I'm in the process of making sake:

I started by making my Kome-Koji with 400 gr. steamed rice and Koji-Kin,
then I mixed that with 1.5 kg steamed rice and 4 liters water 1/2 tsp.
citric acid and yeast

and I've come up with a question...

How do you measure the SG?

I checked with my refractometer and it read "0"
It's 3 days into fermenting and it now reads "10"

How do I know in the end how much alcohol will be in this stuff?

Louise)

Good question; I'm doing the same thing, but today (at day 34), my specific
gravity is 1.022 with the refractometer.

"Weez" > wrote in message
. ..
> I'm in the process of making sake:
>
> I started by making my Kome-Koji with 400 gr. steamed rice and Koji-Kin,
> then I mixed that with 1.5 kg steamed rice and 4 liters water 1/2 tsp.
> citric acid and yeast
>
> and I've come up with a question...
>
> How do you measure the SG?
>
> I checked with my refractometer and it read "0"
> It's 3 days into fermenting and it now reads "10"
>
> How do I know in the end how much alcohol will be in this stuff?
>
> Louise)
>
>

Good question; I'm doing the same thing, but today (at day 34), my specific
gravity is 1.022 with the refractometer.

"Weez" > wrote in message
. ..
> I'm in the process of making sake:
>
> I started by making my Kome-Koji with 400 gr. steamed rice and Koji-Kin,
> then I mixed that with 1.5 kg steamed rice and 4 liters water 1/2 tsp.
> citric acid and yeast
>
> and I've come up with a question...
>
> How do you measure the SG?
>
> I checked with my refractometer and it read "0"
> It's 3 days into fermenting and it now reads "10"
>
> How do I know in the end how much alcohol will be in this stuff?
>
> Louise)
>
>

> I'm in the process of making sake:

> How do you measure the SG?

I made sake last year and wondered the same thing. You begin with rice - lots of
starch - then you add koji, to convert the starch to sugar, and yeast to ferment
the sugar *simultaneously*. That means there is no initial fermentable sugar to
measure, and just to make things more complicated you typically add rice
multiple times.

I considered separating the starch-to-sugar conversion from the fermentation.
Add the koji, alone, and pitch the yeast when it was done; home brewers might
think of this as a "mash." Then hydrometer readings could give you the final
alcohol content of your sake. This approach increases the risk of infection,
though, because the nasties will have a crack at all that sugar well before your
yeast does. It would be tempting to use sulphite here, but I think it would
suppress the koji along with any spoilage organisms.

So I just decided to carry on without knowing the alcohol content, and think of
it as part of sake's mystery

Erroll

> I'm in the process of making sake:

> How do you measure the SG?

I made sake last year and wondered the same thing. You begin with rice - lots of
starch - then you add koji, to convert the starch to sugar, and yeast to ferment
the sugar *simultaneously*. That means there is no initial fermentable sugar to
measure, and just to make things more complicated you typically add rice
multiple times.

I considered separating the starch-to-sugar conversion from the fermentation.
Add the koji, alone, and pitch the yeast when it was done; home brewers might
think of this as a "mash." Then hydrometer readings could give you the final
alcohol content of your sake. This approach increases the risk of infection,
though, because the nasties will have a crack at all that sugar well before your
yeast does. It would be tempting to use sulphite here, but I think it would
suppress the koji along with any spoilage organisms.

So I just decided to carry on without knowing the alcohol content, and think of
it as part of sake's mystery

Erroll

Er, maybe this is stoopid, but the koji ought to be metabolizing pretty much
all of the starch to sugar, so take as a baseline the amount of starch and
assume that is fairly close to an equal amount of sugar. Then the old
"half-plus-one rule" might apply? [Half-plus-one rule: Take the % sugar,
divide by 2 and add one to the result to get a ballpark estimate of the final
alcohol content. So 15% sugar works out to about 8.5% alcohol.]

Here is you used 1.5 kg rice per 4 kg water = 37.5% sugar (eventually) ==>
19% alcohol or so.

This is what I've been using and I'd love to hear if anyone thinks it
actually makes sense.

-- j

On Thu, 08 Jul 2004 02:04:57 GMT, Pleasantly Surprized wrote:

>Good question; I'm doing the same thing, but today (at day 34), my specific
>gravity is 1.022 with the refractometer.
>
>"Weez" > wrote in message
...
>> I'm in the process of making sake:
>>
>> I started by making my Kome-Koji with 400 gr. steamed rice and Koji-Kin,
>> then I mixed that with 1.5 kg steamed rice and 4 liters water 1/2 tsp.
>> citric acid and yeast
>>
>> and I've come up with a question...
>>
>> How do you measure the SG?
>>
>> I checked with my refractometer and it read "0"
>> It's 3 days into fermenting and it now reads "10"
>>
>> How do I know in the end how much alcohol will be in this stuff?
>>
>> Louise)
>>
>>
>
>

There are no z's in my address.

Er, maybe this is stoopid, but the koji ought to be metabolizing pretty much
all of the starch to sugar, so take as a baseline the amount of starch and
assume that is fairly close to an equal amount of sugar. Then the old
"half-plus-one rule" might apply? [Half-plus-one rule: Take the % sugar,
divide by 2 and add one to the result to get a ballpark estimate of the final
alcohol content. So 15% sugar works out to about 8.5% alcohol.]

Here is you used 1.5 kg rice per 4 kg water = 37.5% sugar (eventually) ==>
19% alcohol or so.

This is what I've been using and I'd love to hear if anyone thinks it
actually makes sense.

