I Feel Some Sake Action Coming On!

[pdilley]

Spore Production for year 2010 Has Ended!
I have halted spore production for this year as I have so many spores (Estimated 140,000,000,000 - 140 Billion of them!) that I figure this could supply the LHBSs on this side of Australia for a while



Just showing the last of the photos I pulled off the camera. As now it is time to start thinking about moving into the serious production phase of Sake itself. I have the rice mould growing down pat now.

Photo at the end is very large so you can see detail.
The second to last photo has enough spores left over on the tray to make 2 full batches of koji on its own :beer:









Cheers,
Brewer Pete

 

[Steve]

BP! Un-f#*&^%king believable thread. I read a few posts before christmas and then came back to it today. Your dedication is something to be proud of and i reckon you'll be soon selling your sake to the Japs! :lol: Looking forward to the updates of sake brewing process.

Cheers
Steve

 

[superdave]

Rice / Price Score!

I also scored big on the rice front. I found the oldest asian store in The Capital and the lady there told me about a special rice from China. Grown in the North East of the country it is *THE* top-quality rice in all of China. And best of all she sold it to me for $50 for a 25 kilo sack. That brings the cost down to $2/kilo for the best rice in China. You can make rice to eat, rice for Sushi making, rice for making Sake and Mouldy Rice, and rice for making Chinese Rice Wine, just about everything from this one type of rice. The lady said if you can only get one rice, get this because it is such good quality you can use it for everything.

Japonica rice is round grain corn and not the long slender ones. This makes superior tasting Sake so I am including a photo of the bag with both Chinese and English showing importer for Australia in case anyone wants to get any themselves. It is marked Medium grain but its Japonica, slightly larger than the domestic Sun Rice brand Sushi Style Rice which costs $3 per kilo in bulk but only available in 10kilo bag from Asian stores.
View attachment 34345

Was that just the shop telling you want you wanted to hear, or have you found mention of Japonica rice in your searches? Just asking before I go out in search of a bag of Japonica rice.

That said I can read one symbol on the bag, and it is definitely from the north at least :lol:

 

[pdilley]

I should crack the bag and make some rice as the shop owner keeps asking me "Have you tried it" every time I go back into the store. So she is confident about something I have a rice cooker from Japan coming over so I was really waiting for a proper Japanese rice cooker to actually cook the North-East China rice to eat for some cooked rice perfection. (Japanese cookers are light years ahead of white persons rice cookers sold in Australia). EDIT: For example you can tell it what type of rice you are putting in, white long grain, brown rice, or even rice which you did not wash the starch of in a rinse before putting it in the cooker and a computer using fuzzy logic adjusts ever single cooking session and cooks the rice to perfection. You tell the cooker I *need* my rice at 5:47PM and it will be done exactly at that time waiting for you.

If you are worried about an unknown, you can get the Sun Rice brand which is also a Japonica rice but domestic grown. Its smaller quantity but also more expensive per kilo but you are talking $30 range for a sack that is a little more than 1/3rd the size than the Chinese one.

If you want a guaranteed rice you can get Kokuho Rose Sushi Rice. It is close to $5 per kilo! as it is grown in California and shipped to Australia. It only costs $2.20 or so per kilo in the US for brewers in the States so they have gone with that brand. If we follow the brewers in the States, we will be paying more than twice the price for the same amount of finished Sake. But if you want to match the brand used in the guides, get the Kokuho Rose for the first batch and then you can use the Chinese and domestic Australian Japonica rice in your next batches and compare.

For rice evaluation, the Kokuho Rose rice will be moist and sticky when cooked but also when cooled will retain a uniform texture.

With regards to Medium Grain Rice such as the Chinese Japonica type:
o Most popular variety used in sushi in the US
o Grains remain glossy and upright after cooking
o Retains moist texture for longer periods of time
o Distinctively sweet, softer and stickier, resembling characteristics of a short grain rice at a more economical price point

Of course these are Sushi characteristics that are desirable.

Sake final ABV% is dictated by how much polishing is on the rice. We are going to end up with the highest proof Sakes (near 20% ABV) because we don't have rice polished down to 50% of its size available to us in Australia yet.

If you are just starting out and want to see if you can grow koji rice, just some cheap no name long grain rice will suffice to start with. Just don't use it for making Sake.


