A Day in the Sake Capital of the World
A visit to the sake breweries of Kobe Japan
On a warm Friday morning in November, a group from Tippsy Sake met at Sumiyoshi Station to visit the famed Nada district of Kobe where 30% of the world’s sake is brewed.
Sake is a brewed alcoholic beverage (not distilled), similar to wine, with an alcohol content of around 15%. It is made from 4 ingredients: rice, water, yeast, and koji mold. The koji breaks down the carbohydrates in the rice into sugar which is then fermented by the yeast into alcohol.
The process of brewing sake, then, is both simple and complicated. Converting rice to alcohol using koji and yeast is simple. Getting it to do so consistently while generating pleasant flavors without generating unpleasant flavors takes precision in every part of the process.
Small, craft breweries accomplish this precision with skilled workers who monitor every step closely, producing sake by hand. Large breweries accomplish this same precision using sensors and automation on an industrial scale. Both small and large breweries stand side-by-side in one unique place: Kobe’s famed Nada district.
Blessed with clean, mineral-rich miyamizu water running down the Rokkō Mountains to a deep reservoir, Yamada Nishiki sake rice grown in the lush farmlands of Hyōgo…
