Sip Northwest, Spring 2019
STEEPED IN HISTORY Primitive sake dates back to the 1st century BCE though it wasnt until the 12th century where it was being regularly brewed and used in Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples that the processes began to be formalized By the early 18th century sake had gained so much traction that in Edo now modern day Tokyo the annual per capita sake consumption was 54 liters By 2010 that count had dropped to 46 liters and is estimated to be even lower today The change in production over recent decades has been dramatic and critical Just 80 years ago there were approximately 4000 sake breweries across Japan many family run and passed down through the generations Today in Japan it is estimated there are 1400 certified breweries 13 of them large corporations leaving 1387 tiny producers currently active Many of the small producers sell to the larger breweries diluting or erasing their familial traditions However its not all doom Premium sake is on the rise and low grade sake is quickly dropping in Japan themes that are exponentially louder with international production Recent estimates are that there are 400 600 breweries outside of Japan making sake and a growing number are here in the Americas the main export market for Japanese sake STEAMED IN METHOD SAKE IS MADE FROM FOUR INGREDIENTS RICE WATER YEAST AND A MOLD CALLED KOJI As mentioned above sake is brewed not distilled and not simply fermented like wine because there is no sugar in the rice to ferment Sake uses koji which provides enzymes to convert starch into sugar Its a slow multistep and impressive conversion Both starch to sugar and sugar to alcohol happen at the same time in the same tank Its a pretty cool feat of multiple parallel fermentation S I P N O R T H W E S T C O M 71
You must have JavaScript enabled to view digital editions.
