I don't know about sake, but traditional applejack was made by lining oak wine barrels full of fermented apples with muslin and leaving them outside during the cold colonial winters in early America. When the mash was cold enough to turn into a slushie, the muslin was pulled up and squeezed out, removing all the solids and water in the form of ice crystals, and leaving alcohol and apple extracts behind. It was said to be very potent and caused the most miserable hangovers because of all the pectin and tannin.

>>46 Have you tried making sake yet, or for now only research? Can't say I was ever interested because the process seems very intensive. Not to mention I always picture that episode from Moyasimon with the sake.

Maybe you'll want to start easy first. Make some mead (honey wine). Just add honey, water, and activated yeast to a carboy and ferment for at least 3 months. I got some in the kitchen with blackberries in it but I haven't felt like racking those out just yet. You'll need to buy a wine making kit which would be around ~$50 or something. Mead is easy to make since there's no heating involved unlike beer. After you do that, then maybe you'll understand that sake is more involved and whether or not you want to deal with it.

My friend started his wine-making journey with mead (and wine with sugar) specifically because of the hassle of beer. So >>72 has a very good point.

Well one thing that I've discovered while researching is that sake is most often brewed in colder months since the process is longer and more complex than simple fruit wines. >>72 >>74 I do have a recipe somewhere for pokeberry wine. I might actually try to make that later this year.

>>46 >The only thing that I've really discovered is that polishing your rice is extremely important. I don't know anything about making Sake Brewing, but I do know one important fact that you need to know if you want to make it right. Make sure you are using the correct rice for your brewing attempts. Uruchimai or Sushi Rice is the kind used for making Sake. Calrose is not Uruchimai.

>>222 I almost exclusively keep sushi rice around. I prefer it over long grain rice.