This is how sake is made in Japan
Whoa
It is snowing. It is so cold out here
So today I am in Nagaoka and the great
people at Asahi Shuzo have let me go
into their factory and show you how sake is made
But before I start like always
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it's so cold it is so cold
all right let me take you on this factory tour
so here I am in the middle of a
snowstorm bringing you another made in
Japan video where I uncover how things
are truly crafted in Japan
I really don't know how I get myself into these places
But I do know that I love taking
you along for the ride
Today we're at Asahi Shuzo
and if you're any kind of sake lover
you already know about their
world famous signature Japanese sake brand
Kubota
Dating back to 1830
at Nagaoka Japan
where they were originally founded as Kubotaya
now with a total of
170 skillful workers crafting the
highest quality Japanese sake each day
who've all mastered the secret of
Japanese sake brewing techniques
passed down from generation to generation
wow this place is so massive
There's just so much stuff going on
let's see what's going on over there
The entire sake factory
sits on about 57,000 square meters of Niigata land
consisting of five separate buildings all working together
to make it all happen
so this is where it all starts
the rice gets brought into the factory
[Music]
after all rice is the main ingredient for making sake
They use 3600 tons of rice a year from fall to spring
with deliveries 2-3 times a week
In fact the Niigata area produces the highest rice
crop yield in all of japan
[Music]
it's commonly said by Japanese sake
producers that quality of sake can never
exceed the quality of its ingredients
which is probably why the factory uses
only rice specifically grown and
cultivated for their sake with its own
signature fragrance and taste
[Music]
so I've made it to the entrance
it's time to change
let's do this
looking good let's go
now that I'm inside let's see if we can
go around and find out what everyone is doing
So this is the very first step of the
sake brewing process called Seimai
The raw brown rice must be polished before it
can be used to create sake as the outer
surface is made up of mostly fat and protein
which creates an odd sake flavor
and gets in the way of the intended
clear and sharp sake taste
apparently some of their sake requires the rice to
be so finely polished that less than 50%
of each grain is used
compared to the rice people normally eat which is 90%
The entire process is so
delicate it takes the machine two to
three days to ensure that the grain
doesn't crack during the polishing
once polished the rice gets inspected
by hand to ensure that it passes the
factory strict shape and quality standards
Just this attention to detail
alone is why it's worth including this
in my Made In Japan series
but believe me we haven't even begun to scratch the
surface on how this all goes down
next the polish rice is moved to the
Sakagura, main brewing building
where all the magic happens
the bags of rice arrive in this room
where they're opened and the rice is
pumped directly to the fourth floor to
be washed and soaked
and this is where all the rice gets washed
even after the polishing the
brand still remains on the rice
which if used as is
would add a strange flavor to the sake
so it's critical for it to be washed off
[Music]
oh look there's some stairs right here
let's go see what's up here
After it's washed it then goes into a soaking process
damn it's starting to sound like
the rice is at a day spa
let me continue as this part is pretty important
timing is everything
factors such as the type of rice its condition
that year the polish ratio weather
humidity all of it must be taken into
account when it comes to how long the
rice is washed and soaked just to give
you an idea on how precise the timing is here
rice used to make the popular
kabota manju is watch for 17 seconds and
soak for 10 minutes
[Music]
alright some of you watching with kids
fair warning
the following footage is
about to get steamy
counting down
three two and one
okay after draining all
night the rice is slowly conveyored
through this massive steamer
unlike rice eaten at home which is cooked in water
this rice is spread onto a conveyor and
steamed continuously in extremely high
heat for 40 minutes during the peak
season the factory steams up to 3 tons of rice every day
but once steamed it's
quickly cooled down and prepared for the
next step
Excuse me, What are you doing ?
So, What the key to steaming rice ?
How long did it take you to master this process ?
uh okay out of curiosity do you think
all the steam helps moisturize your skin ?
at this point the inside core of the rice
is soft enough that it mashed
together it creates a mochi rice cake consistency
[Music]
and we're off to the races as the rice
gets air pumped through a 40 meter pipe
to the next location while midway
through the process koji seeds are added
which is a specific Japanese mold used
for culinary fermentation
Finally the rice ends up on a flat circular bed in
the kojimuto a special room set to
exactly 30 degrees celsius 86 degrees fahrenheit
to grow the koji mold
This is amazing
The steamed rice is about to get covered now
Naturally the rice is covered up to increase the koji mold propagation
but a skillful brewer must still open it up and inspect
the condition of the rice by touching it regularly
all the while making adjustments over the next two days
Now that the koji mold has had time to grow
The rice koji is moved to another
large vat apparently the simple task of
mixing the rice koji generates too much
heat so the rice is moved to a
specialized vat with a built-in fan at
the bottom to cool down the rice koji
when the rice koji is set back on the
kojimura it's important to level the
pile as a consistent thickness also
helps minimize the surface helping to
keep the moisture and heat inside
after another two nights the rice koji
maturing process is finally complete and
by now natural enzymes have formed to
build a sake's rich flavor and depth
This is why koji is such an essential
ingredient in the process any skilled
sake brewer will tell you that high
quality sage can't be made without high
quality koji
[Music]
Oh Mother of sake what do we have here ?
