John, you are simply the best. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for sharing your immense knowledge on Nihon-shu.

idk how I got here but it was a very interesting watch :D

John Gauntner is one of the finest educators in the beverage alcohol industry, knows his topic completely, from every angle, and can "Explain it Like I'm Five". Kampai!

@johngauntnerssakeeducation3771

4 жыл бұрын

Thanks, Robert! Very cool to hear!

Nice job!

Your teaching style is so captivating! Kampai

@johngauntnerssakeeducation3771

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you very much!

I took your certification class in Vegas a few years ago. Glad to see you on KZread! I'm still drinking sake and encouraging my friends to drink it too

Awesome video. I've confused by the different koji name and i know the difference now. Thank you

Awesome stuff John! We need more of you doing all this fancy high-tech stuff!

@johngauntnerssakeeducation3771

4 жыл бұрын

More to come!

This is an exceptionally well made video, full of great information. The things I already knew, confirmed, with no contradictions. But many things I did not know, such has how koji would be first isolated. I will be watching this video again, and recommending it to brewers and Japanologists.

These videos are great! Really really valuable. Thankyou

Nice work John!

Thanks John! As always, very informative!! Kanpai!

@calebt8182

3 жыл бұрын

Hi

Thanks for the video....

Thanks John!!! Great information as always.

@johngauntnerssakeeducation3771

4 жыл бұрын

Thanks, Chris!

Nice one John

I have a question here, this wooden box is not affected by moisture? And how you can protect it from bacteria after the fermentation process is over?

Question for John: In the video made by JapanSakeOfficial. Koji is used to make the yeast starter or Shobu, rest for a day and then on the 3rd day a second batch is added and on the 4th day a third batch is added so why is there 4 times? Is it because some brewers put an extra batch and some do not?

@johngauntnerssakeeducation3771

3 жыл бұрын

Hi Michael, actually koji goes into the yeast starter, and then to each one of the three additions after that, so is made and used four times. They do this to keep the balance between sugar and what the yeast can process, i.e. to keep the yeast strong.

@michaelyblam

3 жыл бұрын

@@johngauntnerssakeeducation3771 Thank you very much John for sharing your immense knowledge and experience on sake. What I said above is from kzread.info/dash/bejne/mIVky8epaKjXj9Y.html of which the lecturer only mention using koji 3 times (making shobu / yeast starter and two extra additions). That's why I am confused about the 3 additions instead of 2 additions.

@michaelyblam

3 жыл бұрын

I think I got it!!! It's how I interpret the 'how many times! 1st use of koji is making shobu, 2nd use making the original moromi and 3rd and 4th use is the two extra additions so altogether koji is used 4 times!

I purchased Malted Koji Rice at the asian food market. They were out of koji mold and they directed me to this and yeast balls. Does this suffice?

@marlonw5053

3 жыл бұрын

It will work yes but it's not traditional Japanese, that is more like Chinese or Vietnamese style rice beer

@MrSmartboy1983

3 жыл бұрын

@@marlonw5053 yes, I've made it a few times since seeing this video. It makes a very sweet type of drink

Hi I like your video I have a question Is the koji powder is vegan? Are they using milk to produce it? Thenks

@johngauntnerssakeeducation3771

3 жыл бұрын

Yes, koji mold is vegan in nature!

So Koji is not mold or fungus?

Mine won’t grow

To be fair, whenever a Westerner covers a popular but not well understood topic from a different civilization, all sorts of magic talk tends to happen. In this video I see a lot of this magic talk where somehow the koji is treated in some special way to typically create some unique version or effect. It's all just simple recipes dude. It comes down to humidity, temperature, etc. There is a huge community of koji fans around the world who are able to reproduce any and all of these kojis at home, there's nothing special. People used to talk about Mexican food like this, for example, like "it's only authentic there" - but it's always a matter of understanding the technique and science. When you said koji molds are mostly found in Asia, because of the humidity??? The world is round, all of those humid zones are a particular latitude and macroclimate, it doesn't matter what region. Thanks for the introduction, I don't know very much about Koji but I do know a great deal about fermentation and just saw an unnecessary focus upon Japanese techniques instead of just talking about the scientific characteristics of koji type molds which are shockingly in all of our kitchens. Maybe instead of a historical technique approach, which benefits very few of us, you could cover the actual science of koji propagation and use? I honestly am only being a jerk because what's the point in giving us a lesson on Japanese koji making when you could teach us how to spread and use it? This was not "all I need to know" in any way unless I work in a Japanese koji factory.

