Listen " Pasteurization - Holding out for a Hiire"
Episode Synopsis
With the spring flood of namazake, Andy and Jim take their usual contrarian position and go for the hiire stuff. Why do brewers heat-treat their sake? How do they do it? And why is Andy so resistant to the idea of sticking his hand in a vat of hot sake? Find out in the latest Sake Deep Dive!
Vocabulary from this episode:
Binkan Kyurei - A specific term for pasteurization and rapid cooling of sake in the bottle. Literally “bottle heat rapid cool”
Hiire - Heating sake to kill bacteria and halt enzymatic action
Hiochi - The term for unpasteurized sake that has gone bad from bacterial action. Literally “Fire failure.”
Hiochikin - A blanket term for a group of alcohol resistant lactobacilli that can thrive in sake and turn it bad if not killed through heating.
Jakan - The “snake tube” used in a traditional heating method for sake.
Nizake - A kind of heated sake introduced to Japan from China during the Muromachi period (1336-1573), inspiring early pasteurization techniques.
Recommended Sake
Andy - Aramasa Cosmos
Jim - Dewazakura Ginjoshu
Our theme music is from
Lotus Lane by The Loyalist - Preconceived Notions Available at https://soundcloud.com/preconceived-notions
Under a Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported— CC BY 3.0
Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/lotus-lane
Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/1YVHRMVwwHg
Vocabulary from this episode:
Binkan Kyurei - A specific term for pasteurization and rapid cooling of sake in the bottle. Literally “bottle heat rapid cool”
Hiire - Heating sake to kill bacteria and halt enzymatic action
Hiochi - The term for unpasteurized sake that has gone bad from bacterial action. Literally “Fire failure.”
Hiochikin - A blanket term for a group of alcohol resistant lactobacilli that can thrive in sake and turn it bad if not killed through heating.
Jakan - The “snake tube” used in a traditional heating method for sake.
Nizake - A kind of heated sake introduced to Japan from China during the Muromachi period (1336-1573), inspiring early pasteurization techniques.
Recommended Sake
Andy - Aramasa Cosmos
Jim - Dewazakura Ginjoshu
Our theme music is from
Lotus Lane by The Loyalist - Preconceived Notions Available at https://soundcloud.com/preconceived-notions
Under a Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported— CC BY 3.0
Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/lotus-lane
Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/1YVHRMVwwHg
More episodes of the podcast Sake Deep Dive
Brewery Hierarchy - Sake Making Structure
31/12/2025
Namazake - The Story of Unpasteurized Sake
30/11/2025
Hiyaoroshi - Autumn Sake Season is Here
31/10/2025
Sugidama - Sake Brewing's Evergreen Symbol
30/09/2025
Nigori - Clearing up Cloudy Sake
31/07/2025
Natsuzake - Summertime Sake
30/06/2025
Shibori - Sake Pressing Matters
31/05/2025
Aramasa - Sake with Style
31/03/2025
Sake Bars - Drinking in Japan
28/02/2025
Jizake - Local Sake Goes Global
31/01/2025
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