Sake Deep Dive Sake Deep Dive

With the spring flood of namazake, Andy and Jim take their usual contrarian position and go for the hiire stuff. Why do brewers heat-treat their sake? How do they do it? And why is Andy so resistant to the idea of sticking his hand in a vat of hot sake? Find out in the latest Sake Deep Dive!



Vocabulary from this episode:

Binkan Kyurei - A specific term for pasteurization and rapid cooling of sake in the bottle. Literally “bottle heat rapid cool”

Hiire - Heating sake to kill bacteria and halt enzymatic action

Hiochi - The term for unpasteurized sake that has gone bad from bacterial action. Literally “Fire failure.”

Hiochikin - A blanket term for a group of alcohol resistant lactobacilli that can thrive in sake and turn it bad if not killed through heating.

Jakan - The “snake tube” used in a traditional heating method for sake.

Nizake - A kind of heated sake introduced to Japan from China during the Muromachi period (1336-1573), inspiring early pasteurization techniques.



Recommended Sake

Andy - Aramasa Cosmos 

Jim - Dewazakura Ginjoshu





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Andy and Jim climb the mountains and explore the rice fields to get to the root of the “king” of sake rice, Yamadanishiki. We look at where it came from, why it got so big, and maybe express a wee bit of skepticism about those magical Hyogo rice fields.

Vocabulary from this episode:

Koji Haze - The distribution of koji over the surface of the rice grains.

Kumamoto Kobo - The origin of Association Yeast #9, often called the “Ginjo yeast.”

Nengo - The naming of eras in Japan based on the currently reigning emperor. Now, for example, we are in the Reiwa era, preceded by Heisei, and Showa before that. 

Nishiki - Silk brocade. A word often used to denote something elegant and luxurious.

Shinpakuritsu - The rate of starchy “white heart” appearance in a batch of rice, expressed as a percentage.

Shuzokotekimai - The more official term for what we call sakamai, or rice well-suited to sake brewing.

Tankanwataribune - One of Yamadanishiki’s direct parents. “Tankan” means short stalk.

Yamadaho - Another of Yamadanishiki’s direct parents. 

Toku A chiku - One of a few areas across two cities in northern Hyogo prefecture with reputations for growing high-grade Yamadanishiki rice. They are: Kato City - Yashiro, Tojo; Miki city - Yokawa

Recommended Sake:

Andy - Kikumasamune Gokujo Tokubetsu Honjozo Chotokusen

Jim - Tatsuriki Junmai Dragon Episode 3 

Our theme music is from Lotus Lane by The Loyalist - Preconceived Notions Available at https://soundcloud.com/preconceived-notions

Used under a  Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported— CC BY 3.0

Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/lotus-lane

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It was inevitable. This month, Jim and Andy wander the green mountains of Jim’s adopted home of Yamaguchi Prefecture. They touch on local history, the reemergence of Yamaguchi sake, and—of course—Dassai. They might also mention Jim’s new book, Discovering Yamaguchi Sake. On sale now wherever books are sold!For more info, check the publisher’s page at: Discovering Yamaguchi Sake

Vocabulary from this episode

Fugu - blowfish or pufferfish. A specialty of Yamaguchi.

Soridaiji - the official title of Japan’s prime minister, the leader of the national government. Yamaguchi is home to more than any other prefecture in Japan.

Recommended Sake

Andy - Gokyo Josen Futsushu

Our theme music is from

Lotus Lane by The Loyalist - Preconceived Notions Available at https://soundcloud.com/preconceived-notions

Under a  Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported— CC BY 3.0

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In this New Year's episode of Sake Deep Dive, Andy and Jim get back to the start—yeast starter, that is. We round out the group by taking on yamahai this time, building on what we’ve already covered in the kimoto and sokujo episodes with how it came to be, and what it is becoming now.

Vocabulary from this episode

Kai-ire - while generally a term for mixing or stirring the mash, here we mean a step in orthodox yamahai where a single brewery worker mixes and crushes the moto mixture after kumikake

Kumikake - circulating the enzyme-rich moto liquid using a perforated metal cylinder in the middle of the mash, and ladling the liquid it lets in back over the rice outside

Recommended Sake

Andy - Kikuhime Yamahai Junmai

Jim - Yuki no Bosha Hiden Yamahai Junmai Ginjo

Our theme music is from

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Under a  Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported— CC BY 3.0

Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/lotus-lane

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Show Notes

In the latest Sake Deep Dive, Andy and Jim take on Japan’s national mold, Aspergillus oryzae–the lowly koji-kin. This is less a historical exploration and more a real look at the nitty gritty on this itty bitty ruler of the sake world.

CORRECTION: During the episode, Jim mistakenly called Shirokoji Aspergillus luchuensis. That is incorrect. It is Aspergillis kawachii. Aspergillus luchuensis is another name for Aspergillus awamori.

Vocabulary from this episode

Kikoji - Yellow koji, Aspergillus oryzae. The standard sake strain of koji kin.

Koji kin - the actual way to refer to the mold spores that are added to rice to make rice koji.

Kurokoji - Black koji, Aspergillus awamori/Aspergillus luchuensis. The standard strain of koji kin for making the Okinawan rice spirit of awamori.

Shirokoji - White koji. Aspergillus kawachii. The standard strain of koji kin for making Japan’s spirit of shochu. Oddly, a mutated form of Aspergillus awamori.

Toko - Literally “floor/bed.” The table where major hand-made koji production happens.

Hako - Literally “box.” A box where moderately sized batches of hand-made koji are propagated for temperature control.

Futa - Literally “lid.” Smaller boxes for precise, granular temperature control in hand-made koji production.

Recommended Sake

Andy - 無窮天穏 Mukkyu Tenon

Jim - Gokyo Five Yellow

Our theme music is from Lotus Lane by The Loyalist - Preconceived Notions Available at https://soundcloud.com/preconceived-notions

Under a  Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported— CC BY 3.0

Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/lotus-lane

Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/1YVHRMVwwHg

Kodaishu - Days of Yore

Show Notes

Andy and Jim explore the very oldest kinds of sake in search of the real roots. From drunken serpents to monkly brews, we look at the earliest records of sake to see how it developed in the olden days.

Vocabulary from this episode

Sumizake - An ancient kind of filtered sake. No one knows for sure how they filtered it.

Dakushu / Doburoku / Nigorizake - all the same kanji, all meaning “cloudy/muddied sake.”

Heian Period - 794-1185

Goshu -  An ancient sake brewed in the Heian. Kojibuai 28.6%, water absorption 77% (Modern koji 22%, mizubuai 135% )

Goishu - Another ancient Heian sake. 1 dan jikomi brewed from late August into september. 28.6% kojibuai and mizubuai of 51.4% (very very low). SMV -80-100. The low water content prevented spoilage.

Kamakura - 1185-1333 Rise of private breweries, people drank too much, banned.

Muromachi 1336-1573

Azuchi-Momoyama 1568-1603

Edo Period 1603-1867

Tamonin Nikki (Tamon temple chronicles) from 1478 to 1618

Recommended Sake

Andy - Sawa no Tsuru Kimoto Honjozo 

Jim - Daruma Masamune 10 year koshu



Our theme music is from Lotus Lane by The Loyalist - Preconceived Notions

Available at https://soundcloud.com/preconceived-notions

Under a Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported— CC BY 3.0

Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/lotus-lane

Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/1YVHRMVwwHg