Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture, is home to highly regarded sake producers. With a simple list of ingredients—nothing but quality water, rice, and kōji mold—the artisanal brewers create drinks that honor long years of tradition while also catering to modern tastes.
In this video you follow the sake brewers of Ishikawa on how they drive their master brew to perfection.
Good-tasting sake is based on three ingredients: fine-tasting water, quality rice, and the best kōji (mold culture). Ishikawa Prefecture have all of these.
Sake making starts with washing the rice. The water slowly infiltrate through the soil getting the ideal mineral mix for producing excellent-tasting sake. The washed rice is then steamed and placed in a chamber to make kome kōji, the rice-based mold culture. This breaks down the grain’s starch into sugar. The yeast culture changes this sugar into alcohol to make sake.
In the fermentation room, the steamed rice, kōji mold culture, water, and yeast culture are combined. The mixture is poured into large tanks with rounded bottoms, facilitating the circulation of the ingredients. Kanazawa’s Fukumitsuya brewery respects traditional processes while creating new sake offerings for different tastes.
Source: Kanazawa Sake Blends Tradition and Modernity – nippon.com
These Japanese Sake Breweries are worth knowing about:
Nanbu Bijin Sake Brewery
Sakuragao Sake Brewery
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