Aged Sake: What Koshu Is and What Happens in the Bottle
Koshu is sake a brewery aged on purpose. What the Maillard reaction does to its color and aroma, and how to tell maturation from a spoiled bottle.
-
-
Sake Brewing Water: Why a Brewer Chooses Their Well
Sake brewing water is roughly 80 per cent of the bottle. Why iron and manganese are capped at 0.02 mg/L, and why technique beats a famous well.
-
Kimoto and Yamahai: The Difference, and the Slow Way to Make Sake
Kimoto, yamahai and sokujo all rely on lactic acid. The difference is who makes it, and when. A clear guide to sake’s three starter methods.
-
Why Is Sake Filtered, and What Does Muroka Change?
Muroka means a sake skipped activated-carbon filtration, not that it was never filtered. What charcoal removes, what it costs, what the label means.
-
Does Sake Really Cause Worse Hangovers?
No evidence says sake causes worse hangovers than wine. The research points to dose — and to the fact that sake arrives in cups nobody can count.
-
Sake and Sulfites: Why the Label Almost Never Says “Contains Sulfites”
Sake sulfites explained: Japanese law caps residual SO2 in sake at under 30 ppm, versus 350 ppm for fruit wine — and brewers rarely add any. Here is the science.
-
What Is Yeast Actually Doing in Your Sake?
Sake yeast makes the alcohol and almost all of the aroma. Here is what strain numbers like No. 6, No. 7 and 1801 mean, and why yeast choice shapes the bottle.
-
What Is Umami and Why Is Sake Full of It?
Umami is the savoury fifth taste, and sake is unusually full of it. Here is the amino-acid science behind why, and why glutamate alone is not the whole story.
-
How Sake Reaches 20% Alcohol Without Distilling
Sake alcohol content reaches 18-20% naturally, the highest of any brewed drink. Here is how parallel fermentation gets there without a still.
-
The Science of Polishing: Why Grinding Away Rice Makes Better Sake
Why is sake rice polished? Milling away the grain’s outer layers removes the proteins and fats that cause rough flavors, leaving the pure starch heart. Here is the science.
