Maedaya Sake & Grill

What is Nihonshu?
Nihonshu is a Japanese traditional fermented alcohol, called Sake. Sake is a unique type of fermented alcohol which is not a wine, neither is it exactly a beer, nor a spirit. To start the fermentation process, sake is milled down until mostly only starch remains. (Percentage of rice milling is called Seimaibuai and it's one of the very important parameter to rank sake in 4 major categories such as Honjozo, Junmai, Ginjo and Daiginjo) At this point, the starch is fermented to turn into sugar, and then further fermented so that the sugars convert into alcohol. This is kind of a similar way to produce beer, but the different point from beer brewing is that the starch decomposition in sake is not caused by enzymes from the malt, but rather from a special mold called Koji mold. After fermentation, sake is naturally cloudy from grain solids. Some sake like Nigori (unfiltered sake) is allowed to remain clouded, but the majority is filtered so its color looks clear like spirit. Sake is fairly high in alcohol for a fermented drink, ranging from 14% to 17% alcohol - as compared to 8% to 14% for most wines, or 4% to 6% for most beers