yes we finally made it to the shubo area
where the brewers get brewing
here water and yeast are added to the matured rice
koji to create a sake mash which kicks
off the alcohol production you know the
very thing that puts a smile on all our faces
Well at least my face
[Music]
oh and he's the Touji a.k.a Master Brewer
responsible for the entire sake
production in the warehouse
In fact the factory has two master brewers each one
responsible for their own warehouse and team
[Music]
back in the day sake brewing was very
much a seasonal side job mainly
for farmers and fishermen during their off-season
But there were also some sake brewer owners
They often contract hired their Touji and workers
who learn how to craft sake in specialized schools
These days larger sake brewers like Asahi Shuzo
have their own full-time Touji
But many smaller sake makers still follow
the traditional system
[Music]
Hi, Can I bother you for a sec ?
What are you doing ?
Does it like alcohol at this point ?
So, What the most important part ?
And what do you like most about all of this ?
You sound out of breath
Then they add more water steam rice and koji
three times over four days
The work itself is quite strenuous
But must be performed manually by skilled brewers
as machines wouldn't be able to notice
the slight changes in the condition of
the mash and therefore couldn't make the
necessary adjustments
after this the sake mash is left to ferment for about a month
To fully develop the sake's ultimate taste and aroma
during this time brewers continue to regularly
sample and analyze each tank and make
adjustments as needed
This is where the generations of brewing come into play
as the factory draws on its decades of
experience as well as their own historical
data to precisely craft a consistent
sake each and every time
only an experienced and skilled worker could
recognize the subtle changes in the
condition of the rice and then make the
required adjustments ultimately creating
the perfect finish
Man !! Just walking around this factory I get so lost
oh whoa what's that ?
The white crumbly sheets being scraped
off is called sake kasu aka sake lease
but basically it's a rice and yeast that
remains after the sake mash has been
pressed to remove the sake
although not used for sake itself it's nutritious and
used for other purposes such as eating
cooking pickling even some beauty products
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alright let's continue on with this tour
Are we going on a tour or what ?
let's see what's behind this door now
[Music]
so after the sake is pressed it's mixed
with a fine charcoal powder to absorb
unwanted elements such that it would
give sake a golden color or even
bacteria that can make it unstable
The dark liquid though is passed through a
heated filtration machine which removes
the charcoal and out comes that clean
and clear good good
Oh I guess this is where they keep all the tanks
and this is where all that sake ends up
well, at least for now
Its one of the three storage buildings
helping house 400 tanks in total
The sake is stored here from three months to
three years until it's perfectly matured
Let's go move on to this building over here
[Music]
and you'd think that this would be the
last part of the process before it's bottled
but it's not
the sake is pumped
out of the tanks through a 40 meter pipe
to this area where it can be blended
into specific sake brands with varying
taste profiles while also being tested
for consistency and quality before it's
bottled and distributed and as expected
all performed by one of its master brewers
What's going on here ?
so what separates good sake from great sake ?
Hmm Okay how long have you been working here ?
Do you ever get drunk?
Okay. So what's your favourite sake ?
Other than Kubota?
Thank You !
Oh Okay so this is where the bottling process takes place
[Music]
It's been a long road but we're finally here
where they put the magic in the bottle
I've been so waiting for this one
[Music]
During busy times of the year
up to 63,500 liters of sake is bottled in one day
and this machine washes up to 1000 bottles at one time
while also inspecting the tops and bottoms of the bottles
[Music]
afterwards the bottles are conveyored to a
specialized room where the bottles are
filled with sake
These machines can fill up to 4000 bottles in one hour
That's a whole lot of love in a short amount of time
makes me smile for some reason
after the bottles leave the filling room
all are inspected manually one by one
let's talk to the lady doing the inspection over there
Hi, Can i ask what you're doing
so are there any secrets that you can share with me?
Oh, Do you always keep that in your pocket?
Do you find a lot of defects ?
Now all the bottles are labeled by their specific brand
and here they use handmade Japanese washi paper
for their Kubota Manju and Senjyu labels
since each label has its own slightly unique thickness and size
The workers must always be ready to make adjustments
Hey ! Can I just sit back for a sec
and enjoy the bottles going down the line ?
[Music]
Finally the bottles are packaged and
boxed by automated machines
The entire bottling and packaging process taking
about 40-50 minutes
[Music]
and from here the sake bottles get
shipped all throughout Japan and even
the world for everyone to enjoy
well maybe not everyone
you obviously gotta be of age
So I don't know about you guys
but this whole sake tour is getting me a little
bit thirsty maybe I can find a place to drink
Oh and here we are at Kubota Sake Bar in Shibuya
so this bar is located in the basement of Shibuya Parco in Tokyo
Here you can enjoy their sake
and if you fancy a taste testing they have that here too
feels good to be out from the cold and
look at here got a perfect glass of Kubota sake
Let me just take a drink
That is how sake is made in Japan
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