Making a Sake-like Product with Traditional Brewing Methods

Sake is a traditional Japanese alcoholic beverage crafted through a meticulous, multi-step fermentation process that can take months to complete. High-grade daiginjo sake, known for its delicate aroma and smooth flavor, requires extensive polishing of rice, koji mold-driven saccharification, and low-temperature fermentation with specialized yeast. While this traditional approach produces exceptional quality, it is time- and labor-intensive. This research explores an accelerated brewing method to produce a sake-like product that retains the key characteristics of daiginjo sake while significantly reducing production time. To achieve this, polished rice will undergo enzymatic hydrolysis using exogenous diastatic enzymes to enhance starch conversion efficiency. Controlled fermentation will be carried out with high-ester-producing yeast strains under optimized conditions to mimic the fruity and complex aroma profile of daiginjo sake. Fermentation dynamics, alcohol content, residual sugar, and sensory attributes will be analyzed to evaluate how closely the final product resembles traditionally brewed sake. By leveraging brewing technology to streamline the sake-making process, this study aims to create a viable alternative for craft brewers interested in producing high-quality rice-based beverages with reduced time and resource investment. Additionally, increasing rice utilization in brewing may create new market opportunities for rice producers.