Sake

[Tom Biasi]

Did anybody here ever brew sake?

[Baloonon]

Post by Tom Biasi
Did anybody here ever brew sake?

This recipe seems pretty clear. It sounds like an interesting project,
although pretty labor intensive. And it makes a lot of sake.

https://byo.com/article/making-sake/

[Tom Biasi]

Post by Baloonon

Post by Tom Biasi
Did anybody here ever brew sake?

This recipe seems pretty clear. It sounds like an interesting project,
although pretty labor intensive. And it makes a lot of sake.
https://byo.com/article/making-sake/

Thanks. I'm just looking for a new experience in brewing.

[Baloonon]

Post by Tom Biasi

Post by Baloonon

Post by Tom Biasi
Did anybody here ever brew sake?

This recipe seems pretty clear. It sounds like an interesting

project, although pretty labor intensive. And it makes a lot of sake.

Post by Tom Biasi

Post by Baloonon
https://byo.com/article/making-sake/

Thanks. I'm just looking for a new experience in brewing.

My vague recollection of what I've read is that water chemistry and the
right combo of yeast and temperature is really important, since there
are no hops or malt adding flavor and the rice adds very little. It
sounds like it should be pretty easy to scale down, though, so you're
not stuck with big batches of mistakes.

I've just bottled a gallon and a half of hard cider, and I've usually
had pretty different results in terms of flavor, gravity and
carbonation, even when using pasteurized cider and commercial yeast. I
get the sense that non-beer ferments take a lot more tinkering to really
nail down. For me, sake isn't something I'd drink enough of to make it
worthwhile. Sort of like how I looked into distilling once, and quickly
realized that the time investment plus the learning curve didn't make
sense considering that I don't drink much hard liquor.

[Tom Biasi]

Post by Baloonon

Post by Tom Biasi

Post by Baloonon

Post by Tom Biasi
Did anybody here ever brew sake?

This recipe seems pretty clear. It sounds like an interesting

project, although pretty labor intensive. And it makes a lot of sake.

Post by Tom Biasi

Post by Baloonon
https://byo.com/article/making-sake/

Thanks. I'm just looking for a new experience in brewing.

My vague recollection of what I've read is that water chemistry and the
right combo of yeast and temperature is really important, since there
are no hops or malt adding flavor and the rice adds very little. It
sounds like it should be pretty easy to scale down, though, so you're
not stuck with big batches of mistakes.
I've just bottled a gallon and a half of hard cider, and I've usually
had pretty different results in terms of flavor, gravity and
carbonation, even when using pasteurized cider and commercial yeast. I
get the sense that non-beer ferments take a lot more tinkering to really
nail down. For me, sake isn't something I'd drink enough of to make it
worthwhile. Sort of like how I looked into distilling once, and quickly
realized that the time investment plus the learning curve didn't make
sense considering that I don't drink much hard liquor.

I like sake when I cook Japanese. Other than that I wouldn't drink much
of it. It's just a new venture. Sake not only needs yeast but a special
mold strain also.

[Baloonon]

Post by Tom Biasi
I like sake when I cook Japanese. Other than that I wouldn't drink much
of it. It's just a new venture. Sake not only needs yeast but a special
mold strain also.

The non-alcoholic fermenting that I've found that works well and seems
pretty much foolproof is pickling, making dill cucumber pickles,
sauerkraut, and kimchi. The quality was quite good right off the bat --
sort of like the first batch of extract beer I made, where I was pleasantly
surprised that it had worked well, and there's not a big time investment
either.

[Tom Biasi]

Post by Baloonon

Post by Tom Biasi
I like sake when I cook Japanese. Other than that I wouldn't drink much
of it. It's just a new venture. Sake not only needs yeast but a special
mold strain also.

The non-alcoholic fermenting that I've found that works well and seems
pretty much foolproof is pickling, making dill cucumber pickles,
sauerkraut, and kimchi. The quality was quite good right off the bat --
sort of like the first batch of extract beer I made, where I was pleasantly
surprised that it had worked well, and there's not a big time investment
either.

I have done those things. I like the pickles but not a big fan of kraut
and "take or leave" for kimchi.

[rb]

Post by Tom Biasi

Post by Baloonon

Post by Tom Biasi
I like sake when I cook Japanese. Other than that I wouldn't drink much
of it. It's just a new venture. Sake not only needs yeast but a special
mold strain also.

The non-alcoholic fermenting that I've found that works well and seems
pretty much foolproof is pickling, making dill cucumber pickles,
sauerkraut, and kimchi. The quality was quite good right off the bat --
sort of like the first batch of extract beer I made, where I was pleasantly
surprised that it had worked well, and there's not a big time investment
either.

I have done those things. I like the pickles but not a big fan of kraut
and "take or leave" for kimchi.

