The Milling Wars are Officially Over

The Verdict: More Milling is NOT unequivocally better!

So, it’s official. The milling wars are over.
In the past few decades, we have seen increasingly frequent appearances on the market of sake made with rice that has been milled further and further. Well, they did it: this has been taken to the absolute extreme degree to which it could be taken. 

Readers certainly recall that rice is milled to remove fat and protein, and that the more this is done, the cleaner and more refined the final sake can be. And readers surely also recall that the term referring to the milling rate is the seimai-buai, and that the number expressed refers to the percentage of rice that remains after milling. And lastly, surely we all recall that the various grades of rice are most visibly defined by that seimai-buai; the more the rice is milled, i.e. the lower the number, the higher the technical grade. 

Legally, a brewer has no need to go beyond 50 percent. That will qualify the resulting sake as a daiginjo, and there is nothing higher, at least in terms of legal classifications. But as milling technology and brewing technology advanced in the 1970s and beyond, naturally enough a few brewers wanted to push that envelope for any one of several reasons. 

Why would they want to do that? Because – make no mistake – more milling does make a difference, but only to a point. The more one mills before brewing the more elegant and refined the resulting sake will be. 

Elegance and refinement are collectively only one figure of merit in sake. There are many others. Breadth. Depth. Richness. Intensity. Resonance. Weight. They are all valid, loveable aspects of sake, and more milling means less of these. But more milling does mean more challenges, and that has its appeal. 

And so push that envelope they did, down to about 35 percent. Soon, that number became the de facto maximum, the line beyond which even the most maniacal brewers felt no gain in going beyond. Until they did. 

Eventually one brewer milled to 27, but was largely ignored. Then one took it to 25, with pretty much the same non-result. Then along came Dassai, who milled the rice to make their iconic “Niwari-sanbu” product (a fancy way of saying 23 percent). From the start, Dassai did what Dassai does well, and daiginjo made with highly milled rice became much more familiar to us all. 

In time, of course, some enterprising kuramoto had to push beyond that as well. Soon we

saw a seimai-buai of 18%, then 17%, then 8% and even 7%. (Not sure where those numbers, as targets, actually came from.) There are a couple of brewers that put effort into these things, like Tatenokawa Shuzo of Yamagata (brewers of Tatenokawa) and Niizawa Shuzoten of Miyagi (brewers of Atago no Matsu), but there are others that dabble in it as well. 

And then it happened: as reported in the October 2017 issue of this newsletter, the aforementioned Tatenokawa made a sake with a one percent seimai-buai! The product name is Tatenokawa Komyo, and in order to achieve the one percent, the milling machines ran for two and a half months straight! In the end, the rice was milled for a total of about 1800 hours. For a daiginjo milled to 35 percent, this usually takes about 72 to 100 hours. 

“OK, well, that’s been done. Let’s move on,” is what most would be content to think. But, of course, it did not stop there. 

In the legal definition of the number used to express the seimai-buai, the final number is rounded down. So, for example, a 35 percent seimai-buai could really actually be as much as a 35.9 percent seimai-buai. Astute readers will have already seen where this is going: if a brewer can mill rice down to, say, 0.9%, then that leaves the door open to create a sake made with rice that has a zero percent seimai-buai. 

Yep; it exists: a sake made with rice milled down to zero percent of its original size! 
The sake is made by the also aforementioned Niizawa Shuzo in Miyagi, and it redefines “extreme” in sake brewing. The rice was milled for 5297 hours and 34 minutes (that accuracy in reporting is very Japanese!), which is 220 days. That is over seven months of straight milling – compared to three days for most daiginjo, and maybe eight hours for your average junmai-shu. Geezus. The product is called Reikyo, and in English Absolute Zero, and retails for 350,000 yen, or about US$3500 a bottle. 