Cheers,
Brewer Pete

 

[pdilley]

BP! Un-f#*&^%king believable thread. I read a few posts before christmas and then came back to it today. Your dedication is something to be proud of and i reckon you'll be soon selling your sake to the Japs! :lol: Looking forward to the updates of sake brewing process.

Cheers
Steve

Well *exlamation!* right! Good to see you as excited as me

The Sake brewing process is based on Fred Eckhardt's process and with Bob Taylor's assistance in bouncing ideas off of.

I love Fred's take on Sake Brewing difficulty versus that of making wine or beer so I'll quote it.

...it is also called Seishu refined shu or rice beer. We have come to call it "sake" which is another pronunciation of "shu". They share the same Chinese character.

"Refined." Now that ought to tell the reader something. IT'S NOT SIMPLE. You want simple; make wine. Get used to it. All grain beer brewing is not simple either, but if you want to do that you do what it takes. Sake brewing is no more difficult, in fact it is easier. All grain brewing takes all day. Sake brewing takes longer, but the steps are much easier. THE HARD PART IS DOING THINGS IN THE RIGHT ORDER.

So there you have it, if you can make an all grain beer as many of us here can, then you can make Sake. You just have some new techniques and a different schedule to learn and in no time you'll be making your own Sake to compliment your other brewing activities. Its no more difficult than AG Brewing, just different things to make sure are done at different schedule than making beer.


Cheers,
Brewer Pete

 

[pdilley]

Just a note, I read the directions for 50% to 60% polished rice when formulating a brewing schedule. I will have to go back to Taylor's method for 90% polished rice and build a table for that, so the Sake making is delayed about a week from that mistake.

I did cook the Chinese Japonica rice,

and I did it in this!







The ultimate rice cooker is always a Japanese rice cooker. The new models are all fuzzy logic based programming that cooks each batch exact fuly computer controlled.

As you can see I can do white rice with bran, white rice without bran, normally milled rice and the new Japanese PreWash Milling technique rice (not much good in Australia this option), Sushi rice, brown rices, sweet rices with red beans, you can make porridge even, hell even Paella with all the seafood in it.

Two timers so it will make sure rice is cooked exactly when you need it. One for dinner rice and one for breakfast rice is my guess why they have two.

It will keep rice perfectly moist and warm for 12 hours, 8 hours, and reheats to serving temperature.

It even has different handling for new seasons harvest rices and old seasons harvest rices, its the bees nuts.

I made the Chinese Japonica rice in here. It was 2008 harvest so I told the machine that and said I wanted a slightly harder rice good for curries and my god!

It made perfect rice, shiny, slightly translucent, mildly sticky, not burning hot but still steaming, very very Japanese texture, just the tiniest amount of chew and everything clean with no burning or crusting from the Australian White People rice cookers I've gone through. I never enjoyed rice so much. Put some miso paste on the plate to go with it. Best of all it will always make perfect rice every time with full consistency. Expensive but these cookers usually last a lifetime.

Had to buy from Singapore to get English manual plus 240Volt/50Hz power although it is the UK style plug. I already have a UK to AUS adapter from the wife when she came over so it works perfect in Australia. The plug is fused and all the small things are taken care of.

Not sure if I can get used to a rice cooker that sings to me when the rice is ready.

This is *NOT* required to make Sake, let me make that clear. Its just when you start studying Sake making you really get to know your rice and learn how much behind the curve we are over here. I've been making a lot of Japanese curries lately so I had to splurge on a proper cooker. They are even advertised to be able to bake cakes inside them.


I will work tomorrow on putting together a brewing schedule but this time for 90% polished rice as we only have at our disposal currently to brew Sake with.


I would also like to thank Brew Your Own At Home in Kambah, ACT, Col is very interested in getting to try making Sake and will graciously help out on a joint brew of Sake.



Cheers,
Brewer Pete

 

[pdilley]

Sake Brewing Calendar is done!


Published in .ICS ICalendar format (Native for Mac OS X and Linux, Windows users should be able to import it into one program or another on Windows).


Download the file here:
View attachment Homebrew_Sake_Timetable.ics.zip


Cheers,
Brewer Pete

 

[pdilley]

Here is the calendar steps for those who want to build their own brewing calendar for Sake.

Some modification from Taylors, taken from Eckhardt's schedule for non polished rice.

