Batch #7 has been matured in the cold storage room (read: mini-fridge) for four months and is now ready to be pasteurized and bottled. Usually, sake is pasteurized twice – before and after this maturation period. This batch didn’t go through the first pasteurization to keep its fresh flavor. Refrigeration made it possible without ruining the sake during this period. This technique isa called name-chozo [生貯蔵], or unpasteurized storage, which you may find on a bottle of sake. It means that sake is fresher than the regular ones.