In truth, there is no technical merit to milling down that far. There; I said it. Most would say going beyond 40 percent has no benefit, since by then your have removed all the fat and protein you can, and you begin to eat into the shimpaku, the starch packet in the center. That is porous and fragile, and the rice will break up if you go that far. Also, as you begin to mill away the stuff that would actually give the sake flavor, then things have to be changed in the brewing process to ensure there is actually some flavor in the final sake. 

And this, of course, can be done. And it is done, when making sake like that. But some would ask, why? What’s the point? Why not just mill less to begin with? 

And the answer is, not surprisingly, marketing. Stories sell, and extreme stories sell extremely. It’s something to talk about; it’s newsworthy. People will remember your brand. In that sense, it is brilliant. As the folks at Dassai have said, “we make the 23 to sell more of the 50.” And certainly, it works. 

So yes, milling to such extremes as eight, seven, one and zero will demonstrate technical prowess. It will express attention to detail in its extreme. It will state clearly that yes, we can; yes we dare. And yes, we did. But will the sake itself be unequivocally better because of it? No; it will not. 

And, at zero percent seimai-buai, you cannot be outdone. Or so you’d think. But never say

never in the sake world. The only thing that I can imagine that can happen beyond this would need to incorporate quantum mechanics; like, the rice simultaneously exists and does not exist at a given point in time and space. Don’t put it past the sake world to achieve that! But until the main milling machine companies like Satake or Shin Nakano figure that one out, we are good. 

So the seimai-buai war is semi-officially over. Postwar rebuilding will take time, but let us hope that rebuilding includes provisions for recognizing how much more less milling can be. More on that next month. 

Please be sure to check out this newsletter at least one more time, next month, where I will address the other side of this issue. I will actually diss the seimai-buai, suggest we are all better paying less attention to more milling and showing what we miss out on by jumping on the highly-milled rice bandwagon. A short spoiler would be, there is so much better sake to drink out there! 

                                                  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

National New Sake Tasting Competition Results

The Last of the Heisei Era

The last Zenkoku Shinshu Kampyoukai (Officially, the Japan Sake Awards, more descriptively National New Sake Competition) of the Heisei Era was held last month, and the results were recently announced.


Lamentably, the awareness of this historically, culturally and technically significant event on the part of the consuming public, the average Taro on the street, is dismally low. Like, next to nothing. That really is a shame as it is such a cool, important event within the industry.

I have written about this contest each year for perhaps 20 years, often at length with peripheral topics like rule changes, politics, and the actual mechanics of the tasting. All of those can be found in the newsletter archives, which are necessarily split up across several locations, the list of which has been collated and presented at the end of this newsletter. If you are interested in more detail on the event, by all means please check that out here. 

This year was the 107th running of the contest, which has run each year but two over the last 109 years. Each brewery is permitted only one submission per brewing license. (So those placed with more than one brewery can submit one per brewery.) Of approximately 1200 active sake breweries in the country, 857 submitted a sake.

Almost always it is a daiginjo, although junmai daiginjo are becoming more common. Almost always it has been brewed especially for this contest, i.e. not a sake on the market. And almost always it is fairly intense in flavors, aromas, with exquisite balance. Think “daiginjo on steroids.”

Of those 857 entries, 416 received an award, and of those 237 were gold medals (the remaining179 being the equivalent of silver, although different nomenclature is used).

There were several notable accomplishments this year. Takashimizu (Goshono Brewery)

of Akita and Koganezawa of Miyagi upped there industry-leading record to 16 consecutive gold medals in a row. Considering that there are breweries that have never won a single gold medal at all over their entire history, and that winning consecutively is a fairly big accomplishment, that many in a row is quite amazing. Furthermore, the brewery making Urakasumi sake in Miyagi extended their industry leading total to 38, although not consecutively of course.

And, of even further significance, Fukushima Prefecture won more gold medals than any other prefecture for an unprecedented seventh year in a row! In truth, this needs to be conveyed together with the fact that there a lot of producers in Fukushima, third in number behind Niigata and Nagano. So that helps.

