I’ve been homebrewing beer, mead, and wine for a while now – but, the one item on my list yet to try at home is Sake. I am in no way an expert on the beverage, but I really do enjoy the dry/fragment beverage. So, let’s dive in…

Overview

For anyone who stumbles across this: I am not trying to create a “how-to”. Rather, this is my attempt to distill the complicated process down in terms that a homebrewer can understand. Hopefully, I can chime back after a few weeks/months with an update on the success.

Resources:
There is a lot of conflicting information out there. Here are a few of the resources that I found helpful during my initial research.

• Sake overview from BYO
• Rice: kodafarms, The rice factory, FH Steinbart (local sake company)
• Growing Koji rice and temp details and more details, or a video overview or a narrated video
• Sake yeast strains
• Professional sake overview (video)
• Detailed homebrew sake overview
• And another

Process

For 3 gallons of 18-22% ABV sake:

Ingredients:

• Rice: 10lbs (polished japonica – can try different types/polish). All rice measurements are the pre-cooked amounts.
• Koji kin (Aspergillus Oryzae spores)
• Sake yeast (Wyeast 4347)
• Yeast nutrient
• Good water
• Bentonite clay

Day 1 – Prepare koji:

Prepare enough koji rice for the entire process. Will need some up front, plus some for each rice addition 

• Cook 2.5lb of rice and cool to 100F
• Mix in kin and maintain about 90F
• Stir every 12 hours for 2 days until white mold fibers appear
• 3/4th should be refrigerated for immediate use – or – dehydrated and frozen for later use

Day 3 – Moto: 

Starter of koji and yeast mixture

• Add 1/4th fresh koji, .5lbs of rice, and water to cover.
• A bit of yeast nutrient & yeast to start fermentation 
• Hold at fermentation temps (60-75) for 2-3 days to get it going

Day 7 to 10 – Moromi: 

Add rice and koji slowly over 4 days, doubling each time. This is traditionally done in distinct stages. 

• Day 7: Hatsuzoe 1lb rice + 1/4 koji + water
• Day 8: Odori (do nothing)
• Day 9: Nakazoe 2lbs rice + 1/4 koji + water
• Day 10: Tomezoe remaining 4lbs of rice + 1/4 koji + water!

There should now be about 4 gallons of the mixture. With the active ferment, any heat source can be removed and it can go as low as 50F.

Day 14ish – Yodan:

As fermentation slow, the liquid can be strained into a carboy and allowed to complete the fermentation. Alcohol should be 18-22%

Day 21+:

Add bentonite to clarify (for 3 days) and filter if wanted. Sake can then be pasteurized by bringing it to 140F. This sake can be aged for up to 6 month before bottling.