Sake

[dakiro]

This is my first post, glad to be here.


I am happy to say I made sake twice now.

It never spoiled, but there were other issues such as the sour taste.

Bought koji-kin from USA from a store called tibbs-vision and used a complicated recipe from the Taylor-madeAK (sic.)
website. They also show how to innoculate rice with the mould spores.

By the way, Koji (the mould) is said to be one of the treasures of Japan.

I used the koji-kin (mould spores) and innoculated rice in a thermostat controlled yoghurt maker, the temperature is very important.

My second batch is almost gone now, the last bottle is really good, very close to normal sake, not the very good quality ones. The first batch was a slight mistake - tried to introduce lactic fermentation and it turned really sour. Good for sour mixes though! Also used it in the kitchen with success, just add sugar.

Second batch was still slightly sour - but much better. This time I used lager yeast and the winter was cold enough. Next time I will want to use the Sake no. 9 yeast, if I can get it at all. Then I will make a big batch.

What is good about making sake, is that if you like to cook Japanese dishes, you will be able to make mirin (sweet cooking wine) and the lees can be easily used as well, for example for marinades.

 

[bobsbeer]

Welcome. : Seems like you are getting the hang of it. I know some have tried and others have backed away thinking it too difficult. Your experience will be sought after. :thumb:

 

[LeithR]

There is a rice and raisin recipe in CJJB's First Steps book (page 149). He doesn't mention Sake but he suggests the use of 5Lbs of rice so it can't be too far off the mark

Raisins 3Lb
Rice (Long Grain) 5Lb
Sugar 10Lb
Citric Acid 2 Tablesp
Yeast and nutrient 2oz
Water 3 Galls
Dissolve sugar in some heated water taken from the 3 gallons. Allow to cool and pour over rice and raisins (do not chop or mince the raisins) then add the acid and remaining water and sprinkle on yeast and nutrient. Stir and leave in a warm place. Stir daily for 21 days then strain through a fine sieve into 3 4.5L jars. Fit airlocks to the jars and keep the in a warm place until fermentation stops. Then filter the wine through a wine filter and it is then ready for drinking straight away.If its not drunk within 2 months add 1 campden tablet per gallon and leave for 9 months.
Do not discard the pulp as it can be used to make a lighter wine. Dissolve 3.5Kg of sugar in 4.5L of hot water and pour onto the rise and raisin residue. Add 6.7L of cold water plus 30g of citric acid together with fresh yeast. Follow the same procedure given for the first batch.
Cyril's recipe's are notorious for having too much sugar in them so I'd recommend checking with a hydrometer before and after fermentation as per modern practice and add the sugar in batches so you don't over do it.

 

[Pjam]

I don't think the rice and raisin can be compared to Sake, it does use rice I guess .......... though is it more like the stuff they brew behind high walls ? :lol:

 

[Wasabi]

Yes, rice wine is not sake, in that recipe it is clear the large quantity of added sugar is the source of the alcohol, so the rice must just be for flavouring, whereas in sake the rice is the source of the sugars since the mould breaks the starch down in a process analogous to how barley is reduced to maltose in beer making. This two-stage fermentation of starch means that technically sake is a beer not a wine. I imagine using the right yeast is also important to the flavour just like it is with regular ales, I know there are a number of specific yeast strains that the Japanese have developed for sake over the years.

 

[Paulie Sk.]

I'm not sure this is technically Sake, but here's a rice-wine recipe. (Adapted from CJJ Berry, First Steps in Winemaking.)

1lb (half kilo) raisins
1.66lb (3 qtr kilo) uncooked rice
3.3lb (1 & half kilo) sugar
Juice of 1 lemon (or spoon of citric acid)
I use a dessert/ high alcohol yeast

Dissolve sugar in 1 gallon hot water. Pour over the rice & raisins in a sealable, sterilised tub or bucket (do not chop or mince either of these.) Allow to cool to tepid and add the yeast (+ nutrient if used) and lemon juice (or citric acid.) Stir daily for 21 days, then sieve into a demijohn. Ferment until complete (usually I syphon once into clean demijohn when layer of dead yeast and starches has settled at bottom.)
Add one Campden tablet per gallon and mature (if you're patient enough!) I find this is good to drink after only a month or two.
Goes great with friends round for oriental food!

Hope this is useful.
Paulie Sk.

 

[Dean at Sheffield]

I too am in the process of fermenting the rice & raisin recipe from CJJ Berry, 5 days of stirring to go. its a good quick wine to peak ones interest.
next quick wine will be grapefruit..I will naturally post the results, however the rice & raisin recipe has got me researching Sake. Im not talking about the milky substance that many asian home brewers ferment using Jiuqu (shanghai dried yeast balls), but more of the clear more potent brew...using and polishing the rice, steaming with spring water, rinsing, having the rice swell without splitting (looking like tapioca) taking half the rice and semi drying adding the mold (koji) to half of rice, leaving for days to grow and activate on rice before adding back to remaining rice to ferment, adding yeast and more water....this is something im planning on trying. if anyone else has had ago by way of the above, i would be interested in knowing the results.
thanks go out to Dakiro for the great recipe link for sake..sounds like he knows his stuff
www.taylor-madeak.org

 

[midnightmik]

whilst looking for soju recipes i found this... is for korean rice wine (basically the same, poss stronger). looks fairly simple, hope it helps....


Well, first you have to make normal yakju/takju (korean rice wine). Then you have to distill it to make soju.

As for the first part, go to a Korean food store, and ask for Nuruk enzyme. It is the fungus compound they use that converts the rice to sugar so the yeast can ferment it. Also, buy a big bag of fine rice.

The recipe I'll use will use one kilogram of rice, and anything more than that, you just have to multiply to scale up.

Take 1 kg of rice, rinse it with cool/room temp water until the rinse water runs clear. Then soak it with cool water for an hour. The rice should be brittle then. Then take the rice, and steam cook it in a rice steamer for an hour. This will further soften the rice and help convert the starches.

Cool the steamed rice off, and put it in a clean/sanitized container. Add 1.5 liters of water per kilogram of rice. Cold water is good here because it cools off the rice. Then add 20-40grams of Nuruk enzyme, that has been dissolved and mixed in a cup of cooled, boiled water. Stir the rice well, and then add a packet of wine or beer yeast. Champagne yeast works really well. Stir it all up, and let it sit, stirring it occasionally for the first 5 days. Then let it sit with an air lock for a couple of weeks, until the air lock stops bubbling.

Once it is done fermenting, strain the liquor from the rice, using a strainer, a cheese cloth bag, nylon stocking...
The strained liquid should be fairly high in alcohol, usually over 12-17% alcohol. Take it, and then distill it to 20-40% alcohol so that you have soju. If you don't distill it, you can drink it as is, or add some sugar to make it less bitter and more palatable. This will be called Takju.

The rice left after straining, you can mix with 1 to 1.5 liters of water, and then strain it again. This will give you a weaker alcoholic beverage, that is really cloudy. This is called makully. You can add sugar to it to make it less bitter tasting, and it has an alcohol percentage around 5-8%.

This is the basic way to make Korean rice wine, and soju is just distilled Korean rice wine. It can be complicated, but fun to make. It is also a very acquired taste. Good luck!