In this series on Measuring your Sake I will cover how to measure all the key characteristics of sake. These include:
– Nihonshudo a.k.a. Sake Meter Value (SMV) and specific gravity
– Alcohol percentage by volume
– Sando or Acidity
– Amino Sando or Amino acid levels
For Nihonshudo or SMV all that is needed is a hydrometer. The most commonly available hydrometers are for specific gravity though you can find other metrics. To simplify this discussion I will stick to specific gravity and SMV. A discussion of these other metrics is in the article: Nihonshu-do (日本酒度) or Sake Meter Value (SMV).
So, what are we talking about when we talk about specific gravity? Well, specific gravity is a measure of the density of a liquid compared to the density of distilled water at 60F. But what does that mean?
Continue reading “Measuring your Sake – Part One: the Hydrometer and SMV”