Please note that the lowest grade commercial Sake is made from 75% polished rice. All we have as brewers in Australia is 90% polished rice so we do what we must until we can get higher polished rice in our home brew stores. This fermentation schedule is designed for 90% polished rice.

Creating the Starter (Japanese: Moto)

Day #1

1. Morning - Buy all your ingredients.
2. If you are not buying ready made koji then make sure you set aside enough time before this day to make your own fresh koji from koji mould spores as shown before in this post.
3. 2 PM - Place koji in 2.5 cups of cold water with 0.75 teaspoon of yeast nutrient and a pinch of epsom salt. Soak in fridge over night. Also soak 1.5 cups of rice for same amount of time.

Day #2

1. 8 AM - Steam the rice for an hour. Add the steamed rice to the fermenter along with cold water and koji. Mix well with cleaned hands to break up all the rice clumps.
2. 9 AM - Let the koji and rice mixture stand inside the fermenter at room temperature for 2 days. Stir the mixture twice a day.

Day #2 Notes:

Add the steamed rice to the fermenter along with cold water and koji. When you first add the rice and water to the fermenter it will look like a loose porridge mixture. By the end of the first day the rice will have absorbed almost all of the water so do not be alarmed! It will look like there is not enough water there to be useful but just wait! By the end of the next day you will see the mixture begin to liquefy again as the koji enzymes break the rice starches down into hygroscopic sugars. By the end of the second day the solution will be almost completely liquid and you will barely be able to tell that there was ever any rice in the fermenter.

Day #3

1. Continued - stirring of the mixture twice a day.

Day #4

1. 8 AM - Add your Sake Yeast to the fermenter. Chill to 10C (50F) for 12 hours.
2. Stir the moto 2 times each day for the next 3 days.

Day #4 Notes:

Chill to 10C (50F) for 12 hours. A cool temperature is important at this point because lactobacillus activity that was rampant before you added the yeast is retarded at cooler temperatures, while this particular strain of yeast will thrive, multiply, and crowd out the lactobacillus. You are trying to give your sake yeast a fair go in its first 12 hours.

Stir the moto 2 times each day for the next 3 days. By stirring often, we are trying to introduce oxygen to encourage the yeast to multiply and not start the anaerobic fermentation phase of the yeast yet. Remember that we are just making a yeast starter for the main sake fermentation which will take place later on.

Day #5

1. Continues - stirring the moto 2 times each day for the next 3 days.

Day #6

1. Continues - stirring the moto 2 times each day for the next 3 days.

Day #7

1. Stir the moto now only once per day for the next 3 days.

Day #8

1. Continues - stirring the moto now only once per day for the next 3 days.

Day #9

1. Continues - stirring the moto now only once per day for the next 3 days.

Day #10

1. Chill to 10C (50F) and hold at this temperature for 5 days.

Day #10 Notes:

Chill to 10C (50F) and hold at this temperature for 5 days. At this point we are conditioning the yeast for the upcoming cool fermentation as well as allowing a little bit more of the acids to be produced.

Day #11

1. Continues - holding at 10C (50F) for 5 days.

Day #12

1. Continues - holding at 10C (50F) for 5 days.

Day #13

1. Continues - holding at 10C (50F) for 5 days.

Day #14

1. Continues - holding at 10C (50F) for 5 days.

Stay tuned next time for the next post where we will continue with our Sake Brewing calendar continuing on with:

• Prepare for the Main Mash (Japanese: Moromi)
• Prepare the First Addition (Japanese: Hatsuzoe)
• Prepare the Second Addition (Japanese: Nakazoe)
• Prepare the Final Addition (Japanese: Tomezoe)
• Yeast Multiplication/Fermentation (Japanese: Odori - literally "Dance" or Dance of the Yeast!)

Cheers,
Brewer Pete

 

[pdilley]

First batch of Sake is underway!

• Colin is building a starter from wlp705, which is Sake Yeast #7 and we will use that for the first batch and reserve some starter yeast for future batches.
• We are going to run a second batch using the WYeast Sake#9 yeast and compare results.
• I am building up some Koji starting last night. This time with the proper rice and pushing for most of the time in the Amylase enzyme production temperature zone.
• That puts the timing at the earliest start to this Saturday to proceed with the starter building schedule I already have outlined in the above post.
• Brewing calendar will continue in a future post before the two weeks are up for making the Moto (starter).

