My story is out!! The New York Times, yo!!
I am grateful for the opportunity to brew sake in Fukuoka and for your support and encouragement. May I be an instrument to further respect for the brewing and appreciation for the consuming of premium sake from Kyushu! Kanpai!
Let me clear up a few items:
Sake is not “rice wine”. This is like calling hefeweizen “wheat wine” or merlot “grape beer”. Sake is fermented from rice, water, yeast and koji and should be categorized in its own unique category.
I am not trying to change how American sake is brewed. I do enjoy helping American brewers who ask me for help or advice. If I can't help them personally, I ask my Toji and questions get answered! But in the end, it would be impossible for me to care less than I do about how American sake tastes. I drink premium sake from Japan. That said, most of the start-up breweries in North America that I have either consulted with or otherwise know through tasting their wares are making quality jizakes that I enjoy and are worthy of your attention.
The quote describing our delicious genrokshu (A Zen Ai Koshu) comes from the canny Beau Timken of True Sake in San Francisco. I would describe this very rare, aged sake as having notes of hazelnut, chocolate, orange and persimmon. I’ve been drinking sake for 25 years and I haven’t had a sake quite like it! Oishi desu ne! It is the only sake that we brew at Wakatakeya Shuzo that can be purchased in the USA at True Sake’s website. Please enjoy!
お神酒上がらぬ神はない
“Even the gods drink sake, so it is natural that so should we.”
Based in Portland, Oregon. I help consumers + restaurant and bar professionals decode the most misunderstood beverage. Living in Japan and the USA, building bridges between consumers and craft sake breweries. If enthusiasm is contagious, I am a vector for sake consumption.
Showing posts with label Fukuoka. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fukuoka. Show all posts
Saturday, February 28, 2015
Sunday, March 2, 2014
Now, say my name.
"Now, say my name" is a powerful question from an iconic character: http://youtu.be/dy_DASt7hDs
I think my names were clues from Providence; markers to help guide my way on my path through life.
My first name, Gordon, can be translated into Japanese to mean "Strong man, drinks".
My last name, Heady, has descriptions that give context to my personality and my individuality.
...and people wonder why I am a sake brewer! With a name like "Gordon Heady", it's either brew or brawl!! I'm a lover, not a fighter. So the choice was easy. 😄☺️😍
adjective, head·i·er, head·i·est.
1.
intoxicating: a heady wine.
2.
affecting the mind or senses greatly: heady perfume.
3.
exciting; exhilarating: the heady news of victory.
4.
rashly impetuous: heady conduct.
5.
violent; destructive: heady winds.
6.
clever; shrewd: a heady scheme to win the election.
Monday, February 17, 2014
Move over Aspergillus Oryzae. Make room for Rhizopus!!
CORRECTION:
Yukae corrected my false understanding that the rice for the Rhizopus Oryzae Koji was unsteamed bricks of rice. As it relates to sake brewing as she has innovated, the "rice bricks" are not used. Steamed rice is used instead.
The main reason that the Japanese have traditionally been using only Aspergillus versus Rhizopus for Koji is that Rhizopus could not be grown on steamed rice...That is; until Yukae discovered how to do this at the University of Kitakyushu.
Over the course of the next few weeks, I hope to learn more about this unique method. As of now, the details or procedures for fellow brewers to learn so that they might consider Rhizopus for their own production considerations will have to wait.
I am sorry for my error in understanding my Toji and Yukae Sato, which will serve as fuel for me to improve my language abilities. Gordon 02/19/14.
###
It is time to honor a feat of ingenuity that, regardless of age or gender, is admirable and remarkable. I consider this a breaking story for those of you sake otakus out there! Let’s give Yukae her due.
Ms. Yukae Sato, age 22, has invented a new, unique method for creating koji that merits respect and praise --a method unique in the annals of sake.
Koji made from Koji-fungus on steamed rice is the fulcrum of sake. Yukae-chan has invented (patent pending) a process using new ingredients which supplements the traditional Aspergillus Oryzae with Rhizopus Oryzae… with provocative results. Take my word for it. Her sake is delicious. Not only is this remarkable discovery for its own sake (there’s that word again!); it offers new choices for sake brewers seeking to carve a niche in a competitive marketplace.
By way of background, Koji produces a variety of hydrolytic enzymes. Diastatic enzyme (glucoamylase) especially influences the quality of fermentation. Koji produces glucose by the action of the saccharification enzyme from the starch of rice. It is vital to produce koji with high glucoamylase activity for the improved quality. Yukae mixed koji of Aspergillus and Rhizopus to increase the glucoamylase productivity and create new brewing characteristics.
