Welcome to Issue #122 of SIN.
World Sake Day is done for another year and now it’s the time where we enter a spell of radio silence as breweries get into gear, iron out the kinks, find their groove, smooth the edges, and all those other idiomatic expressions used to describe the beginning of the season.
However as we all know, this quiet phase is just the precursor to the excitement of shinshu and shiboritateseason. Although it feels like we just got started with hiyaoroshi, we’re already about to head into the next thing. It’s all just one big cycle of happenings in the sake world.
Will another year of extreme heat-affected rice mean a season of sub-par sake?
Unlikely, but the antici………………………………………..pation is exciting all the same.
And now for the news…
Shingin Milling Is Taking Shape
Hiroshima- More breweries are adopting shingin milling methods that are being actively promoted by milling machine magnate, Satake. The milling methods, which include henpei (developed by Satake) and genkei (developed elsewhere, but based on the same principles and very similar) are designed to maintain the original shape of rice grains when milled as opposed to milling grains into a spherical shape. It is reported that currently as many as 50 breweries have adopted one of these two methods, thereby increasing the number of sake made with shingin rice to around 130 different varieties.
Satake first released machines capable of shingin milling in 2018, and later branded the technology as shingin in 2021. Satake reported that initially the concept was difficult to market to breweries, as many brewers didn’t immediately grasp the merits of the milling methods. However, after breweries around Hiroshima such as Imada Shuzō Honten (Fukuchō) and others in the Kansai region began using the methods, more breweries started to show interest.
President of Aihara Shuzō (Ugono Tsuki), Shogo Aihara has described his brewery’s UGO sake as becoming clearer and fruitier since adopting shingin milling methods three years ago.
Sake made with rice using one of the two shingin methods have also been the recipients of a number of awards at various competitions, further improving the visibility and reputation of shingin. At the Japan Sake Awards in June, the first two awards in the Junmai division were shingin sake: Fukuchō Shinbashino Oyaji no Sake from Imada Shuzō Honten and Hakurakusei tokubetsu junmai from Niizawa Jōzōten.
The general manager of Satake, Nobuaki Niiyama, reports that more sake retailers are also showing interest in shingin sake, such as the popular sake store, Sake Place near JR Hiroshima Station, which recently sold out of 480 bottles of a limited release shingin sake. Niiyama says he hopes to spread the benefits of shingin methods to a wider audience as the new culture of Japanese sake.
Source - Chugoku NP
JG: Satake, the preeminent rice milling machine company in the Universe, has done an outstanding job of embracing the ginjo-specific sector of milling for sake rice. They were a little bit late to the game, with the much smaller Shin Nakano developing machines for henpei seimai and providing peripheral support to brewers. But Satake, the company that invented the damn things in the first place, has reasserted their presence and significance with their recent promotion of the shingin concept and methods. Of particular interest to me is that they kept a term for their own proprietary method and machines - genkei seimai - but then created a new one that was inclusive of the competition, but with both being together a significant development in sake production methods - shingin.
相原酒造（雨後の月、UGO) , 今田酒造本店（富久長 新橋の男達（おやじ）の酒）, 新澤醸造店 （伯楽星 特別純米）
A Sweet Anniversary
Nagano- In October of 2019 Tanakaya Shuzōten was one of a number of breweries in Nagano Prefecture heavily hit by Typhoon No.19. In the wake of the rains and winds, 70% of the brewery facilities were damaged as nearby riverbanks broke, flooding the region.
Many volunteers came from all over Japan to help clean up the damage, including the president’s son who resigned from his job to return and assist in the brewery’s recovery. After six months of rebuilding, the brewery recovered and was able to again ship its flagship sake, Mizuo.
Now, five years on, Tanakaya Shuzō’s recovery is all the more sweet as the brewery celebrates its 150th anniversary. As part of the celebrations the brewery recently invited national media and distributors to visit the brewery and see firsthand how production has soared back to pre-typhoon levels.
Source - FNN | Newsdig
JG: Mizuo has long been one of my favorite Nagano sake, with its slightly understated and subtle character being aligned with my preferences. As such, I am very happy to hear of not only their recovery but their subsequent thrive as well.
田中屋酒造店 （水尾）
The Hakutsuru Nishiki Report
Hyogo- Sake industry giant, Hakutsuru recently held its annual Hakutsuru Nishiki Summit online. The summit is a chance for brewers and farmers from across Japan that use Haktsuru's namesake proprietary rice, to convene and discuss the quality and performance of Hakutsuru Nishiki over the past year as well as exchange ideas and opinions on how to further increase brewing potential for the rice.
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