For those who would like a quick visual graphic of the entire process in one graphic to see the high level overview of brewing Sake, here you go:


Yeast #7, #9, and #10 are perhaps the most important Sake yeast in use these days. Yeast #7, discovered by Masumi of Nagano, is the single most commonly used yeast in Japan, with its mellow fragrance and robust strength during fermentation. Yeast #9 is the most common yeast for ginjo-shu, due to its wonderful fragrance-creating abilities, and fairly healthy constitution during fermentation. Yeast #10 produces a lower-acid, fine-grained flavor in sake, but is a bit fickle at all but the lowest fermentation temperatures.

Yeast #1,2,3,4,5,6,8,11,12,13 have been discontinued in Japanese Sake brewing as they produce too much acidity which is no longer required with modern brewing methods.

Yeast #14 is known as "Kanazawa Kobo." Used a lot in Shizuoka too. Low acid, with pears and apples in nose.

Yeast #15 is Akita Moromi. "AK-1," or "Akita Hana Kobo." Very lively fragrance and characteristic nose/flavor; but needs to ferment slowly and at low temperatures.

Yeast# 601, 701 901, and 1001 known as "Awa nashi" or foamless versions of the 6, 7, 9 and 10 yeasts. Nothing else changes, say most. Used by a few breweries to save labour cleanup of previous batches krausen rings on the fermenters.


I'm looking forward to Yeast #9. What is so special about it? In brewing, it ferments thoroughly and slowly at low temperatures, allowing brewers to control the fermentation closely. This all leads to wonderfully smooth and fine-grained flavors, good aromatic acid content, and lovely fruity aromas reminiscent of delicious apples and perhaps melon. Clean and bright sake with wonderful balance is the trademark of this line of yeasts. Indeed, there is nothing quite like classic #9 flavors and aromas in a sake.



Cheers,
Brewer Pete

 

[pdilley]

We are up and rolling with the Moto. The yeast starter is done (they were long in the tooth so we used them instead of chucking them). They hit high krausen and then down again.


Koji is done, sealed in a shrink wrap plastic bag and in the fridge at the LHBS. I also brought in some Japonica rice, enough to do the batch of Sake.


We are not going to be making that standard 11 litres of Sake this time. I can't blame SWMBO as she tried to help me and when I asked for 3 cups of rice on soak in the refrigerator, because she is used to making rice in the rice cooker she used the rice cooker's cup measure. Just so you know, that is 180ml capacity traditional Japanese cup size. Australian cup size is 250ml so our Koji volume is smaller.

Not a worry we are just multiplying each quantity by the difference percentage and adjusting down accordingly. '

I had a taste of the koji leftovers after shrink wrapping it and it was quite nice and sweet, so high hopes!

EDIT: Curent Japanese cup size is 200ml, just rice cookers still use the traditional 180ml cup size of Japans past.

Cheers,
Brewer Pete

 

[bennoz]

Awesome stuff

Ive just started looking into making sake, and this thread has been a huge help. Cant wait to see how it all turns out.

Now to try and source some Kome Koji in sydney...

 

[pdilley]

Primary Fermentation steps for those who want to build their own brewing calendar for Sake.


Preparing for the Main Mash (Japanese: Moromi) for the First Addition (Japanese: Hatsuzoe)

Day #15

1. 2 PM - Add 1 cup of koji to the moto you have made in the fermenter.
2. 2 PM - Wash 2 1/2 cups rice in water until it rinses clear.
3. 2 PM - Soak the washed rice for 18 hours in water.

Preparing the First Addition (Japanese: Hatsuzoe)

Day #16

1. 8 AM - Steam the soaked 2.5 cups of rice.
2. 9 AM - Cool the steamed rice by mixing it with 2 3/4 cups of special prepared and chilled water as described in the Day #16 Notes.

Day #16 Notes:

Prepare the water by dissolving 1 1/4 teaspoons of salt substitute (potassium chloride) in a little bit of warm water, then add cold water to obtain a total volume of 2 3/4 cups. Chill this water in the refrigerator while the rice steams.


Preparing for the Main Mash (Japanese: Moromi) for the Second Addition (Japanese: Nakazoe)

Day #17

1. 2 PM - Stir 1 1/2 cups of koji into the moromi.
2. 2 PM - Wash and 6 cups of rice in water until the rinse water runs clear.
3. 2 PM - Soak the washed rice for 18 hours in water.

