Jozo Alcohol
醸造アルコール
Grades & Classification
Tanım
Brewer's alcohol (distilled ethanol) added to sake during production. In premium grades, jozo alcohol is limited to 10% of the rice weight and serves to extract aromas and lighten the body rather than to increase volume.
Derinlemesine
The role of jozo alcohol is widely misunderstood. In premium sake (ginjo, daiginjo, honjozo), the small addition extracts aromatic esters from the moromi that would otherwise remain bound in the lees. This technique, perfected over decades, can produce more fragrant sake than pure rice methods. In futsu-shu, larger additions serve a different purpose: increasing yield and reducing cost. The debate between junmai purists and aruten (alcohol-added) advocates is one of the liveliest in the sake world.