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日本酒について のページから、英文を中心に抜き出して作成しました。スラッシュリーディングや英語案内の練習などにも、ご利用ください。
作り方の流れ図
| 日本酒についての概要 | |||
| *History & Production* The origin of true sake, which is made from rice, water, and Koji mold, is said to be in the 8th century, the Nara period. Sake was used for religious ceremonies and court festivals. At first, sake production was a government (whose top is Emperor) monopoly for a long time, but in the 10th century, temples and shrines began to brew sake. From the 13th century over 15th century, sake breweries and shops appeared and increased due to more demand for sake. The number of sake breweries in Japan was 1615 in 2016. Though it decreased by more than 200 compared to 10 years before, the export amount of sake has increased due to the Japanese food boom. |
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| Sake is produced by the kuramoto (brewery owner), the toji (head sake brewer),
and the kurabito (brewery workers). In economic terms, creating the product calls for land, finances and raw materials. The kuramoto is responsible for producing these, while the toji is responsible for the actual brewing and the hiring and management of the kurabito. Moreover, since sake is brewed only in the winter, the toji and kurabito used to be “contract” workers, but now…. Sakabayashi/Sugitama…Sake breweries ued to hang a large ball made of cedar twigs under the eaves at their entrance. It is called "Sakabayashi" or "Sugitama". This announced that fresh sake was made. When the fresh green needles turned brown, that was the sign that the new sake was ready to drink. |
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| お酒の種類 | |||
| 清酒 (Sei-syu) Sake | |||
| Accordig to the materials used and the rice-polishing rate, sake is roughly
classified into 4 categories: ordinary sake, hojozo-shu, Junmai-shu, Ginjo-syu. Usually, sake is heat sterilized twice, once before storing and once before bottling. .Alcohol content of sake is from 15°to 20°. |
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| 純米酒 (Junmai-shu) Pure-Rice Sake *It is sake made only from only rice and rice koji (100% rice), without addition of brewers alcohol or other ingredients. It tastes rich. The label shows that is made from rice and koji. 本醸造酒 (Honjozo-shu) *It is sake made from rice, koji, and a little bit of brewers alcohol. To make Honjozo-shu, brewers alcohol less than 10% of the weight of the rice used for sake making can be added before pressing. It tastes less acid, light and dry. 【Brewers alcohol is made by fermentation of raw materials such as sugar cane using yeast. 】 It is made with rice that has been “polished” (as the industry puts it), or milled, to remove at least the outer 30% of the original size of the grains. This means that each grain of rice is only 70% or less of its original size. 普通醸造法による清酒/普通酒 (Ordinary sake/Nomal Sake) This is nomal sake that is made of rice, koji and more alcohol than Honjozo-shu, with addition of saccharides and acidulant. At least 30% of rice grains are polished away, so only less than 70% of the origial size remains.（In case of sake, remaining rate called "polished rice ratio" is less than 70% while table rice for eating about 90%.) The largest amount of sake produced is ordinary sake. It is rather cheap and for casual drinking. Some ordinary sakes are packed in cartons. 吟醸酒 Junmai Ginjo-shu It is made by a special method using highly polished rice. Since Ginjo-shu needs a lot of care and production cost, a chief sake brewer concentrates so hard on making it. It is delicious though it is expensive. 純米吟醸酒、吟醸酒 Junmai Ginjo-syu and Ginjo-syu These are made with rice that has been “polished” to remove at least the outer 40% of the original size of the grains. Each grain of rice is only 60% or less of its original size. (Remaining rate called "polished rice ratio" is less than 60%.) 純米大吟醸酒、大吟醸酒 Junmai Daiginjo-syu adn Daiginjo-syu These are made with rice that has been “polished” to remove at least the outer 50% of the original size of the grains. Each grain of rice is only 50% or less of its original size. (Remaining rate called "polished rice ratio" is less than 50%.) |
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| その他の酒 / Others | |||
| にごり酒 Nigori Zake / Milky Sake・Cloudy Sake It is milkey-colored sake filtered with a rough cloth after Shikomi (main mash). 無濾過 (Muroka)原酒 (Gen-syu)、今朝しぼり It is non filtered basic sake (=unfiltered sake /Un-charcoal filtered sake). 生酒 (Nama-zake) Raw Sake =Unpasteurized Sake / Fresh Sake It litemrally means raw sake is not heated at all. Nama-zake retains its just-pressed fresh flavor if it is stored in a refrigerator. ひやおろし Hiyaoroshi It is sake made in winter which is pasteurized only once before storage, matured during summer, and bottled without pasteurization in autumn. 原酒(Genshu) Undiluted Sake It is sake shipped without adding water called Wari-mizu. 樽酒 (Taru-sake) Cask Sake It is sake with a specific flavor of cedar cask and is not aimed at maturing. |
