Craft sake is the latest alcohol trend that's brewing in U.S. - The Advocate
Dan Ford, whose Maine-made sake is just hitting the market, has bet his retirement savings that consumers will be sold on his premium sake once they give it a try. “We see it as a market that’s untapped,” said Ford, who developed a taste for sake while working in Japan, then later returned there to learn from a sensei, or teacher, before launching Blue Current Brewery, one of about a dozen craft producers... Premium ginjo sake is nothing like the rough-tasting stuff sometimes served warm at low-end sushi shops, craft brewers say. It just tastes darn good,” said John Gauntner, a sake expert from Ohio who has written books on the beverage and has taught sake production in the U. S. and Japan. Though it’s often called rice wine, sake actually is brewed like beer. The rice is milled to remove the husk, then a type of mold called koji is sprinkled into the steamed rice to break starches down into sugars, a process that takes place in a room where the temperature tops 100 degrees. The rice and koji are fermented with water and yeast in casks for about 30 days before being pressed, leaving a yellow-hued liquid that looks like huangjiu, the Chinese word for “yellow wine,” Ford says. Source: theadvocate.com
