Brewing Japanese Sake 2017

Sample from a batch last winter

   Recently, I try to post a similar article as what I post to my Japanese blog.  I am not sure how many people are interested in brewing Japanse sake.  But I will also try to post the progress of the brewing this winter.

   Since I live in California in the US, all imported product from Japan is expensive and Japanse sake is one of them.  Three years ago, I started brewing ale and it is really fun and it is not so difficult.  Some people I knew did brewing Japanese sake and I also tried it.   The past two winters, I did some try-and-error to establish a easy way to blew sake, which is using a regular rice with regular way to cook it.   In the traditional way, steamed rice is used instead of regular way to cook it.  However, when I search how we can brew sake on the internet, I found many similar articles about brewing sake.  Most of them are non-filtered sake, which is called "doburoku" in Japanese.  Technically, brewing sake without proper license is illegal in Japan.   Therefore, there are not many people doing it.  Brewing "doburoku" is easy way to make small amount of "sake like" beverage.

   Based on the easy method, I also started with "doburok" and finally I was trying to brew "filtered sake" with a regular rice.   I think I establish a process to brew Japanese sake at home.   However, I felt the taste is slightly different from one which is sold in the market.  I thought it is because of rice since rice which is used for brewing sake usually milled more than regular rice we usually eat.  But it is not easy to get it.  That is the primary reason, I use a regular rice from the grocery store.  However after 1 year storage, the taste is getting better and close enough to the commercial products.

   Anyway, this year, I have just ordered a special rice for sake on the internet and I will try the special rice if there is any significant difference or not.   The process to cook the rice will stay the same, I will use a regular rice cooker to cook it.  the only change this winter is just rice itself.

   I will keep posting the progress.  Let's see how it goes!