Hadano sake brewing

Every year in early November, work begins on sake brewing at Kanai Sake Brewery, the only sake brewery in Hadano City, Kanagawa Prefecture, for the next six months.

For the past 40 years or so, Kanai Sake Brewery has been brewing sake under the guidance of Echigo master brewer Tadashi Uchiyama, but now his master skills have been passed on to master brewer Kazutoshi Yoneyama , originally from Kanagawa Prefecture.

Simply put, sake is an alcoholic beverage made from rice, koji, and water.

The rice used as raw material is suitable for sake brewing.

This large, soft rice has the special characteristic of being hard on the outside and soft inside, making it easy for koji mold to penetrate all the way to the core of the rice.

Yamadanishiki is famous as a high-quality variety and is supported by various sake breweries.

Kanai Sake Brewery's signature sake is Shirasasatsuzumi, made with Yamadanishiki rice from Hyogo prefecture.

And a commitment to water.

Until 1985, Kanai Sake Brewery was located in Motomachi, near the former site of the Tobacco and Salt Public Corporation, and they brewed sake there using tap water, but they were troubled by the fact that the sake inevitably had a strong, peculiar taste.

I tried to do my best to get rid of that habit, but it just didn't work.

After repeatedly reviewing the sake brewing process and conducting extensive research to see if the distinctive flavor could be eliminated, they discovered that the distinctive flavor was caused by Hadano's tap water.

Needless to say, Hadano is a town famous for its excellent water. I thought the tap water was delicious enough, but it seems that it is not suitable for brewing carefully selected sake.

Digging a well would have been useless in that spot.

This is because the water quality varies depending on the area, even within Hadano.

So he moved to his current location and dug a well about 150 meters deep. When he started using the well water, he was able to easily overcome his drinking habit, which he had been unable to overcome no matter how hard he tried.

The taste of the alcohol has also become lighter.

The problem that had plagued the master brewer for many years was resolved by moving the brewery to its current location in Horiyamashita.

The sake brewing process begins with the preparation of rice suitable for sake brewing, which is polished and steamed.

Once the steaming of the rice is complete, the koji-making process begins.

Koji is made by sprinkling koji mold on steamed rice and letting it sit for two days and nights in a sauna-like room called a koji room.

Making koji is said to be the most important and most difficult step in sake brewing.

This is because it is said that the floating koji mold spores attached to the koji room create the koji that is unique to that room.

The taste of the sake changes dramatically depending on the environment of this koji room.

Once the koji is ready, the process of making the yeast starter begins.

For about two weeks, the yeast is cultivated and multiplied in a small tank in a sweet sake-like liquid made from steamed rice and koji.

This is the yeast starter, also known as the "source" of sake.

If the temperature is too high, the fermentation will be too long before the flavor is fully developed, so it is difficult to adjust the temperature delicately.

This work is done while cooling in a refrigerator/heater.

To prepare the mash, steamed rice, koji, and well water are added to the yeast starter that has been cultivated in this way in a brewing tank, and the mixture is stirred with a paddle while the sake is left to mature.

The mash matures for about 20 days, after which it is pressed into the press, a process called Joso.

Simply put, this process involves putting mash into a sake bag and filtering it under pressure.

In addition to the accordion-style machine that can squeeze a whole batch in one day, Kanai Sake Brewery also uses an older machine called a "fune," which requires human power.

This work takes two full days of time and manpower.

However, when pressing junmai sake or ginjo sake, the sake pressed on the first day is called ichiban-shibori and tastes better than the sake pressed on the second day.

With an accordion-style device, all the ingredients in one batch get mixed together and the gas cannot be released completely.

Truly good sake must be made with this.

The more care is taken, the deeper the flavor of the sake seems to become.

In mid-December, the unpasteurized sake is pressed and then stored quietly in the tanks.

The name of the sake changes depending on the final process, such as "namazake," "nama-chozo," or "chozozake." The processing method also differs depending on the type of sake.

Every year (until around 2019) , around the end of December, local sake lovers would come calling at Kanai Sake Brewery, asking for freshly brewed nama nigori sake.

Because cloudy sake ferments easily, it must be purchased fresh.

As the new year turns and March arrives, Kanai Sake Brewery begins the process of pasteurizing the unpasteurized sake that has been quietly stored.

If "stored sake" is stored as is, it will spoil in the summer and the taste will deteriorate significantly, so it is essential to pasteurize it after leaving it to rest for about two months.

This pasteurization kills the yeast in the sake, and the fermentation that had been progressing slowly up until then comes to a halt.

The sake then goes back into a peaceful sleep in the tanks at Kanai Sake Brewery for about six months.