Preparing the Second Addition (Japanese: Nakazoe)

Day #18

1. 11 AM - Steam the 6 cups of rice.
2. 12 PM - Cool the steamed rice by adding to 8 3/4 cups of chilled water.
3. 12 PM - Add rice and water to the moromi, mixing with clean hands to break up all the clumps. Let stand for 12 hours.
4. 8 PM - Wash and soak the remaining 2.26 kilograms (5 pounds) of rice for 18 hours.
5. 12 AM - Stir the remaining koji into the moromi with a sanitised spoon.

Preparing the Final Addition (Japanese: Tomezoe)

Day #19

1. 2 PM - Steam your remaining rice, in batches if you do not have the pots and bamboo steamers to do it all at once.
2. 3 PM - Cool your steamed rice by adding to 4 litres (1 gallon + 1 cup) chilled water.
3. 3 PM - Add rice and water to the moromi, mixing well with clean hands to break up all clumps. Let this stand at room temperature for 12 hours.

Preparing the Main Mash (Japanese: Moromi) for the Primary Fermentation (Japanese: Odori)

Day #20

1. Move fermenter to a cool location or a temperature controlled fermenting refrigerator.
2. Chill the fermenter to 10C (50F).
3. Hold the temperature at 10C (50F) for 3 weeks.

Day #20 Notes:

This is the primary fermentation for your sake. Around day 19, start checking your specific gravity with a hydrometer. While there is no way to get an accurate Starting Gravity for sake without filtering, watching the progression of the Final Gravity readings will tell you when fermentation is nearly complete. When it gets below 1.000 it is the time to transfer to a secondary fermenter.


Day #38

1. Take a hydrometer reading to confirm end of fermentation.

Day #39

1. Take a second hydrometer reading to confirm end of fermentation.

Day #40

1. Take a third hydrometer reading to confirm end of fermetnation.

Stay tuned next time for the next post where we will continue with our Sake Brewing calendar continuing on with:

• Racking to Secondary and Secondary Fermentation (Japanese: Yodan)
• Clarification of the fermentation
• Bottling and Ageing

Cheers,
Brewer Pete

 

[pdilley]

Day #20 Notes - by 19th day I meant the 19th day into the primary fermentation which is Day #38 as already pointed out on calendar to start first hydrometer reading.

Awesome stuff

Ive just started looking into making sake, and this thread has been a huge help. Cant wait to see how it all turns out.

Now to try and source some Kome Koji in sydney...

Sounds great. Sydney of all places in Australia should be the easiest to source fresh koji. That's relatively speaking of course, worse case make your own from spores.


Cheers,
Brewer Pete

 

[laleIcegrap]

glanced at the LA times this morning and saw an article stating tht alfa romeo and fiat may be coming into the US market? watcha think?

 

[manticle]

Fiat is better for spore production numbers but alfa romeo usually result in a better quality beverage. I've been making sake out of my Chevrolet recently and it just isn't the same.

 

[bennoz]

any update on this ?

 

[pdilley]

Sorry guys, government has stuffed my contract so I'm spending all my time getting that work contract fixed.

But I have some information for you on Koji front. I'm sure I have forgotten to post it but I have been talking with an actual brewery in Japan who makes Sake commercially and they have given me some Koji making tips that match closely to my chart and my guess that optimum Koji for sake will be in the Amylase enzyme range.

90% polish rice will make a thin and sharp Sake at best but its still good considering thats the best we can do without making our own rice polishing equipment.

From the Japanese Brewery:

In general, the koji-making prosess takes 40 to 45 hours.

During this time, the developing koji is checked and mixed constantly to ensure proper temperature and moisture are maintained.

The general formula is shown down below:

1, Mix and Cool steamed rice (34 to 36 ℃ and moisture of rice 34％）
2, Sprinkle Koji spore on the rice and mix well
3, 10 hours later mix well again
4, Another 12 hours later mix well once more
5, Another 8 to 10 hours later mix well (a rice temperature of 34 to 36 ℃ is best)
6, Another 5 to 7 hours later mix well (a rice temperature of 35 to 37 ℃ is best)
7, Another 12 hours later mix well (a rice temperature of should be 37 to 38 ℃ is best)

Overall the entire process could take up to 47 to 52 hours to complete after steaming of the rice.

EDIT: Yes I note the time differential too. This is the best translation between my bad Japanese and their bad English

Cheers,
Brewer Pete