Rice wine, also referred to as sake in Japan, is an alcoholic beverage constituted of fermented rice. It’s usually brewed utilizing a course of that includes a number of levels of fermentation and might vary in energy from about 14% to twenty% alcohol by quantity. Rice wine has a protracted historical past in East Asia, with proof of its manufacturing courting again to the Neolithic interval. It’s believed to have originated in China and was later launched to Japan and Korea, the place it grew to become a staple beverage.
Rice wine is made utilizing a fancy course of that includes a number of levels of fermentation. The primary stage includes soaking the rice in water after which steaming it. The steamed rice is then cooled and inoculated with a yeast starter tradition. The yeast converts the sugars within the rice into alcohol, carbon dioxide, and different byproducts. The fermentation course of usually takes about two weeks.