How low can you go?

Mega-brewery Gekkeikan (Fushimi, Kyoto) released a new low-alcohol sake on 23 September 2024. Named “Algo” (Arugo? アルゴ)* and coming in at just 5% ABV, it’s marketed as having just 1/3 the alcohol content of standard sake but still being satisfying to drink, with both depth and refreshing acidity. 

The product listing on Rakuten has images from the marketing campaign, which (unsurprisingly for anyone who has picked up on the domestic target market) features a young woman dressed in the same colour as the label, while the text addresses perceived objections to drinking sake, such as avoiding stronger drinks when you’re working the next day, only drinking sake on the weekends when you have time and a proper meal, or only drinking sake on and around days off because you won’t finish a bottle in one evening. 

In contrast, Algo is presented as “the sake you’ve been waiting for” as you can drink it whenever, with whatever, without worrying about a possible hangover the next day. It’s made with Gekkeikan’s proprietary in-house yeast and special manufacturing process, then stored unpasteurised (nama-chozo, 生貯蔵) to give it the same aromas as a normal sake. 

Gekkeikan also boast that Algo is made with 1.3 times as much rice** as Tsuki, their flagship pack sake. They also break down some of the components of Tsuki versus Algo, pointing out that where Tsuki has 13% alcohol and 5% extract*** it’s nearly the opposite for Algo at 5% alcohol and 11% extract. [The remaining 83% or 84% is listed as water.]

They also offer a breakdown of sweetness, umami, acidity, bitterness and dryness in Algo, Tsuki and Josen (上撰), another Gekkeikan futsushu, to illustrate that although Algo’s low alcohol content means it has no detectable dryness and much less bitterness, it still has a total of flavour components similar to standard sake, with plenty of the umami that makes sake easy to pair with most foods. And Algo also has over twice as much ethyl caproate (apple-like aroma) and isoamyl acetate (banana/melon-like aroma) as Tsuki.

Available in bottles of 720 ml (from JPY 1,285 on Amazon.co.jp) or 300 ml (from JPY 3,643 for a 6-pack on Amazon.co.jp, so JPY 607 each), Algo is described as sweet and tart in flavour and recommended serving temperature is on the rocks, or between 5°C (41°F) and room temperature. The promotional material also interestingly lists a “best before” period of 1 year.**** 

Promotional material for Algo on Rakuten.
“Do you think this when it comes to drinking sake?”
“I avoid anything strong on weekdays, as I have to be mindful of the next day.”
“I want to take my time having sake with food, so I only drink it at weekends.”

The product listing page on Amazon features even more graphs, charts and infographics, including another comparison between Josen and Algo, this time showing Algo is lower in calories and that a woman can clear the alcohol in 180 ml of Algo (5% ABV) in just under 2 hours, compared to over 5 hours for Josen (15-16% ABV).

According to the Gekkeikan product page, ingredients are rice and kōji, so Algo looks like it could be a junmai but is listed as a futsushu. There are a number of possible reasons for this, as a sake can also fall outside the “premium” classifications (特定名称, tokutei meisho) by using low-grade rice or not using enough kōji.

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Is anyone else confused by this? It’s not clear who it’s aimed at, and while the breakdown of taste components is supposed to be reassuring it ends up making Algo look unbalanced… 

* Apparently Algo is a contraction of アルコール5% 驚きの飲みごたえ (aruko-ru 5% odoroki no nomigotae, “5% alcohol, surprisingly satisfying”).
** The marketing material shows an undeclared pack size of Tsuki and a 300 ml bottle of Algo, but assuming the comparison is between the amounts of rice used to make the same quantity of finished sake does this mean that Algo has a higher kasu-buai (粕歩合, ratio of rice remaining as lees/not broken down in the ferment)? Different brewing methods (e.g. ginjo) naturally produce more kasu than others (e.g. futsushu), so… not sure what the message is. Cynically, maybe it’s “contains more rice! Therefore, better!”
*** See the last issue where the JSS Information Centre complained about breweries speaking in technical terms that mean nothing to consumers… “extract” is a measure of non-volatile compounds such as sugars, acids and amino acids, which is monitored during the brewing process. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it in consumer-facing marketing before. 
**** Normally sake is not given a best-before or expiry date, maybe the low alcohol content makes Algo subject to different requirements? Again, cynically, I wonder if Algo has any issues after 1 year of storage, such as losing aroma or parts of the flavour profile.

I’ll see if I can get hold of this while I’m in Japan in Nov-Dec, although the 2.1 star rating on Amazon isn’t promising (one 4-star review, two 1-star reviews titled “Shouldn’t have expected this to taste like sake” and “Worst sake in history”).

Sources
Gekkeikan official Instagram account (Japanese)
Gekkeikan product page (Japanese)
Rakuten product listing (Japanese)
Amazon.co.jp product listing (Japanese)