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| 日本酒ができるまでの流れ / How to make sake |
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| Rice polishing → Rice washing and soaking →Rice steaming / Koji making / Farmentation starter culturing →Fermentation mash =Moromi making →Pressing /Sake cakes→Sake→Filtration →Heat sterilization→Storage/Aging →Blending→Bottling |
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| 精米（Seimai）→洗米（Senmai)と浸漬（Shinseki) →蒸米（Mushimai）/製麹（Seigiku)/酒母造り（Syubo-zukuri） →仕込み(Shikomi)=醪造り(Moromi-zukuri) →上槽（Jyousou)/酒粕（Sake-kasu)→酒(Sake)→濾過(Roka) →火入れ(Hi ire)→貯蔵(Chozou)/熟成（Jukusei) →調合（Chogo)→瓶詰め（Binzume) |
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| 精米 (Seimai) Rice Polishing | |||
| To brew good sake, the outer layer of the sake rice grains is polished
off. .This is not as simple as it might sound, since it must be done gently
so as not to generate too much heat (which adversely affects water absorption)
or not to crack the rice kernels (which is not good for the fermentation
process). The amount of polishing rice greatly influences the taste of sake. .In general, the more the rice is polished, the higher the grade of sake becomes. .For rice used for sake making, more than 30% of the grain is polished away, which means that 70% is left. It is 3 times more than regular rice we daily eat. |
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| 洗米（Senmai)と浸漬(Shinseki) Rice Washing and Soaking | |||
| After the rice has been polished, it is soaked in water. The white
powder (called nuka) left on the rice after polishing is washed away,
as this makes a significant difference in the final quality of the steamed
rice. .Following that, it is soaked to attain a certain water content deemed optimum for steaming that particular rice. The degree to which the rice has been milled in the previous step determines what its pre-steaming water content should be. The more a rice has been polished, the faster it absorbs water and the shorter the soaking time. |
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| 蒸米(Mushimai)/Steamiing Rice | |||
| The rice is steamed to separate the starch from the rice. This also sterilizes
the rice and kills any bacteria present. Note this is different from the way table rice is prepared. It is not mixed with water and brought to a boil; rather, steam is brought up through the bottom of the steaming vat (traditionally called a koshiki) .This gives a firmer consistency and slightly harder outside surface and softer center. Generally, a batch of steamed rice is divided up, with some going to have koji mold sprinkled over it, and some going directly to the fermentation vat. |
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| 製麹（Seigiku）=麹造り Koji Making /Growing Koji Yeast | |||
| Koji mold (whose techinical term is aspergillus oryzae) is called the national
fungi in Japan. Koji is used to make Shouchu (Japanese liquor), soy sauce,
miso, and venegar besides sake. The first step in making koji is to cool down the steamed rice, and bring it into a room called Kouji-muro, within which a higher than average humidity and temperature are maintained. Then the rice is spread out on a long table called toko, and spores of koji mold are scattered 〔sprinkled〕 over it. The mass is mixed well by hand so that the spores adhere evenly to the steamed rice. The developing koji is checked, mixed and re-arranged constantly for about 2 days, to keep a suitable temperature, moisture, and the growth of hyphae uniformly. The final product looks like rice grains with a slight frosting on them (white areas called haze), and smells faintly of sweet chestnuts. |
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| 酒母（shubo) or 酛(moto) 造り(←酒母の培養） Fermentation starter culturing/ Growing yeast starter |
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| Syubo is a kind of yeast, which makes alcohol, and literally means mother
of sake. .Dr. Kikuji Yabe succeeded in isolating sake yeast from a fermentation mash for the first time in 1895. Then the Brewing Society of Japan started distributing this selected sake yeast to sake breweries all over Japan. .In order to cultivate the large amount of yeast required for fermentation mash, fermentation starter is prepared. It is also called moto (meaning source in Japanese). First, water, koji, and steamed rice are put into a tank, and cultured yeast is added. Generally, lactic acid must be added to the fermentation starter to suppress the growth of harmful bacteria. Skillful management of microorganisms and careful control of the temperature is necessary to cultivate powerful, pure fermentation starter. Over the next two weeks, (typically) a concentration of yeast cells that can reach 100 million cells in one teaspoon is developed. |