How about vinegar, kombucha or kefir?
If I had the time and space, aging some home made wine vinegar would be
on the cards (and making a reduction).
And lets not forget mead - I recently found a 2012 bottle of bochet
stashed away.
rb

[Bill O'Meally]

Post by rb
How about vinegar, kombucha or kefir?
If I had the time and space, aging some home made wine vinegar would be
on the cards (and making a reduction).
And lets not forget mead - I recently found a 2012 bottle of bochet
stashed away.
rb

I had a Renaissance party in June, and served my last five bottles of
1998 sweet mead. Remarkably, non-oxidized.

[Baloonon]

Post by Bill O'Meally

Post by rb
How about vinegar, kombucha or kefir?
If I had the time and space, aging some home made wine vinegar would be
on the cards (and making a reduction).
And lets not forget mead - I recently found a 2012 bottle of bochet
stashed away.
rb

I had a Renaissance party in June, and served my last five bottles of
1998 sweet mead. Remarkably, non-oxidized.

Had it developed in other ways?

I opened the last bottle of a batch of Burton I made a couple of years ago,
maybe three, but I think the seal wasn't tight enough, or maybe it was just
expected leakage. Mostly flat and definitely some cardboardy oxidation.

[Bill O'Meally]

Post by Baloonon

Post by Bill O'Meally

Post by rb
How about vinegar, kombucha or kefir?
If I had the time and space, aging some home made wine vinegar would be
on the cards (and making a reduction).
And lets not forget mead - I recently found a 2012 bottle of bochet
stashed away.
rb

I had a Renaissance party in June, and served my last five bottles of
1998 sweet mead. Remarkably, non-oxidized.

Had it developed in other ways?
I opened the last bottle of a batch of Burton I made a couple of years ago,
maybe three, but I think the seal wasn't tight enough, or maybe it was just
expected leakage. Mostly flat and definitely some cardboardy oxidation.

I actually had two batches, both in a still wine style. They were very
high gravity, so between the sugar, the alcohol (and added acids
perhaps), they were remarkably well-preserved. The "Miruvor" was a
spiced mead, and the spices had mellowed down to just a hint of what I
remembered. The "Asgard" was a plain sweet mead and had taken on a nice
subtle buttery tone. Both were quite enjoyable, at least the little bit
I got to drink. My guests loved them both!

Actually, I had found a sixth bottle that the wife and I had poured
into a wineskin to smuggle into the Maryland Renaissance Festival. I
kept smelling mead on the way down, and when we parked I found that the
wineskin had sprung a leak! Ugh!! At least it was in a cooler, which
contained the mess. Three young men parked next to use were tailgating
and drinking Natty Boh. I asked if they'd like to try the very last of
my '98 mead -- at least as old as they were. There was maybe 3/4 of a
bottle left in the skin. They were bowled over. Now, If I could only
have gotten them to stop calling me "sir". And though I think I look
younger than my 57 years, they felt a need to explain to me how to take
their picture on their cell phone! :-/

[Baloonon]

Post by Bill O'Meally

Post by Baloonon

Post by Bill O'Meally
I had a Renaissance party in June, and served my last five bottles
of 1998 sweet mead. Remarkably, non-oxidized.

Had it developed in other ways?
I opened the last bottle of a batch of Burton I made a couple of
years ago, maybe three, but I think the seal wasn't tight enough, or
maybe it was just expected leakage. Mostly flat and definitely some
cardboardy oxidation.

I actually had two batches, both in a still wine style. They were very
high gravity, so between the sugar, the alcohol (and added acids
perhaps), they were remarkably well-preserved. The "Miruvor" was a
spiced mead, and the spices had mellowed down to just a hint of what I
remembered. The "Asgard" was a plain sweet mead and had taken on a
nice subtle buttery tone. Both were quite enjoyable, at least the
little bit I got to drink. My guests loved them both!
Actually, I had found a sixth bottle that the wife and I had poured
into a wineskin to smuggle into the Maryland Renaissance Festival. I
kept smelling mead on the way down, and when we parked I found that
the wineskin had sprung a leak! Ugh!! At least it was in a cooler,
which contained the mess. Three young men parked next to use were
tailgating and drinking Natty Boh. I asked if they'd like to try the
very last of my '98 mead -- at least as old as they were. There was
maybe 3/4 of a bottle left in the skin. They were bowled over. Now, If
I could only have gotten them to stop calling me "sir". And though I
think I look younger than my 57 years, they felt a need to explain to
me how to take their picture on their cell phone! :-/

Thanks for the info. I'll have to add it to the list of things I want to
try and make. There is a ton of info on homebrewtalk.com, I've just
never gotten around to it. I get the sense it's not as tricky to get
good quality results as winemaking.