The water

There is famous Sake in the place of famous water.

80% of the ingredients in Sake are water, Therefore Sake brewing requires high-quality water. The water is used for brewing, washing rice, steaming, and washing water to tanks and vat. The amount of water 20-30 times the weight of rice used for brewing from. Therefore, there are many sake breweries where there is a lot of good quality water.

Famous waters for brewing are well known, such as Nada Miyamizu(Hyogo pref.) and Fushimi Fushimizu(Kyoto pref.). 

Japan’s water tends to be soft in general, but this is because the length of Japanese rivers is short and it is difficult to contain minerals, etc. Well water pumped from underground water in these rivers also tends to be soft.

Unlike rice, the amount of water used is very large and difficult to transport, so it can be said that it is an important element that shows even more regional characteristics.

An important element of brewing water is, of course, cleanliness, but it should also contain almost no iron or manganese harmful to Sake (causes coloring). Effective ingredient include potassium, phosphate, magnesium, calcium, It also contains chlorine.

Calcium and chlor help the enzyme to dissolve from the Koji, and calcium, phosphate, and magnesium make it a nutrient for Koji and yeast.

For example, Nada-Miyamizu has a lot of potassium and phosphate, and the yeasts work well and the fermentation is strong. so it is called “Otoko-Sake” (guy’s Sake).

On the other hand, Fushimi’s Fushimizu has a lower altitude, and the Sake brewed using this water becomes gentle, so it is sometimes called “Onna-Sake” (women’s Sake).