Kimoto – Home Brew Sake

A moto before kimoto? – Bodaisen to Bodaimoto

Before getting with this article I would like to urge you to consider donating to help Japan in this time of tragedy. Three outstanding organizations which will ensure your donations will be used well are:

https://www.sakesamurai.jp/donation.html

https://www.mercycorps.org/

https://www.redcross.org/

OK, back to the article:

We often here about the three types of moto or seed mash. There is the currently most used moto type, sokujo-moto, the next most common, Yamahai-moto and the moto which was king before that, kimoto. But, before these there was another type of moto, one that was used as late as 1925 under the name Mizumoto. This moto was bodai-moto and was developed by the monks at the Bodaisen Shoreki Ji Buddhist temple.

The monks studied the techniques used in both Japan and China. They developed their method some time in or before the 14^th century. A brewing diary, “Goshu no Nikki,” describes the two step method and later starting in 1478 as chronicled by the “Tamon-in Nikki” the three step method was developed and used. Taken together these describe how the method for making Bodaisen had transformed from a single mash sake brewing to one that used a starter culture from previous good mashes to one with a purpose made starter mash, bodai-moto, added to the main ferment and the progressions from including two and then three additions to the moromi.

Continue reading “A moto before kimoto? – Bodaisen to Bodaimoto”

Difference between sokujo moto and previous methods

Difference between sokujo moto and previous methods.

As I am thinking about some experiments to do with sake I began thinking about the difference between various moto methods. Not so much the procedures but what makes the sake different. Most homebrew sake is made with either the sokujo or yamahai methods. The yamahai method, much like the kimoto method is known for producing a deeper and richer, even earthier sake.

In the sokujo method lactic acid is added at the start of the moto while in the yamahai method various bugs are rallied to provide the lactic acid. It is this early stage of the moto that makes the difference in outcome. Once the bugs have done there thing and there is enough lactic acid built up the moto is protected from any further trouble and the yeast are free to thrive and grow. Continue reading “Difference between sokujo moto and previous methods”

Sake Yeast Mash – The Moto

This article looks at the three types of Sake yeast mashes, also known as moto and shubo. The differences between these three moto are examined.

Moto (元), Shubo (酒母), Yeast mash are all names for the Sake yeast starter. In this article I will only use the term “moto” but the three can be used interchangeably. Moto is where the number of yeast cells is increased to the needed level. The moto is used to inoculate the main sake fermentation, the Moromi (諸味). To build the moto we start with rice (米), koji (麹) and yeast (酵母). These three ingredients along with water were the only ones used for moto originally. The method to produce this original moto is known as Kimoto. It features a vigorous mixing, taking many hours, to produce a puree of the ingredients. It was thought this vigorous mixing, called Yama-Oroshi, was needed for the ingredients to properly work together.

In 1909 a modification to the Kimoto method was developed. The modification was to drop the vigorous mixing. As it turned out, the mixing was not really needed. The modified process was called Yama-Oroshi haishi moto or Yamahai moto for short. Continue reading “Sake Yeast Mash – The Moto”