HOW KIZAKURA SAKE IS BREWED Rice and Polishing: The basic quality of sake depends on the type of rice used. We use the varieties of rice best suited to producing superior sake such as YamadaNishiki, Go-Hyaku-Man-Goku and Nihon-Bare. Brown rice called Gen-Mai is polished until only the 60-70% that is starch remains, but the original shape of the grain is preserved. This polished rice is washed to remove all traces of bran and protein, after which it is soaked in water and kept overnight (approximately 15 hours) at 10 °C. The rice is then steamed in automatic machines after which it is ready for fermentation. Fermentation: Sake brewers have an old adage, "First = Koji,Second = Moto, Third = Process". It sums up the important steps in the fermentation process. The production of Koji, a special culture, is a very important step. Seed Koji is added to steamed rice and this mixture is kept for 43 hours. From this material called Moto or Mother of sake, a substance on which yeast can grow is formed over a period of two weeks. The processing of this raw sake culture is the main part of sake brewing. Fermentation takes place in three steps, taking 40 days from Moto to"fresh"sake. 20days after processing begins, the fermenting culture is pumped into tanks. There, under pressure, the fluid is separated from the solids. The fresh sake is heated briefly to 65 °C to stop the action of enzymes then it is sent to storage. The solid residue called Sake-No-Kasu is pressed into sheets and marketed. It can be toasted and eaten, mixed in foods, or made into a warm drinks. Storage, Filtration and Blending: Because sake is a living matter, the newly brewed sake is stored for 6 months to a year at a constant temperature of about 20 °C. Each process changes it slightly, but consequently it must be filtered and blended with special techniques to obtain a constant quality of body and taste. Bottling, Labeling and Marketing: Nowadays bottling, labeling and QA checking are performed automatically under sterilized conditions. After meeting all of QA reqirements, Kizakura sake is delivered to the market.