For example, Akita prefecture has about half the number of kura that Fukushima has, and scored enough golds to have the highest ratio of golds to submissions. That, too, is really significant; perhaps even more so. I'm just sayin'. 

But still, they have this contest dialed in up there in Fukushima, and the quality of their contest sake drips down (no pun intended!) to raise the overall level of their sake on the market.

Fukushima sake has the utmost respect of the industry overall, and let’s hope this spreads even more to the sake-loving contingent all across Japan.

Congratulations to all award winners! The organization behind the competition, the National Research Institute of Brewing, publishes the results in both Japanese and, in recent years, English. You can see the results here, in Japanese. And a scant few days ago the NRIB also published the results from there English-language website and those results are here. 

But wait, there’s more! On Saturday, June 15th, should you be in Tokyo, you can attend the 13th annual Sake Fair 2019, where more sake will be gathered in one spot and available for tasting than any other place on earth. That alone is saying something!

However, there is also a room set up at this even in which sit all 416 award winners from the National New Sake Tasting Competition – and you can taste these to your heart’s content. But with sake and then some from all over Japan awaiting you as well, it will be hard to choose just how to spend your precious sake sipping time. I stress out each year with the sheer possibilities.

Learn more here, and by all means spend the day there if you are in Tokyo on that day.

                                                  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sake Industry News

Welcome to a relatively new section in the monthly Sake World newsletter: Sake Industry News. I will here try to provide a snapshot of recent news in the sake industry. While some nuggets of information may be only headlines, others may include a descriptive or explanatory line or two. Note, most links lead to articles in Japanese.

By all means, let me know if you have any feedback about format and/or content! Send any comments to johngauntner@sake-world.com – and thanks in advance.

Gekkeikan releases sake made with 100-year old yeast, former Kyokai #2.
Gekkeikan of Kyoto, currently the third largest producer but arguably the most significant producer over the last century, has released a product called “Denshou Gekkeikan 100-Year Old Yeast, Junmai Ginjo.” It is reported as being more suitable as dessert, with sour-ish aromas of apple and pineapple.

What is interesting is that the yeast used was isolated by the government from within the Gekkeikan brewery in 1921, and was erstwhile distributed throughout the industry as Yeast #2, by the Nihon Jozo Kyoukai (so, therefore referred to as Kyoukai #2). Known in English as the Brewing Society of Japan, this organization is responsible for distributing most of the yeast in the industry. (Think #7, #9, #14, #18-01.) It was used widely from 1917 to 1939 but was fickle and not so robust during fermentation, so it was replaced with yeast strains that were better for the more prevalent large scale production methods.

https://www.kyoto-np.co.jp/economy/article/20190422000097

Sugidama Speaker – now, one can be yours!

Ever see those “cedar balls” hanging outside of sake breweries and sake drinking establishments? While their original significance was to let the locals know that the year’s first sake had been pressed, these days the iconic spheres are more of an indication that “sake can be enjoyed herein!” They are known as Sugidama or Sakabayashi.

A company called Kinmirai Gakki has begun selling sugidama fitted with speakers. The connection is by Bluetooth, so there will be no visible wires to muck up your otherwise traditional sake experience of listening to music.

The unit is comprised of the sugidama cedar ball, a small roof over it, and a rope. Note, while it smells like cedar and looks like cedar, the wood is actually called sugi, known in the scientific world as cryptomeria. (But I will call it cedar here!) And like their ubiquitous dangling counterparts in Japan, they will turn from green to brown as time passes. This was traditionally an indication that the recently-pressed sake was mature enough to enjoy.

Just gotta have it? One can be yours for the sum of JPY 21,600. It is not clear if they are able to ship overseas, but you can check it out for yourself at the link (in Japanese) below.
https://nlab.itmedia.co.jp/nl/articles/1904/04/news121.html

Kagawa Prefecture Down to Five Sake Breweries

Kagawa Prefecture on the island of Shikoku has the fewest number of sake breweries of any prefectures in Japan other than Kagoshima (no sake breweries per se, but TONS of potato shochu distilleries, one of which make a bit of sake) and tropical Okinawa (no sake breweries per se, but 40-odd awamori distilleries, one of which make a bit of sake).

