Down with hineka

The National Research Institute of Brewing (NRIB) describes it as similar to “rotten cabbage, gas, or takuan“ (pickled daikon), and research published in the Journal of the Brewing Society of Japan points at DMTS (dimethyl trifulfide) as a probable cause… Yes, it’s hineka, where the Maillard reaction produces off-aromas during storage instead of (my) beloved matured notes.

But as research had already revealed a possible mechanism for the formation of hineka, scientists now had a way to stop it happening-and that’s exactly what researchers at the Nihonsakari brewery did in 2022 by developing and patenting a yeast that produces less of the precursor compounds used in the reaction.

And now the Brewing Society of Japan (BSJ), purveyors of the fine Kyokai (or Association) line of yeasts, have added it to their catalogue. Named Kyokai Sake Yeast Ka8, it will be available in Q1 2025 as a slant (test tube with yeast cultured on solid growth medium) for JPY 16,200, then on a yearly contract basis for JPY 75,600. (For reference, #701 costs JPY 19440 for a set of 10 ampoules.)

Derived from Kyokai Yeast #701 (non-foaming version of #7), Ka8 produces lots of ethyl caproate and little of the precursor compounds that lead to the formation of DMTS in storage.
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Sources:
Brewing Society of Japan Newsletter #85, 1 Dec 2024
National Research Institute of Brewing Glossary of Sensory Evaluation Terms
“Aroma compounds responsible for “hineka” in commercial sake” Journal of the Brewing Society of Japan (Vol 101, Issue 2, 2006)
“Sake 101: Hineka” SakeTimes
“Nihonsakari patent yeast that reduces hineka” (Taste Translation, 11 Sep 2022)