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Making Masumi Sake
Making Masumi Sake
Making Masumi Sake
Polishing
The more you polish, the lighter and finer the taste.
The first step in our brewing process is to polish the rice in our own
polishing plant. We do this to remove the outer layers of the grain, which
into amino acids that can taste bitter. More polishing results in lighter,
We know how much we have polished by comparing the weight of the brown rice
before polishing to the weight after polishing. We indicate the polishing rate
60% means that 40% of the rice was polished away, and 60% remains to be made
into sake.
Note that the polishing rate is used to officially designate the grade of sake
according to Japanese tax law. To be labeled DAIGINJO, super premium, the rate
must be lower than 50% remaining, and to be labeled GINJO, premium, the rate
must be done slowly and gently. It takes more than 50 hours to achieve a
is washed and soaked. Although the purpose of soaking the rice is simply to
allow it to absorb the desired amount of water, achieving just the right water
content is easier said than done. The more the rice has been polished in the
previous step, the faster it will soak up water. If highly polished rice is
carelessly left to soak for too long, it will become too soft during steaming
and cannot be used to produce fine sake. To avoid this, our brewers use stop
watches to time the soaking down to the minute, and continually modify the
In order to make ideal koji (rice malt) and to ensure proper fermentation of
the mash, the rice kernels must be steamed in a way that results in a firm
outer surface and a soft inner core. The same care given to soaking the rice
fermented is actually closer to beer, because the raw ingredients of beer and
sake are starchy grains, not sugary fruits. Yeast cannot eat starch, so the
first step in making beer and sake is to break down the starch into sugar that
For sake, the rice starch is broken down to sugar with the help of a fungus
called koji. When the koji fungus is grown on steamed rice, it creates the
enzymes needed for this magical conversion. How the koji is grown strongly
influences the flavor and quality of the sake, so great care is taken during
the two days required to cultivate it. The brewers apply a combination of
science and hard-earned skill to raise each batch of koji with all the care
On the first day of koji making, a 20% portion of the rice steamed that day is
moved into the koji room and sprinkled with powdery koji spores.
a tana. The koji is now said to be at its peak. In the afternoon the koji is
avoid sudden rises in temperature. At about 7:00 in the evening this process
room into the cold brewery. The brewers then spread the koji in swirling lines
on trays. The perfectly cultivated koji, packed with the enzymes needed to
first step is to cultivate a robust yeast culture in a small tank. This yeast
starter is called the shubo, which literally means “sake’s mother.” Once
and the volume of the mash will be increased by adding more water, steamed
To create the yeast starter, warm water, koji rice malt, lactic acid, yeast,
and steamed rice is added to a small tank. Enzymes in the koji begin breaking
down starch to sugar, and the yeast start to multiply as they consume this
sugar. Keeping the sugary mixture free from unwanted microbes, and keeping the
yeast from producing too much alcohol too quickly, is no easy job. A pristine
regulated over the fourteen days required to develop the yeast culture. If
this process is carried out properly, the result is a culture with two- to
performs the invaluable service of turning sugar into alcohol. There are
countless varieties of yeast out there in the world, but they don’t all have
the magical ability to produce fine sake. Until the Meiji period (1868-1911),
brewers made a lot of mistakes because they lacked the science needed to
promote their use by the nation’s sake brewers. Each newly discovered variety
was given a number, and was then distributed by the national brewing
scientist, Dr. Shoichi Yamada. Dr. Yamada visited the brewery and confirmed
the presence of a very fine yeast in the fermentation vats. Masumi’s yeast
was named “Brewing Association Yeast Number Seven”, and it soon became the
favorite of brewers across the nation. Even today, number seven is the most
In the two weeks since starting fermentation, the yeast has grown into a
fermenting mash by adding more water, koji rice malt, and steamed rice.
However, bringing the mash to full volume all at once once would weaken the
yeast culture, so these ingredients are added in three stages over the course
of four days. Gradually increasing the volume of the mash in three stages is
convert starch to sugar, which the yeast then consume, and in the process,
produce alcohol and the essences of the sake’s fragrance and flavor.
control. From the yeast’s point of view, the most comfortable temperature is
around 28°C, but at that temperature the yeast would grow too rapidly,
producing only alcohol then dying before the fragrances and flavors are
developed. Keeping the temperature of the mash below what is optimum for the
yeast is absolutely essential for producing fine sake. Indeed, just as with
children, over-pampering the brew will prevent it from reaching its full
potential.
Filtering
Filtering the sake must be slow and gentle.
After about 25 to 30 days, the mash so carefully fussed over by the brewery
workers has reached 16% to 19% alcohol, the aromas and flavors have fully
developed, and the mash is ready to be filtered. We use three methods for
filtering, depending on the quality and the quantity of the sake. We filter
super-premium sake made for competition by pouring the mash into cloth bags,
which we then drip into tanks. For some super-premium products, we stack these
same cloth filter bags in a deep tub called a “fune” and apply gentle
pressure. For sake we make in larger volumes, we use filtering machines that
employ compressed air to very gently press the mash through cloth panels.
With the exception of limited seasonal varieties that are bottled and shipped
right after filtering, most sake is aged in tanks or bottles for between six
months and a year before it is sold. Depending on the style of the sake, a