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Fermentation Atlas

Alcoholic drinks from Japan

Honjozo and futsu-shu (sake with added brewer's alcohol)本醸造

Honjozo is sake brewed from rice polished to 70 % or less of its weight, with a small amount of distilled brewer's alcohol added to the main mash just before pressing. The alcohol, less than 10 % of the rice weight, draws out aroma and gives a lighter taste. Futsu-shu, ordinary sake, follows the same pattern with larger additions and no polishing rule. Made in 9 steps over 6.9 months – 13 months. The longest step, mature, dilute and bottle, takes 6–12 months (Japan Sake and Shochu Makers Association and…). Aspergillus oryzae and Saccharomyces cerevisiae sake yeast do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step6–12 monthsReported[nrib2011]Mature, dilute and bottle
Temperature30 °CReported[nrib2011]Grow the koji
Fully documentedAlcoholic drinks6.9 months – 13 monthsHonjozo is a special designation (tokutei meisho) under the National Tax Agency's sake labelling standard; futsu-shu is ordinary sake with no special designationFamily: Sake (base flow: junmai, sokujo starter)More alcoholic drinksMore from Japan

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceRatios for one main mash as the National Research Institute of Brewing gives them; a tank holds from under 1 t to over 10 t of rice. The alcohol limit is the legal one for honjozo.
80Steamed polished rice · Standard mash ratio, counted as polished rice[nrib2011]
20Rice koji (kome-koji) · Koji rice must be at least 15 % of all polished rice for a special designation[nrib2011][nta-label]
130Water · Standard mash ratio[nrib2011]
Yeast starter (shubo) · Goes in with the first addition on day 1[nrib2011]
Less than 10 % of the polished-rice weightBrewer's alcohol (jozo-alcohol), made from starch or sugar sources · Usually added as a 30 % alcohol solution[nta-label][nrib2011]
Starterkoji/qu/mold-starter (rice koji) plus a yeast starter (shubo)

Total time across the recorded steps: 6.9 months – 13 months

Start
Drag the bar or press Play

What changes: A roller grinds away at least the outer 30 % of each grain

Step 1 of 9
Polish the rice
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Aspergillus oryzae
Yeasts
Moulds
Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Output: polished white rice.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
the outer layers, rich in protein, fat and minerals, are ground away
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

What makes this one different

Honjozo follows the base sake flow but adds distilled brewer's alcohol to the ripe mash just before pressing, which junmai sake never does. Its rice must be polished to 70 % or less, against 60 % or less for ginjo.

Polishing
70 % or less remains for honjozo; futsu-shu averages around 70 % with no legal limit
Added alcohol
Less than 10 % of the polished-rice weight for honjozo; around 20 % on average for futsu-shu
Share of production
Special-designation sakes are around 30 % of production; the rest is futsu-shu

Related ferments

Variants

  • Tokubetsu honjozoRice polished to 60 % or less, or a special process that the label must explain.
  • Futsu-shu (ordinary sake)No special designation. Rice is polished to around 70 % on average and brewer's alcohol averages around 20 % of the rice weight. Shochu, sugars, organic acids, amino-acid salts, sake and sake kasu may also be added, less than 50 % of the rice weight in all, and the label must say so.

Safety

Pasteurised sake keeps well because of its alcohol. The added alcohol also helps keep hiochi bacteria, which spoil sake, from growing.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

The National Tax Agency set the sake labelling standard in November 1989, in force from April 1990, because many new sake types were on sale with no rules for their labels. A 2003 revision added the rule that koji rice must be at least 15 % of the rice.

  1. [nta-label] National Tax Agency, Outline of the labelling standard for the manufacturing process and quality of sake (清酒の製法品質表示基準の概要), Notice No. 8 of 1989 as revised in 2003 and 2022spec
  2. [nrib2011] Japan Sake and Shochu Makers Association and National Research Institute of Brewing 2011, A Comprehensive Guide to Japanese Sake, 1st editiongov