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| 仕込み（Shikomi) MAIN FERMENTATION←主となる発酵 三段仕込み/Three-step Preparation for Fermentation Mash ← 醪（もろみ）のための三段階の準備…→醪造り |
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| Main fermentation called "Shikomi" is the process to make the
fermentation mash called "Moromi", by putting the steamed rice,
koji mold, water, and fermentation 〔yeast〕 starter into a huge fermentation
tank. Natural ground water used for the fermentation stage is called "Shikomi-mizu". It is purified to remove iron and manganese and sterilized. This fermentation mash is prepared through three steps 〔stages〕 over 4 days, roughly doubling the size of the batch each time. On the first day, the etire quantity of fermetation sarter, 1/6 of the total volume of steamed rice, koji, and water are used (the first addition). On the second day, no addition. Little by little yeast will grow. It is called the "odori" stage. .On the third day, 1/3 of the steamed rice, koji, and water are added (the middle addition). .On the fourth day, 1/2 of the steamed rice, koji, and water are added (the final addition). This method is effective to avoid lowering the yeast density and the acid level in the mash and to prevent bacterial contamination. After proceeding through the three steps, the fermentation mash is mixed ( a process called kaiire) every day. The quality of the rice, the degree to which the koji mold has propagated, temperature variations, and other factors are different for each shikomi (main firmentation), so they are measured and adjusted to create precisely the flavor profile being sought. Fermentation takes place at 10 to 18℃ generally. About one week after the third addition, fermentation becomes active. Then, fermentation settles down after about three weeks, when the alcohol will reach 18 to 20% and level off. |
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| 上槽(Joso) /搾り(Shibori) Pressing | |||
| After the fermentation, the fermented 〔matured〕 mash contains liquid sake
and a lot of solid substances, such as undissolved rice and koji. To obtain sake, the mash is pressed with an automatic filter press or a traditional press called "fune" derived from its shape like a boat; (The mash is poured into bags, the bags are laid in a fune like a boat, then the fresh sake is squeezed out naturally.) The solid material that is separated out is called sake kasu (=sake cake). After this pressing process, they have new sake with a pleasant aroma. |
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| 濾過(Roka) Filtration | |||
| Sake is filtered through a fine mesh filter, etc. Activated carbon for brewing is added into sake to adjust flavor and color. Coloring matters and off-flavor constituents are removed owing to physical properties of activated carbon. After filtration, the sake becomes quite transparent from light yellow. |
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| 火入れ(Pasteurization/Heat Sterilization) | |||
| In pasteurization process, sake is heat-sterilized to assure microbial
stability and product quality. Sake is heated to about 60 to 70℃, which
kills the hiochi bacteria and inactivates the enzymes 〔stops the yast fermentation
process〕 which would have adverse effect on flavor and color later on.
In general, sake goes through two pasteurizations steps; the first is performed before storage, and the second just before or after bottling. There are also non-pasteurized sake brands like Nama-zake, which is protected from quality degradation by cold storage or special filtration and maintains a certain freshness of flavor. |
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| 貯蔵(Preservation) 熟成（Aging） | |||
| Sake is stored in a storage tank for a given period. In the storage tank,
the sake sits quietly and matures. This will increase its good mature different
flavor and smoothness from freshly pressed sake. It is important to keep
the tank temperature quite constant, to promote stable maturing. Most sake is left to age about six months, rounding out the flavor, before shipping. |
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| 調合 (Blending) / 瓶詰 (Bottling) | |||
| Blending is the process of mixing sakes from in different tanks. Even if
the same rice, koji mold, and yeast starter are used, the components of
sake may vary. In order to ship stable quality sake throughout the year,
manufactures blend different runs of sake. Blending is carried out when
the sake is moved from storage tanks to the next filtering and bottling
processes. Pure water is added to reduce alcohol content level to 15 to
16%, which is suitable for drink, from about 20% just after pressed. Special machines are used for bottling to fill the bottles up to the specified amount. Pasteurization is performed at bottling, expect when brewing unpasteurized sake (nama-shu) and fresh-bottled sake (namazume-shu). After sake is bottled, labels are applied on the bottles and ready to go. |
