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| Sake History |
Brewed as early as 4800
B C in the Yangtze valley (now in China), sake has
been the staple alcoholic beverage of Japan for centuries
and once upon a time of Chinese too.
Sake comes in a staggering array of qualities. Today
the majority of sake production in Japan, but now Colorado,
Oregon, California and Australia host sake brewers taking
advantage of low ingredient and labour costs.
Sake has played and continues to play an important role
in the Japanese culture and religion. It is used in almost
all Shinto ceremonies, and served at weddings, at christenings
of buildings, at the opening of new homes, or even when
land is purchased.
When the Japanese obtained the sake recipe in 300 A D
only naturally occurring yeasts could be used. There
were no cultivated yeasts. Some clever Japanese then
invented “chewing-in-the-mouth sake “. It
was a ceremony during which a whole village would gather
to chew up rice, chestnuts and millet and regurgitate
in to vats. The saliva contains sufficient enzymes to
start fermentation, which continues with the help of
natural yeasts. Later on bakers accidentally discovered
the efficacy of yeasts, and over time invented techniques
to preserve them for future use. |
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Today sake is brewed using highly scientific and hygienic techniques, and the
product by all accounts has a finer, more distinct and deep flavour.
During and after World War II alcohol and glucose were added to rice mash, increasing
yields by as much as four times. Today, only the least expensive sake is produced
this way. Quality sake brewers never add anything other than pure water (the
best is hard water from Kobe prefecture), koji, yeast and rice. Of the 120 000
rice varieties, only 46 have been identified as suitable for sake production.
Sake production starts with polishing the rice. Polished rice yields a better
sake. (Some brewers polish the rice down to 65 percent of its original size using
only the “heart “of the kernel). After polishing, the rice is washed,
soaked, and then steamed. After cooling koji (a microbe similar to those used
in blue cheese manufacturing) is added to convert starch to glucose. Then yeasts
are added to start the fermentation which can last anywhere from 18 –30
days. The fermentation is strictly controlled by the toji (brew master) who used
to be a fisherman. Traditionally, sake was brewed during winter by fisherman,
who having completed the fishing season, were unemployed. Today breweries hire
full-time brewers.
During the fermentation, more water, rice and koji are added to continue the
process. After the fermentation is completed, pressing takes place, followed
by the first pasteurisation.
High-quality sake is aged (some longer than others) while inexpensive ones are
just filtered, diluted with water, pasteurised once more and bottled.
In 1988 there were 1800 brewers, now this number is down to 1500, and chances
are it will decline even more, as larger organizations constantly take market
share from smaller brewers.
Daiginjo-shu is considered to be the best quality followed by ginjo-shu, tokubetsu
honjozo, tokubetsu-junmai and junmai-shu.
High quality sake should be enjoyed chilled. |
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