-- j

On Thu, 08 Jul 2004 02:04:57 GMT, Pleasantly Surprized wrote:

>Good question; I'm doing the same thing, but today (at day 34), my specific
>gravity is 1.022 with the refractometer.
>
>"Weez" > wrote in message
...
>> I'm in the process of making sake:
>>
>> I started by making my Kome-Koji with 400 gr. steamed rice and Koji-Kin,
>> then I mixed that with 1.5 kg steamed rice and 4 liters water 1/2 tsp.
>> citric acid and yeast
>>
>> and I've come up with a question...
>>
>> How do you measure the SG?
>>
>> I checked with my refractometer and it read "0"
>> It's 3 days into fermenting and it now reads "10"
>>
>> How do I know in the end how much alcohol will be in this stuff?
>>
>> Louise)
>>
>>
>
>

There are no z's in my address.

Hi Jeff,
Well stoopid or not that's how much alcohol I am supposed to end up with so
I guess it's a good formula!
Louise)

"jeff" > wrote in message
ewsgroups.com...
> Er, maybe this is stoopid, but the koji ought to be metabolizing pretty
much
> all of the starch to sugar, so take as a baseline the amount of starch and
> assume that is fairly close to an equal amount of sugar. Then the old
> "half-plus-one rule" might apply? [Half-plus-one rule: Take the % sugar,
> divide by 2 and add one to the result to get a ballpark estimate of the
final
> alcohol content. So 15% sugar works out to about 8.5% alcohol.]
>
> Here is you used 1.5 kg rice per 4 kg water = 37.5% sugar (eventually) ==>
> 19% alcohol or so.
>
> This is what I've been using and I'd love to hear if anyone thinks it
> actually makes sense.
>
> -- j
>
> On Thu, 08 Jul 2004 02:04:57 GMT, Pleasantly Surprized wrote:
>
> >Good question; I'm doing the same thing, but today (at day 34), my
specific
> >gravity is 1.022 with the refractometer.
> >
> >"Weez" > wrote in message
> ...
> >> I'm in the process of making sake:
> >>
> >> I started by making my Kome-Koji with 400 gr. steamed rice and
Koji-Kin,
> >> then I mixed that with 1.5 kg steamed rice and 4 liters water 1/2 tsp.
> >> citric acid and yeast
> >>
> >> and I've come up with a question...
> >>
> >> How do you measure the SG?
> >>
> >> I checked with my refractometer and it read "0"
> >> It's 3 days into fermenting and it now reads "10"
> >>
> >> How do I know in the end how much alcohol will be in this stuff?
> >>
> >> Louise)
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
>
> There are no z's in my address.
>
>

Hi Jeff,
Well stoopid or not that's how much alcohol I am supposed to end up with so
I guess it's a good formula!
Louise)

"jeff" > wrote in message
ewsgroups.com...
> Er, maybe this is stoopid, but the koji ought to be metabolizing pretty
much
> all of the starch to sugar, so take as a baseline the amount of starch and
> assume that is fairly close to an equal amount of sugar. Then the old
> "half-plus-one rule" might apply? [Half-plus-one rule: Take the % sugar,
> divide by 2 and add one to the result to get a ballpark estimate of the
final
> alcohol content. So 15% sugar works out to about 8.5% alcohol.]
>
> Here is you used 1.5 kg rice per 4 kg water = 37.5% sugar (eventually) ==>
> 19% alcohol or so.
>
> This is what I've been using and I'd love to hear if anyone thinks it
> actually makes sense.
>
> -- j
>
> On Thu, 08 Jul 2004 02:04:57 GMT, Pleasantly Surprized wrote:
>
> >Good question; I'm doing the same thing, but today (at day 34), my
specific
> >gravity is 1.022 with the refractometer.
> >
> >"Weez" > wrote in message
> ...
> >> I'm in the process of making sake:
> >>
> >> I started by making my Kome-Koji with 400 gr. steamed rice and
Koji-Kin,
> >> then I mixed that with 1.5 kg steamed rice and 4 liters water 1/2 tsp.
> >> citric acid and yeast
> >>
> >> and I've come up with a question...
> >>
> >> How do you measure the SG?
> >>
> >> I checked with my refractometer and it read "0"
> >> It's 3 days into fermenting and it now reads "10"
> >>
> >> How do I know in the end how much alcohol will be in this stuff?
> >>
> >> Louise)
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
>
> There are no z's in my address.
>
>

have a look at this site

http://www.sake-world.com/index.html


"Weez" > wrote in message
. ..
| I'm in the process of making sake:
|
| I started by making my Kome-Koji with 400 gr. steamed rice and Koji-Kin,
| then I mixed that with 1.5 kg steamed rice and 4 liters water 1/2 tsp.
| citric acid and yeast
|
| and I've come up with a question...
|
| How do you measure the SG?
|
| I checked with my refractometer and it read "0"
| It's 3 days into fermenting and it now reads "10"
|
| How do I know in the end how much alcohol will be in this stuff?
|
| Louise)
|
|

have a look at this site

http://www.sake-world.com/index.html


"Weez" > wrote in message
. ..
| I'm in the process of making sake:
|
| I started by making my Kome-Koji with 400 gr. steamed rice and Koji-Kin,
| then I mixed that with 1.5 kg steamed rice and 4 liters water 1/2 tsp.
| citric acid and yeast
|
| and I've come up with a question...
|
| How do you measure the SG?
|
| I checked with my refractometer and it read "0"
| It's 3 days into fermenting and it now reads "10"
|
| How do I know in the end how much alcohol will be in this stuff?
|
| Louise)
|
|