Kaetsu Sake Brewery Homare Kirin Bessen Dry 1.8L [J291]
新潟らしい淡麗辛口。すっきりした辛口で抜群のキレのある酒に仕上げました。新潟らしい淡麗辛口。すっきりした辛口で抜群のキレ。
A brewery founded in 1896
Kaetsu Sake Brewery Co., Ltd. was founded in 1888, with the sake name ``Kirin'' after the name of Kirin Castle, which was built in Tsugawa, Aga-machi, Higashikanbara-gun, Niigata Prefecture in the Kencho 4th year of the Kamakura period. In setting the quality of sake, the late chairman Heihachi Sato and current president Shunichi Sato (Doctor of Agriculture) have two generations of experience as National Taxation Bureau liquor appraisers, and their brewing techniques are utilized in every aspect of sake brewing. . Among the many breweries in the prefecture, as well as across the country, there is no other brewery that has served as a liquor appraiser and provided guidance on sake brewing for two generations, making it unique in its technical ability and continuing to produce orthodox sake that is suited to the times. This is Kura.
Moderate humidity provided by nature
This area is located at the confluence of the large Agano River (a warm stream) that flows from Oze and Lake Inawashiro and the clear Tokonami River (a clear stream) that originates from Mt. The climate helps the growth of microorganisms and the fermentation of moromi, creating the perfect environment (humidity) for sake brewing.
pure water that never dries up
Along with the great Agano River and the clear Tokonami River, Shimizu has long been a wonderful natural resource of Oku-Aga, a historical resource, a living resource, and a cultural resource. This rich stream of water does not dry up even in the height of summer, and continues to provide us with "pure water", which is one of the essentials for sake brewing.
Until now and from now on
Up until now, we have operated a sake brewing business that takes advantage of the beautiful scenery and rich nature. As a local company, it is an important mission for us to protect this natural environment and pass it on to the next generation, so we are actively working on local empty bottle recycling activities and local environmental conservation. Tsugawa is a famous brewing area for Sanshisuimei... We will continue to produce the famous sake "Kirin" in this natural environment.
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Rice polishing [polishing rice] - The surface of brown rice, which contains many components that impair the quality of sake, such as proteins and lipids contained in the outer layer of raw rice, is scraped off, leaving only the center portion containing a lot of starch, which is necessary for sake brewing. Normally, if brown rice is 100%, then the rice used for sake brewing is polished and requires a lot of time and effort so that it is 70% to 65% for ordinary sake and 60% to 35% for medium to high-grade sake. We carefully polish it in-house. In this way, sake brewing begins while adhering to Kaetsu Sake Brewery's commitment to sake brewing, ``Sake brewing begins with polishing the rice.''
- Rice washing/soaking [Rice washing/hydration]
- It washes away the sugar adhering to the surface of polished rice and replenishes the moisture lost during polishing. At Kaetsu Sake Brewery, all white rice with a polishing ratio of 50% or less (for medium and high-end sake) is washed by hand by the brewer in stainless steel baskets. While occasionally using a stopwatch to supply water in seconds, the water content is adjusted to the optimum moisture content for steaming the white rice in the next step.
- Steamed rice [Steaming rice]
- When steamed, white rice should preferably be hard on the outside and soft on the inside, without being sticky. At Kaetsu Sake Brewery, even in this steaming process, the brewer places a handful of steamed white rice on a board and kneads it like a rice cake with both hands, checking with his eyes and skin that the rice is steamed before moving on to the next step. move on
- Preparation/fermentation [Parallel multiple fermentation]
- Put steamed rice, koji, mash and water into a tank and stir to make moromi. Under strict temperature control, sake is prepared in a three-step process, divided into three stages: zojikomi and middle-shikomi-dome. Alcohol is produced using a fermentation method unique to sake brewing called parallel multiple fermentation, in which the rice starch melted in the moromi is converted into sugar by the saccharifying enzyme koji, and this sugar is converted into alcohol by yeast bacteria. Fermentation continues. At Kaetsu Sake Brewery, we still adhere to the traditional manufacturing method of ``kanjikomi'' during the extremely cold season, and brew sake through low-temperature fermentation while strictly controlling the temperature of the moromi.
- Upper tank (pressing) [Birth of new sake]
- After fermentation, the moromi is separated into sake and sake lees through a process called jotan (pressing). At Kaetsu Sake Brewery, we use the most suitable method for each type of sake, using a pressing machine for regular sake, row pressing for intermediate sake, and bag removal for high-quality sake.The moromi is pressed to create new sake.
- Filtration, burning, storage [suspension of activities]
- After removing the yeast and other residues contained in the new sake by filtration, it is stored in the brewery after being heated momentarily to stop the activity of microorganisms and enzymes. Namazake is stored in refrigeration without being pasteurized.