Q 01/05

What is removed from the rice by polishing before it is brewed into sake?

A) The bran

B) The gluten

C) The husk only

D) The starch

Answer · why

A) The bran

The bran: the more of each grain brewers polish away, the lighter and smoother the sake tends to taste.

Q 02/05

Although it is called rice wine, sake's production process is more like that of which drink?

A) Mead

B) Beer

C) Whisky

D) Cider

Answer · why

B) Beer

Beer: both turn grain starch into sugar first, but beer gets its enzymes by sprouting the grain, while sake gets them from koji mould.

Q 03/05

What is the sake-brewing process called in which starch becomes sugar and sugar becomes alcohol in one vat?

A) Double-decoction mashing

B) Multiple parallel fermentation

C) Secondary bottle fermentation

D) Malolactic fermentation

Answer · why

B) Multiple parallel fermentation

Multiple parallel fermentation: the method is so efficient that sake leaves the tank at close to 20% alcohol, stronger than most wines.

Q 04/05

In the Kojiki myth, how did the god Susanoo defeat the eight-headed serpent Orochi?

A) Got it drunk, then killed it

B) Drowned it in sake

C) Trapped it in a cask

D) Blinded it with a mirror

Answer · why

A) Got it drunk, then killed it

Got it drunk, then killed it: a sword he found inside the serpent later became one of Japan's three imperial regalia.

Q 05/05

What is the usual Japanese term for the drink English speakers call sake?

A) Nihonshu

B) Shochu

C) Mirin

D) Umeshu

Answer · why

A) Nihonshu

Nihonshu: the name means 'Japanese sake', because on its own the word sake can mean any alcoholic drink in Japanese.