In a lab and in a brewery, comparing with a control batch, the mixed culture koji was 1.8 times in the succinic acid and 1.3 times in the lactic acid. It is thought that the abundant acid in the sake of the mixed culture koji is due to its origination from of Rhizopus.
The increase of acids is provocative, but if it doesn’t yield a delicious taste, then does it matter? Again, rest assured, Yukae’s sake is delicious. Notes of bursting grapefruit, a billowing creaminess, and a complexity that baffles…sweet, then sour, then a dry finish.
Hibikini no Mori is a junmaishu, a blend of 701 & 901 yeasts; with 80% having a seimaibuai of 70%. This remaining 20% was made with Rhizopus Oryzae in the traditional brewing method. Can I get a “Mind Blown?!”
In an era where nearly 75% of women under the age of 30 recently said that they enjoyed sake only very rarely, let Yukae’s triumph be celebrated with a toast of her sake. May our trade use her innovation to bring the glory of nihonshu to new customers, if not new heights.
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Ginjo vs Junmai: Don't Fall Prey To Polish Bigotry!
When I drink sake, I typically prefer a ginjo-shu versus a junmai-shu, but not always. Last night, on an izakaya crawl in Fukuoka, I was reminded of an important lesson: don't be a Seimai Buai Bigot.
Background: Seimai Buai is the % of rice that is left over during the milling process, before the brewing of the rice actually begins. You may not comprehend anything on a bottle of sake, but if you see a number between 50-60% it's Ginjo-grade (usually more deliciously, but not by rule) and 60%-85% is Junmai grade.
With sake rice, or sakamai, the more the rice is polished the more lipids, minerals, proteins, fats, albumins are removed as they exist on the outside of the rice grain. On the inside of the rice we have a heart of starch, and that starch is the friend of the sake brewer for the starchy center, or shinpaku, helps create delicious sake! If the rice is milled less, more of these impurities are left behind. The sake then is less expensive to produce as there is more yield.
The bottle pictures here illustrate my point. The green/yellow label is a junmai with a 75% polish, the white label is a ginjo with a 55% polish. If this is all I know about the sakes, 9 times out of 10 (if not more) I am in the mood for a ginjo. But to my pleasant surprise, and the surprise of my guests, the junmai was much more delicious. It wasn't even close. Both sakes were bottled in that last 4 months, but the 75% junmai was...fantastic! A clear and easy choice, and a more affordable choice, too.
In the USA it is rare to find a junmai with a polish that is on the label as being >70%. I can think of only two or three off the top of my head. However, sake professionals should market or stock examples of good sake with a > 70% on the label -- it's an important educational tool! Don't pre-judge a sake based on the Seimai Buai alone! Rather, judge that sake up and down like a scornful Southern Baptist preacher if it doesn't taste good, regardless of Seimai Buai. In other words, don't judge a book by it's cover.
Background: Seimai Buai is the % of rice that is left over during the milling process, before the brewing of the rice actually begins. You may not comprehend anything on a bottle of sake, but if you see a number between 50-60% it's Ginjo-grade (usually more deliciously, but not by rule) and 60%-85% is Junmai grade.
With sake rice, or sakamai, the more the rice is polished the more lipids, minerals, proteins, fats, albumins are removed as they exist on the outside of the rice grain. On the inside of the rice we have a heart of starch, and that starch is the friend of the sake brewer for the starchy center, or shinpaku, helps create delicious sake! If the rice is milled less, more of these impurities are left behind. The sake then is less expensive to produce as there is more yield.
The bottle pictures here illustrate my point. The green/yellow label is a junmai with a 75% polish, the white label is a ginjo with a 55% polish. If this is all I know about the sakes, 9 times out of 10 (if not more) I am in the mood for a ginjo. But to my pleasant surprise, and the surprise of my guests, the junmai was much more delicious. It wasn't even close. Both sakes were bottled in that last 4 months, but the 75% junmai was...fantastic! A clear and easy choice, and a more affordable choice, too.
In the USA it is rare to find a junmai with a polish that is on the label as being >70%. I can think of only two or three off the top of my head. However, sake professionals should market or stock examples of good sake with a > 70% on the label -- it's an important educational tool! Don't pre-judge a sake based on the Seimai Buai alone! Rather, judge that sake up and down like a scornful Southern Baptist preacher if it doesn't taste good, regardless of Seimai Buai. In other words, don't judge a book by it's cover.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)