Q 01/05

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

A) The bran

B) The germ oil

C) The husk only

D) The starch

Answer · why

A) The bran

The outer layers hold the fats and proteins that would give off-flavours; the starchy core is what brewers want.

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

Starch must first be converted into sugar, whereas wine ferments sugar already present in fruit.

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) Continuous column distillation

D) Malolactic conversion

Answer · why

B) Multiple parallel fermentation

In beer the two conversions happen in separate steps and separate vessels.

Q 04/05

What is the alcohol content of undiluted sake?

A) 15-16% ABV

B) 18-20% ABV

C) 12-14% ABV

D) 9-12% ABV

Answer · why

B) 18-20% ABV

Most sake is diluted with water before bottling to around 14 to 16 percent; undiluted sake is called genshu.

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

In Japanese the word sake can mean any alcoholic drink; the law labels the rice brew seishu.