Sake Isn't a Spirit: How Rice Is Brewed, Not Distilled

By the WNLQ9.shop sommelier team · Published 2026-10-17

Short answer

Sake is brewed from rice, water and koji. It is never distilled, so it sits closer to beer and wine than to whisky. What sets it apart is that starch turns into sugar and sugar turns into alcohol at the same time, in the same tank. Most sake is bottled at about 15–16% alcohol, and Japanese law keeps sake below 22%.

Key facts

Method: Brewed, not distilled
Ingredients: Rice, water, koji
Typical strength: about 15–16% ABV
Legal ceiling: below 22% ABV
Ginjo: 60% or less of the grain remains
Daiginjo: 50% or less of the grain remains

Sake is brewed, not distilled

Sake is made by fermenting rice and then pressing and filtering out the solids. There is no step where the liquid is boiled into vapour and condensed, which is how whisky, gin and cognac are made.

Because it is served in small cups and sometimes warm, sake is often filed with spirits. In production terms it belongs with beer and wine: in all three, yeast makes the alcohol directly.

That shows in the glass. Spirits usually start at 40% alcohol, while most bottled sake sits around 15–16%, close to a fuller wine.

Koji and multiple parallel fermentation

Rice is mostly starch, and yeast cannot ferment starch. Something has to break it into sugar first. In sake that job falls to koji: steamed rice grown with the mould Aspergillus oryzae.

The mould’s enzymes turn starch into sugar. In a sake tank this happens while yeast is already turning that sugar into alcohol. The term for it is multiple parallel fermentation.

Beer splits the two steps: the brewer converts malted grain to sugar, then adds yeast. Doing both at once releases sugar gradually, so the yeast keeps working for longer. Undiluted sake can pass 20% alcohol before water is added at bottling.

What rice polishing (seimai-buai) tells you

The polishing figure, seimai-buai, is the share of each rice grain left after milling. The lower the number, the more of the outer grain was removed.

The outer layers carry more protein and fat than the starchy core, and those can bring heavier, rougher flavours. Milling them away leaves purer starch, which tends to give sake with fruit and floral aromas and a lighter body.

The rice matters too. Sake rice (sakamai), such as Yamada Nishiki, has large grains with a soft, opaque starch core called shinpaku. That core lets brewers polish deep without the grain breaking, which ordinary table rice handles less well.

A lower number is not a quality score. Less polished sake often shows more rice and umami; highly polished sake shows more aroma and a cleaner line. These are two styles, not steps on a ladder.

About 15–16% alcohol, with a legal ceiling below 22%

The 15–16% figure is common practice, not a rule. Most brewers add water before bottling to bring the strength down to where the flavour feels balanced.

The rule is the ceiling. Japan’s Liquor Tax Act defines sake (seishu) as below 22% alcohol. Undiluted sake, labelled genshu, usually runs about 17–20%, still under that line.

Junmai, Ginjo and Daiginjo: what each word means

These words answer two separate questions. Junmai describes what went in; Ginjo and Daiginjo describe how far the rice was polished.

Junmai means pure rice: rice, koji and water only, with no added distilled alcohol. Without the word Junmai, a brewer may add a limited amount of distilled alcohol. It is added to lift aroma and lighten the texture, not to raise the strength.

Label term	Grain remaining after polishing	Added distilled alcohol
Junmai	no minimum set	none
Honjozo	70% or less	small amount allowed
Ginjo	60% or less	small amount allowed
Junmai Ginjo	60% or less	none
Daiginjo	50% or less	small amount allowed
Junmai Daiginjo	50% or less	none

Ginjo and Daiginjo also call for ginjo-zukuri, a slow, cold fermentation that brings out notes like apple and melon. Sake outside these grades is not lesser sake. Plenty of everyday sake is carefully made and built for the table.

In three lines

Sake is brewed from rice, not distilled, and usually bottled at 15–16% alcohol.
Koji turns starch into sugar while yeast turns sugar into alcohol, in one tank.
Junmai means no added distilled alcohol; Ginjo (60% or less) and Daiginjo (50% or less) describe polishing.

Questions people ask

What is the difference between Junmai and Ginjo?

Junmai is about ingredients: rice, koji and water, with no added distilled alcohol. Ginjo is about polishing: 60% or less of the grain remains. A sake that meets both is labelled Junmai Ginjo.

What does a 50% polishing ratio mean?

Half of each rice grain was milled away and the inner 50% was used. That is the threshold for Daiginjo, which usually gives a fragrant, light sake.

What is the difference between sake and shochu?

Sake is brewed and filtered, never distilled. Shochu is a Japanese distilled spirit made from ingredients such as sweet potato, barley or rice, so it is usually stronger.

Sources

For education only. For readers aged 20 and over.