White koji underpins a 10% junmai ginjo: Kiku no Sato Shuzo, Tochigi

The “thinness” barrier of low-alcohol sake

Sake normally sits at around 15 to 16% alcohol. Water is usually added at the end to bring it to this strength. At the same time, more and more people are health-conscious, and low-alcohol drinks are in demand across the country. Overseas, a strength similar to that of wine is seen as a benchmark. The problem is that when the alcohol level of sake is lowered, the sweetness and acidity thin out too, and the result tends to taste unsatisfying.

Kiku no Sato Shuzo, a brewery in Otawara, Tochigi Prefecture (its flagship brand is “Daina”), tackled this problem together with the Tochigi Prefectural Industrial Technology Center. The project responds to a trend of younger drinkers favouring low-alcohol drinks, and is also an attempt to find new uses for “Yume Sasara”, a sake rice (a rice suited to sake brewing) developed independently by Tochigi Prefecture.

Giving the flavour definition with the acidity of white koji

The base rice, Yume Sasara, is polished to 55%. The outer 45% of each grain is milled away, reducing the parts that cause off-flavours. For the yeast, the brewery chose “Meiri Ogawa yeast”, known for its showy ginjo aroma.

Sake is brewed by adding rice, koji and water to the tank in several stages, a method called “danshikomi” (stepwise brewing). For this sake, a sweet liquid resembling amazake, saccharified with white koji, was added at the final stage. White koji is a koji used mainly in shochu production, and it produces a lot of citric acid. This acidity and sweetness make up for the balance of flavour that tends to become thin.

The finished sake has an alcohol strength of 10%, an acidity of 3.3 and a sake meter value of minus 28. Both the acidity and the sweetness are considerably higher than in ordinary sake. According to the brewery, it has a citrus-like sweet-and-sour character and a faint, sweet finish.

Serve well chilled, like a white wine

President Shin Akutsu says the sake’s light mouthfeel makes it a good match not only for Japanese cuisine but also for Italian and French dishes, and he hopes people will enjoy it well chilled, like a white wine. It comes in a 720 ml bottle and costs 1,760 yen in Japan.

Whether this sake can be bought in Europe is not known at present. Even so, what to look for is clear. If you search for sake whose description mentions “white koji (shiro koji)” or “low alcohol”, you may come across bottles made with the same idea. Chill it thoroughly in the fridge and check the aroma in a white wine glass. Because the acidity is firm, the character is easiest to appreciate when you try it with dishes you would normally pair with a dry white wine, such as fish with a squeeze of lemon, tomato pasta or goat’s cheese. The technique of keeping flavour intense even at a lower alcohol level looks set to become an important key for sake exports in the years ahead.