2005, Justin Jennings, Kathy L. Antrobus, Sam J. Atencio, Erin ...

282 F current anthropology Volume 46, Number 2, April 2005
Fig. 3. The operational chain for making rice beer. The final stage, pasteurization, was added during the Tang
Dynasty.
sporulation (Nunokawa 1972:461; Kondō 1984:43). During
this time the mixture was stirred to lower the temperature,
promote uniform growth, and release CO 2 (Atacador-Ramos
et al. 1996; Lotong 1985:248–51; Yoshizawa
and Ishikawa 1989:146).
Moto was made by mixing koji with steamed rice to
form a starter for the yeast culture. Over the course of
13–19 days, the mixture was heated very slowly (0.5–1
per day). As the temperature rose and available nutrients
were consumed, different groups of microorganisms were
replaced by others. During this process, lactic acid bacteria
increased the acidity of the mixture. By the end of
the period, only the fermenting yeast Saccharomyces
sake survived. After a resting period of 5 days that allowed
the sake yeast to grow, the moto could be added
to the moromi (Kodama and Yoshizawa 1977:446–54;
Yoshizawa and Ishikawa 1989:149–50).
Moromi was fermented through a process called stepwise
mashing that enabled the yeast population and
hence alcohol content to build up substantially. On the
first day, steamed rice, koji, and water were combined
with moto in a vessel (approximately one part moto to
three parts rice, water, and koji) and heated to about
10–12C. The mixture decreased the overall yeast count,
but the acidity and elevated temperature encouraged
yeast growth and accelerated the saccharification of
starches. Brewers added nearly twice the amount of
steamed rice, koji, and water two days later. After waiting
another day for further yeast growth and starch breakdown,
the amount of material was doubled again in a
third addition. After this initial fermentation, the mixture
was often transferred to smaller, narrow-necked jars
and covered for further fermentation (Atacador-Ramos
et al. 1996:443; Yoshizawa and Ishikawa 1989:156–57).