98 replies to this topic

[Hiroyuki]

I went to the brewery today (Oct. 23). It's about a 5-minute bicycle ride from my house.
On my way there, I took a photo of the brewery's warehouse, located on Route 17.

It was cloudy, and the red board was hard to see. It says:

Sake associated with Suzuki Bokushi.
Founded in 1717.
Kakurei

Suzuki Bokushi was a writer who wrote "Hokuetsu Seppu" (Snow Country Tales: Life in the Other Japan
Amazon webpage
He was born in the former Shiozawa town in the Edo Period, and his second son took over the business as the eighth head of the brewery.
Inside the Head Office, where my acquaintance, Mr. Abe, greeted me:

Groundwater pumped from a 80-meter depth:

It is medium soft water.
Rice used to make sake:

Variety of sake used: Yamada Nishiki (often called the king of sake rice), Miyama Nishiki, Gohyaku Man Goku (used to make less expensive sake)
Goyaku Man Goku sake rice, produced locally in Urasa in Minami Uonuma city, milled to a milling rate of 60%

(Sorry, blurry)
This is a new, very expensive, custom-made rice washing machine!

After washed, the rice is drained

then transferred here

and then to this large pot for steaming:

Room for making koji:

Needless to say, different koji are used to make different brands. I asked for details, but they are trade secrets!
Containers in the shubo room:

Shubo is literally the mother of sake, translated into yeast mash, yeast starter, fermentation starter, etc.
Inside one container:

It takes two weeks to make shubo.
Moromi, day 1:

With the cover removed:

It is transferred to a tank.
This photo shows moromi after the end of sandan jikomi (triple brewing)

All other tanks were empty.

The brewery is at the very first stage of its kan zukuri (brewing in a cold season). Kan zukuri is said to produce good sake, and this brewery sticks to it, which means they make sake in the winter only.
In two months, the moromi is filtered

and the sake is stored in these tanks.

I asked my acquaintance about the selling points of the brewery. He replied that they invest large amounts of money on things for making good sake, not on things for mass-producing it.
This machine is one example:

It is used to control the water to the same temperature as rice.
The rice washing machine, shown earlier, is another. Again, it was custom-made and was very expensive, as detailed in the brewery's blog blog entry on Oct. 19 (sorry, Japanese only).

[Hiroyuki]

What kind of rice and koji do they used for there brews????

As I mentioned upthread, they use Yamada Nishiki and Miyama Nishiki for expensive sake and Gohyaku Man Goku for less expensive ones.
As for koji, Mr. Abe said that they invest large amounts of money on koji as well as on machines and equipment, but since that's their trade secrets, he didn't give me a detailed explanation.

[Hiroyuki]

A better photo of the warehouse:

[Hiroyuki]

When I learned from Mr. Abe that their sake is available at Sushi Samba and Megu in the United States, this question occurred to me immediately:
Is their sake used as a cocktail base by any chance??
I asked him the question, and he replied that they have two knowledgeable people in the United States, one Japanese and one American, so that won't happen.
I felt relieved.
You can use cheaper sake as a cocktail base, but not Kakurei and other elaborate brands.

[Naftal]

So, what's your favorite sake; that is available in the U.S Somebody...anybody.......

Edited by Naftal, 27 June 2007 - 11:40 AM.

[RichardA]

Here are some of my favorites:

Hakushika Junmai Ginjo
Horin Gekkeikan Junmai Daiginjo
Yuki No Bosha limited edition Junmai Ginjo
Trader Joe's Sake (Yes, it is $10 and actually a good tasting sake. It is also made in Japan)

[PierreGinza]

In two months, the moromi is filtered

That's actually a sake press pictured--probably Yabuta brand--which squeezes liquid (to be filtered, usually through activated charcoal), from the fermented mash or "moromi". Moromi is left to ferment typically from 20-40 days, not always "two months" as noted, although this particular brew might indeed have spent 60 days as moromi. The entire process from rice milling to washing/soaking to koji-making to shobu-making (shobu is also called "moto") to moromi and pressing does typically take about two months.

thanks

[Hiroyuki]

In two months, the moromi is filtered

That's actually a sake press pictured--probably Yabuta brand--which squeezes liquid (to be filtered, usually through activated charcoal), from the fermented mash or "moromi". Moromi is left to ferment typically from 20-40 days, not always "two months" as noted, although this particular brew might indeed have spent 60 days as moromi. The entire process from rice milling to washing/soaking to koji-making to shobu-making (shobu is also called "moto") to moromi and pressing does typically take about two months.

thanks

Thanks for your reply. I didn't know that this thread of mine, which I started in the Wine Forum, have been moved to this thread in the Japan Forum.

"In two months" is what Mr. Abe told me. I'm no expert on sake making, but I guess that the long brewing process is due to the facts 1) At this brewery, they make sake in the winter time only, when the temperature is low and 2) In Niigata, the water is soft, which means that brewing takes more time than with hard water.

[PierreGinza]

In two months, the moromi is filtered

That's actually a sake press pictured--probably Yabuta brand--which squeezes liquid (to be filtered, usually through activated charcoal), from the fermented mash or "moromi". Moromi is left to ferment typically from 20-40 days, not always "two months" as noted, although this particular brew might indeed have spent 60 days as moromi. The entire process from rice milling to washing/soaking to koji-making to shobu-making (shobu is also called "moto") to moromi and pressing does typically take about two months.

thanks

Thanks for your reply. I didn't know that this thread of mine, which I started in the Wine Forum, have been moved to this thread in the Japan Forum.

"In two months" is what Mr. Abe told me. I'm no expert on sake making, but I guess that the long brewing process is due to the facts 1) At this brewery, they make sake in the winter time only, when the temperature is low and 2) In Niigata, the water is soft, which means that brewing takes more time than with hard water.

Oh I did not mean to dispute your "two month" report, as Mr. Abe has said. How long the moromi ferments is up to the toji, of course.

The typical brewing season for all kuras is October through April. That's when the rice growing season is over and the crop has been harvested to prepare for brewing. Also, in the old days, sake was brewed by tens of thousands of small kuras, and the task of making sake gave farm workers something to do in the off-season. Farmers during the growing season, kurabitas in the winter! Brewing in winter also cuts down on the bacteria and other undesired microbes--Sake has been around for centuries, but pasteurization has not.

Niigata has some of the best local rice and water for sake, indeed. Hiroshima and Kobe areas also have some superb water for sake. Traditionally, kuras were built around the water sources, so important is the water to the quality of the end product.

thanks