There used to be many more but when a huge bridge was constructed between the main island of Honshu and Shikoku island, it allowed all the very inexpensive sake of the main brewers in (mostly) Nada to come pouring in, quickly putting out of business many of the indigenous brewers. Note, though, that the six… er… five remaining breweries are all healthy, and mostly make distinctive sake at a seemingly sustainable scale of operations.

But, as was alluded to in the last line, one more went under. The Morikuni Brewery, located on a small island just off the coast of Kagawa called Shodojima, declared bankruptcy in April. In truth, it was a new brewery, a venture begun in 2005 with a somewhat unique business model that included targeting hotels and retail shops.

While it seems to me that the rate of sake breweries going under has slowed, we still lose a few almost every year. And the loss of Morikuni leave Kagawa Prefecture with just five breweries: Kawatsuru, Ayagiku, Gaijin, Kinryo and Yushin.

http://mainichi.jp/articles/20190420/ddl/k37/020/422000c

Which Prefecture Drinks the Most Sake?

Interested in these kinds of demographics about Japan?

According to a report by the Tokyo Tax Bureau, the top five sake consuming prefectures are Tokyo, Osaka, Kanagawa, Aichi and Saitama. These are also the top most populous prefectures, so not surprise there. But the top five consuming prefectures per capita are: Tokyo, Kochi, Miyazaki, Akita and Aomori. The people of Kochi spend more money on sake than those of any other prefecture. Those familiar with the geography of Japan and the reputations of the various regions will hardly be surprised with these results!

https://news.yahoo.co.jp/byline/iderumi/20190419-00122915/

   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

                  Sake Professional Course in San Francisco                                     September 25 ~ 27, 2019 

From Wednesday, September 25 through Friday, September 27, I will hold the 33rd stateside running of the Sake Professional Course at a private venue called The Grael, located at 1458 San Bruno Avenue, in in the historic Mission District in San Francisco, California. The content of this intensive sake course will be identical to that of the Sake Professional Course held each January in Japan, with the exception of visiting sake breweries. The course is recognized by the Sake Education Council, and those that complete it will be qualified to take the exam for Certified Sake Specialist, which will be offered on the evening of the last day of the course.

You can learn more about the course here, see the daily syllabus here,and download a pdf here. If you are interested in being in the mailing list for direct course announcements, please send me an email to that purport.  

Also, the day after the course ends, Saturday, September 28, will be the True Sake Sake Day event. Attendees of this course will receive a discount on the admission price to the event, and should definitely stick around and apply your newly-acquired knowledge and tasting experience at the biggest sake event of the year in San Francisco!

Testimonials from past graduates can be perused here as well.  

   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 All the Sake World Newsletters ever written: 

Over 20 years of writing sake newsletters, much of the online world has changed. As such, unavoidably, the archives are scattered over several locations. Should you want to scour older newsletters for topics that of interest, you can do that across the three URLs below, found in one of the several manifestations of my website. 

Number 1 to 112 are here: http://sake-world.com/old/html/sw-archives.html 

Number 113 to 185 can be read here http://archive.benchmarkemail.com/Sake-World--Inc-- 

Number 186 to the most recent newsletters can be read here, not in their original format but rather as individual blog posts, in the archives of the Sake World blog: http://sake-world.com/blog/

About This Newsletter
I hope you have found the above information helpful and entertaining. For more information about all things sake, please check out www.sake-world.com. Until next month, warm regards, and enjoy your sake.
Questions and comments should be directed to John Gauntner, at this

email address.
All material Copyright, John Gauntner & Sake World Inc.
Regards,
John Gauntner
Sake World, Inc.