Re: Can methanol be produced when brewing saké?

     Homebrewing is applying your knowledge and expertise, or the 
knowledge and expertise of others, to produce wines, brews, and spirits 
with your own two hands in the comfort of your own home.  The joy of 
giving someone a glass of wine or beer that you made yourself is extremely 
self-gratifying and fulfilling. The historical significance of mastering 
the art and tradition of brewing beverages that have been around for 
thousands of years is exciting and fascinating.  I am a homebrewer and 
really truly enjoy my hobby.  

     I am much more experienced with traditional western single fermentation 
(yeast, carbohydrate, nutrients and water), than the eastern method of producing 
sake with multiple parallel fermentation.  The eastern method involves a 
saccharification procedure that changes the rice starch into glucose while the 
available glucose is fermented.  This is a much more complicated process than 
the single fermentation.  However, the saccharification procedure does not 
produce any additional methanol that I am aware of.      

     There is some risk involved in participating in this ancient 
artform.  You do not have the same type of controls and safeguards (QA/QC) 
in place that you do when you buy a bottle of wine from a liquor store.  
There is a trial and error period where things will definitely go wrong 
with your brew.  There are also by-products of ALL fermentation processes 
(methanol {MeOH}included) that will be formed during the process.  Some of 
these by-products can produce sickness if ingested at high concentrations, 
but are harmless at low concentrations.  There are also microbial infections 
of the brew that can make you sick.  With that said, there are safety 
precautions that must be followed during the brewing process that will 
help to prevent but not eliminate these types of problems.

       MeOH Facts:

1.  MeOH and ethanol (along with esters, aldehydes, and other higher MW 
alcohols) are naturally produced in wines at levels measured to 
be .0.0041% - 0.02% and 10% - 15%, respectively.  This corresponds to a 
EtOH to MeOH ratio of 500X.
2.  The Federal Govt. considers alcoholic beverages with MeOH levels above 
0.01% as adulterated (some wines and spirits actually benefit from 
elevated MeOH percentages!!)
3.  Most fruit brandies (i.e., Schlivovitz) contain 1% - 2% MeOH.
4.  MeOH is not toxic, but the metabolites, formic acid and formaldehyde 
produced from the MeOH in the body are extremely toxic.
5.  The Merck Index lists a fatal dose of MeOH as "usually 100 - 150- ml," 
but as little as 35 ml has been reported as a fatal dose.  Remember 
the .0.0041% - 0.02% MeOH levels listed above as naturally occurring!! 

     Well now that you have the all of the facts in front of you, you can 
make an informed decision.  Enjoy!!