@cpw4strength

4 жыл бұрын

"what's the point in giving us a lesson on Japanese koji making when you could teach us how to spread and use it"? Because it is a lesson on Japanese Sake production. It is not a lesson on how to make koji or use it for home cooking/production. It simply explains how important the koji making step is in sake production. And, YES, koji IS treated in a special way when making sake.

@julesl6910

4 жыл бұрын

Why would the title be "All You Need to Know" - There was no lesson on Japanese sake production, if it was then viewers would have at least a tiny hint of how to do it. This provides no details in any way on how Koji works or anything else. It's like doing an overview of a math teacher in a classroom without discussing the math. And this is typical of Japanese culture videos, nobody seems to know how anything actually works and they just lick boots. I'm calling out John Gauntner, he doesn't seem to know anything beyond superficial facts about sake making.

@cpw4strength

4 жыл бұрын

@@julesl6910 Again, NOT a lesson on how to make koji or sake. Simply an education course on what it is, how it is used and how important it is in the production of sake. This is not for home brewing or major production. It is simply to gain a better appreciation for sake and how it is made. It is not intended to be a course on brewing sake. Having worked in a sake brewery, I can tell you that a lesson on making koji for sake production would be a lot longer than 14 minutes. If you are looking for a lesson on how to make koji than I suggest the book: "Textbook of Sake Brewing" by the Brewing Society of Japan.

@julesl6910

4 жыл бұрын

@@cpw4strengthHere's an example, look up Koji! Aspergillus oryzae, also known as kōji is a filamentous fungus (a mold). That is the definition of Koji, this video is so bad. This is so typical, you suggest a textbook on sake brewing as if the details aren't crucial to gaining a better appreciation of sake and how it is made. You assume it's that complicated, it's not. As an educated person you should want to educate people with actual useful information, don't expect people to be idiots. Watch this - Pretty much every instruction says that Koji needs temperatures between roughly 28°C and 36°C. If the temperature is around 40°C the fungus starts producing spores earlier, which is not wanted almost all of the time). If the temperature is even higher the fungus will die. Koji will produce more amylases at higher temperatures, and more proteases at lower temperature. These are the enzymes that break down rice for fermenting. Koji is a mold because they are referred to as Koji molds! Hello! What was that nonsense about??? Koji also needs a high relative humidity. In the beginning, the first 24h, 90% are desirable. It’s no catastrophe if it’s 80%, or even 70%, but it certainly works better at 90%. The end. That would take about 30 seconds to explain, and provided actual facts instead of talking about nothing in particular. What you are promoting is empty education, which is shameful.

@jeffschrepfer3618

4 жыл бұрын

"I'm calling out John Gauntner, he doesn't seem to know anything beyond superficial facts about sake making." You made a lot of ridiculous assertions in your comments below, but that one was the clear winner. I have known John personally for about 30 years and there is nobody who knows more about sake than John. sake-world.com/about-john/ Here is a small excerpt from the link above: "John is the only non-Japanese certified Master of Sake Tasting in the world, as administered by the Nihon Jouzo Kyoukai, or Brewing Society of Japan, the organization that, among other things, provides the majority of yeast strains to the brewing industry. He has also achieved the very difficult Sake Expert Assessor certification from Japan’s National Research Institute of Brewing. No other non-Japanese in the world has both of these certifications." So basically, you are completely and utterly wrong about John, and apparently can't be bothered to spend even 30 seconds with Google before tossing around completely unfounded accusations. In any event, this video is extremely informative for potential consumers and connoisseurs of sake who want to know more. It was never his intention to explain how to make koji or how to brew your own sake, and expecting something like that out of a KZread video is ridiculous. And no this video also isn't full of magic talk either. It's full of admiration for sake and the ingredients and processes that go into creating it. Finally, I'm calling you out as someone who's life probably consists of little more than sitting around playing video games all day and occasionally deriving a false sense of self-importance by criticizing others. I'm very sorry about that and I wish you luck.