Brewing sake with other yeasts (not sake yeast)

[kshathra]

Hello everyone,

I am going to re-post this in the beer section because I think sake is a type of beer, but I digress....

Any sake makers out there ever use non-sake yeast for their sake? I am interested in trying something like a Belgian or a kveik yeast, and I'm curious if anyone has tried this before. I am also interested to know if the abv will get as high using one of those yeasts as it does with sake yeast (my understanding is that the super high abv is not because the yeast is especially alcohol tolerant, but because the sugars are trickled in by the koji, making the abv rise far more slowly than it would under normal circumstances).

Thanks!

 

[xico]

Not much has been done with the kveik yeast in research literature yet but both yeast you mentioned will handle the fermentables to a point. You will not reach the abv you are desiring I don't think and the residual sweetness may come through in the final product.

aspergillus oryzae (koji mold) is something I've worked with for brewing practices but I haven't run brewing yeast trials yet. oryzae will produce primarily glucose and not maltose which means you could easily throw a champagne yeast at it after your belgian is done with what it can handle.