It seems we're in the midst of a craft brew boom.

Definition of Craft Brewed Sake

What exactly is craft brewed sake? I believe it refers to beverages made with carefully selected ingredients or flavors, things that large existing manufacturers don't produce, but which small breweries can create by hand.

Have you ever heard the term "craft brewed sake"?

The Most Common is Craft Beer

Among the many craft beverages, craft beer is probably the most prevalent. While it existed about 30 years ago, there's now a rapid rise in new breweries.

The previous boom was due to a change in law in 1994, which lowered the minimum annual production required to make beer from 2,000 kiloliters (about 3.3 million large bottles) to 60 kiloliters.

Thanks to this, the barrier to entry was lowered, and at the time, it was called "jibeer" (local beer), sparking a boom as souvenirs and tourist attractions.

Then, from the late 2000s, it came to be called craft beer, and other craft sakes began to emerge.

Craft Gin was Popular Before

A few years ago, craft gin was popular, and many sake breweries, concerned about young people moving away from sake, seemed to have jumped on the bandwagon to create something new.

However, gin probably wasn't well-received by Japanese people, as it has largely disappeared.

Gin is easy to make; a distilled spirit just needs to contain juniper berries, and anything else can be added to call it gin.

So, I recall there were many local ingredient-based gins, such as orange-flavored gin.

Next is Whisky

Although not "craft," the deliciousness of Japanese whiskies like Yamazaki and Hibiki became known, leading to immense popularity worldwide and a shortage in Japan.

Whisky production cannot simply be increased due to sales, as it takes a minimum of 5 years from preparation to maturation.

Therefore, even though there's a global boom now, recklessly increasing production could lead to disaster if people get tired of it and the boom ends in five years, which is why increasing production is difficult.

Perhaps that's why shortages continue.

Initially, Yamazaki and Hibiki were very popular, but due to their scarcity, there's a general sentiment that any Japanese whisky will do.

Amidst this global boom in Japanese whisky, a genre called "craft whisky" also seems to have emerged.

Currently, there are said to be about 300 active whisky distilleries, with many more applications pending.

Among these craft whisky distilleries, there's a local whisky called Saburomaru in Toyama.

This whisky comes from an old distillery that has been making whisky since after the war. When I visited the brewery, I was surprised by the tasting, and it was this tasting that prompted me to start my own brewery.

About Craft Brewed Sake

 

While there are various types of craft alcoholic beverages, the craft sake produced by our brewery is similar to sake in its manufacturing method but slightly different. Under the Liquor Tax Law, it is categorized as "other brewed sake," completely separate from "sake."

Broadly speaking, sake is made only from rice, koji, and water, while other brewed sakes are also made only from rice, koji, and water.

The difference lies in the final process: sake requires filtering, whereas other brewed sakes made only with rice, koji, and water cannot be filtered.

Furthermore, if ingredients other than rice and koji are used, it can no longer be called sake and becomes "other brewed sake."

The interesting thing about "other brewed sake" is the use of auxiliary ingredients, which is why it's called craft sake.

You can add things other than rice and koji, for example, crushed fruits (if you add whole fruits, it becomes a liqueur).

Interestingly, some even add hops, which are used in beer, or herbs.

It's essentially flavored sake.

What cannot be done with Seishu can be done here

Since the ingredients that can be used for seishu are limited, master brewers can create various changes by altering the seed koji when making koji or by changing the yeast.

Also, since filtering is a mandatory step, doburoku (unfiltered sake) cannot be made. Although, nigori-zake (cloudy sake) can be made by filtering with a coarse sake cloth, allowing the moromi (fermenting mash) to dissolve.

On the other hand, craft brewed sake is defined as being made from grains and sugar, and its characteristic is its broad scope.

By using auxiliary ingredients, all kinds of flavored sake can be brewed.

Also, since the filtering process is not mandatory like in seishu, if it's not filtered, it becomes fruit doburoku, and if it is filtered, it becomes clear sake, resulting in fruit clear sake like ours.

Of course, filtering with a coarse sake cloth also allows for fruit nigori-zake.

While strictly not Japanese sake, something akin to Japanese sake can also be made.

If anything other than rice and koji is mixed in, it ceases to be Japanese sake, meaning it can either be filtered or not.

Therefore, since it's not strictly rice and koji, our brewery uses germinated brown rice during brewing.

By adding a handful of germinated brown rice during brewing, it can be made not into Japanese sake but into "other brewed sake."

Once brewing is complete, it can be bottled as doburoku as is, or filtered and bottled as something akin to Japanese sake.

The germinated brown rice added at the end doesn't change the flavor, so the taste is frankly like Japanese sake, but it can't be called Japanese sake. Also, terms like "junmai-shu" (pure rice sake) or other terms that suggest Japanese sake are not allowed; our brewery calls it "junmai-zukuri" (pure rice brewing style).

And on the back label, it cannot be written as "sake," so it must say "other brewed sake," and germinated brown rice must also be listed as an ingredient.

Well, ordinary people don't care about such details; as long as it tastes good, that's all that matters.

Reason #2 for the increase in craft brewed sake

There's a reason for obtaining a license for "other brewed sake."

Most likely, everyone loves Japanese sake and wants to make it.

However, the current situation is that new licenses for sake production are not being granted, so I believe they reluctantly obtained licenses for "other brewed sake."

As a rule, new licenses for alcoholic beverages that use rice, such as sake, mirin, and shochu, are not issued.

Apparently, sake licenses are granted for export-only production that is not shipped domestically.

The reason for this rule is said to be concerns about a decrease in rice consumption.

It's baffling that they want to push the idea of eating bread instead of rice, implement rice acreage reduction policies, and then, contradictorily, prevent new sake licenses from being obtained because "eating rice will decrease."

Thanks to this, a new genre called craft sake has emerged, allowing for the creation of new products like fruit doburoku and expanding the possibilities for different types of alcoholic beverages, so perhaps it's for the best.