic beverage made by fermenting rice in a particular way. It has been brewed and perfected for 1000s of years. When you steam the rice, starches come out, but they are not fermentable. A mould called Koji (麹, Aspergillus Oryzae) is added to transform starches into fermentable sugars. Today, we will explain that process and will try to simplify and compare sake brewing to beer brewing.

Sake Recipe Ingredients Preparation A bag of medium rice (Calrose) 2 cups of fresh Koji (Asian Market) Yeast (WLP705) Water (should be soft, we use distilled) Preparation Rice steamer Flat pan to cool down the steamed rice Brewer’s tools, including a fermenter Minerals for water profile adjustment Rice mill (optional)

How to prepare the rice On every stage, you will prepare rice by the cup: Mill, Wash, Soak, Dry, Steam, Cool You want the rice al dente, and not fully cooked. Here is how to prepare it: Mill the rice (optional) Wash the rice until the water comes out clear Cover it with water, 1-2 inches over Let it soak for 1 hour Drain it well (many drain for 1 hour) Steam for 1 hour Let it cool down to about 22oC

Yeast starter - Moto Open fermentation! You will need to stir twice per day. In a jar, add 600 ml of distilled water Add a pinch of calcium chloride and Epsom salt Add 1 cup of Koji leave in the fridge overnight Then, wash 2 cups of rice (Mill, Wash, Soak, Dry, Steam, Cool) Drop the steamed rice into the water with Koji Drop the yeast into the mix as well Ferment for 5 days @ 22oC No more stirring Let it rest for 3 days @ 10oC

Primary Fermentation - Moromi We build the primary in folding stages. The stages keep the yeast less stressed. Ferment at 22oC, 24 hours each stage Try to add the koji a few hours before you do the yeast Hatsuzoe - 1 cup of Koji, 600 ml of water, 2.5 cups of rice Nakazoe - 1.5 cups of Koji, 9 cups of water, 6 cups of rice Tomezoe - 5 pounds of rice, remaining Koji, 5 L of water Should have 15 L volume Bring temperature down to 10oC Leave undisturbed for 3 weeks, or gravity goes below 1.000

Secondary Fermentation - Yodan We will separate sake from rice lees (called Kasu). Will produces cloudy sake called Nigorizake. Lagering will clear it. From here on, everything must be sanitized at all times. Cheesecloth on the racking cane is useful here! Using a racking cane, siphon as much as possible from primary Then, filter and press the remaining as much as you can There is still sugar left but try not to splash too much I transfer to a single vessel. Many separate in 1-gallon vessels

Clarifying, Maturing and Packing You can filter, lager, or whatever you fancy do with it! Time to add those airlocks on fermenter(s). Keep at 10oC to continue fermentation => Dryer, higher ABV. Keep at 0oC to stop fermentation or pasteurize it. White sake should be between 18% and 22%

How far can you go with this? The Sake Doppelbock Experiment On the last stage of the primary, instead of 5 L of water, we added 10 L of Doppelbock at 1.093. Keep at 10oC to continue fermentation => Dryer, higher ABV. Keep at 0.0oC to stop fermentation or pasteurize it. White sake should be between 18% and 22%

Rice Dancing

Resources Netflix - The Birth of Sake https://byo.com/article/making-sake/

Questions? Marcelo Paniza Paniza Brewing Company PanizaBrewing.Ca