Making a Sake-like Product Using Western Brewing Techniques

Sake is a traditional Japanese beverage made with rice, water, yeast and koji. The global demand for sake has increased with exports rising over 23% in 2023–2024. Conventional sake brewing relies on koji-based simultaneous starch degradation and fermentation, extended processing times, and strict environmental control limiting accessibility for Western craft beverage producers. This study evaluates employing a Western-style brewing staged production approach in which koji is replaced by exogenous enzymes for rice starch saccharification and the resulting wort is fermented with sake yeast. Laboratory-scale fermentations with worts made from 100% rice were used to assess the effects of polishing rate (50% and 60%) and three sake yeast strains on fermentation performance. Yeast #7 consistently exhibited faster fermentation kinetics and higher ethanol production than yeast #9 across all polishing levels. Pilot scale trials (∼15-20 L), also performed with the non-foaming yeast #1801, confirmed these trends. Chemical analyses showed sake treatments made through the western brewing approach aligned with commercial ginjo and daiginjo sake in alcohol by volume, Sake Meter Value, and total acidity while exhibiting drier profiles. GC-MS/MS analysis revealed comparable concentrations of key aroma volatiles. Complementary sensory evaluation indicated subtle differences in balance and aroma. These results demonstrate that a western brewingapproach can be a scalable and technically viable pathway for producing sake-like beverages.