Kimoto

Kimoto is the oldest surviving method of building a sake starter, and the sake made this way is the muscular, deep-flavoured counterpoint to the clean, fruity modern styles. Rather than dosing the starter mash with a shot of commercial lactic acid — the quick, hygienic "sokujo" way that produces most sake today — a kimoto brewer coaxes wild lactic-acid bacteria and yeast to colonise the mash naturally over weeks, protecting the ferment with acid the old-fashioned way. The signature of the labour is the yamaoroshi, or pole-ramming, in which crews pound the rice-koji-water sludge with heavy wooden poles to help the enzymes break it down. The result is sake with more acidity, more amino acids and a heavier, gamier, more complex body — rich, faintly sour, savoury and often nutty or lightly earthy, with a firm backbone that stands up to warming and to bold food. Pale gold to amber and usually around 15 to 17 percent alcohol, kimoto reads as the rustic, old-soul sake: less about delicate fragrance, more about depth, structure and umami.