Sake

[ibglowin]

OK I am confuuzed! Do you drink the top half or the bottom half!

 

[scubaman2151]

From my reading, and I could be wrong on this, but sake is ready to drink as soon as its done fermenting. The cloudy white part is one type of sake, but if you let it clear that is anothertype of sake. The clear sake is the type you typically find in Japanese restaurants, but there is also a following for the cloudy type. The cloudy sake has more mouth feel which is understandable due to the extra left over rice lees. As you can see, I am aiming for the clear type.


Scuba

 

[willauld]

Scubaman,

I am Will from http://HomeBrewSake.com. Saw this discussion and think that I may be able to help. However, you are mostly done.

Very interesting attempt. I am a little concerned about the look of the koji when it was finished and the picture of the ferment with the spoon mostly submerged.

Have you been tasting as you go? What temperature is the ferment?

 

[scubaman2151]

During fermentation the temp stayed between 75 and 79*F. Currently it is in the low 70's. I only tasted the koji right before I added it. It did taste a little sweet, nothing to crazy though. Seeing as how I have never had sake before though, it would be very hard for me to actually compare this to a finished product.

 

[willauld]

That is very warm for sake ferment. Sake is almost always fermented below 60F and the closer to 50F the better. Some will go down to 45F. There are two reasons for this, yeast esters and to slow the growth of bacteria that will sour the sake too much. A little is good, but too much will be undrinkable.

How many additions did you make? That is, did you put all the ingredients in at once or add them in stages?

Do taste the sake. It will be more sour or acidic than when it is done and bottled because of the CO2 in solution. If it seems OK you should be fine but if is very sour it is a goner.

 

[scubaman2151]

I did not use sake yeast, I used champagne yeast that came with the kit I bought. I did not do any additions, added everything at once. How sour is too sour?


Scuba

 

[willauld]

OK, so what you have made is not really sake as we think of it but Doburoku. What we think of and call sake outside of Japan is what is technically or officially called Seishu. For those outside of Japan this is a little confusing but in Japan sake is a more general term for alcohol. Anyway Doburoku is kind of a farmers quick and dirty version. It is normally drank with the lees so it can be quite chunky at times. This generally helps the brew to taste a little less sour. The other thing that helps to keep it from being too sour is that by adding everything at once the sugar level in the ferment climbs pretty fast and weakens the yeast so the yeast give up before it ferments all the sugars. However, in your case, adding 5 packs of yeast may be countering this somewhat.

Anyway, to answer your question, if it is too sour to drink a 6 oz. glass it is too sour. You'd really like to be able to enjoy a 6oz. glass or several glasses.

The sake at the top of your carboy can be siphoned off and should be fairly clear, that is without chunks and stuff to vary clear.

If you want it to last long enough to drink it all, or even the clearest half you should refrigerate it as soon as it is done fermenting as possible. This will slow the growth of souring bacteria. You should also consider pasteurizing it.

 

[scubaman2151]

Thanks for your help!

 

[willauld]

How did your sake turn out?