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PHOTO: HARDY WILSON PHOTO: HARDY WILSON { SOMMjournal.com } 75 Magic Mold A t the Shiragiku brewery in Okayama, where saké-making dates back nearly two centuries, Japanese flute music accompanies the silent workers, identically clad in blue coveralls and white rubber boots, as they shuttle mats of steamed rice from the cooling room to the fermentation tank by hand. "It's good for the workers and it's good for the saké," laughs Shyzo Watanabe, a sixth generation toji, or master brewer. Most Americans call it "rice wine," while those more familiar with the process compare it to beer. But really, saké isn't quite like any other alcoholic beverages. The compli- cated, multiple-step process could only have been created by a people for whom attention to detail, mindfulness and ceremony are a way of life. The sweet smell of steaming and fermenting rice fills every brewery—with sweet being the key word here. Because rice isn't sweet at all—and how do you ferment something that has no sugar? For beer, the malting process releases the sugars in the barley, but saké requires a bit of magic, a kind of fairy dust known as koji. Koji is actually a mold—known scientifically as Aspergillus oryzae—that penetrates a grain of rice, much like botrytis does with grapes, and creates enzymes that convert the starch in the rice to fermentable sugar. It's pure saké magic. The koji room in the brewery is a sacred place—the temperature and humidity is strictly regulated (built with a type of native cedar, the warm rooms smell and feel like the most awesome sauna you have ever visited) and, due to the sensitive microbiological environment, only those who have been properly washed and vetted can enter the rooms. It's a specialized job and the men (brewery workers are almost always men) often work shirtless and barefoot, spreading clumps of rice, sprinkling the mold and gently massaging it to encourage consistent propagation. The moldy rice is then added in batches to fermentation tanks along with freshly steamed rice, lactic acid and yeast. Fermentations take weeks or even longer—always during the winter months when the brewery is naturally cool. It's not wine, it's not beer—it's simply saké. —C. H. PHOTO COURTESY OF SAKÉ BREWERY TOURS BACKGROUND IMAGE: FORREST OLIPHANT VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS The cedar-lined koji room is a sacred place in a saké brewery. Somm Journal June/July.indd 75 5/9/14 12:10 PM