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What is the Umenishiki-style of Sake Brewing? Had some good beer, had some good
food. But now we just have to see Umenishiki's sake brewery (and try some sake,
of course). It wasn't in our initial schedule, but we headed back to the head office
to have a tour of the brewery. (There's no stopping us.)
 Unfortunately,
it is not the sake brewing season and operations were not running. But luckily, Mr.
Aoyagi, the production manager, was able to give us a complete tour of the facilities,
from the rice washer to the bottling line.
It's amazing how they harmoniously combine the latest equipment with 120-year old
tradition.
As a matter of fact, Umenishiki has aggressively promoted facility improvement and
automation of heavy, manual labor. In the process of turning up steamed rice, for
example, forklifts instead of shovels are now used so that human labor can be put
to use for other work. In the rice steaming process as well, introducing small stainless
steel steamers (koshiki) has made it possible to steam each variety of rice
to its ideal level, and has reduced the brewers' workload.
sake brewing demands not only well-sharpened senses but also long years of experience.
That's why it's essential to reduce labor wherever possible and use the brewers'
human senses for quality improvement.
unique style of reducing manual labor as much as possible to make the most of the
brewers' skills is Umenishiki's ideal of automated sake brewing.
The three large malted rice (koji) rooms were also very impressive. Producing
koji rice is the key to sake brewing, and at Umenishiki, whether for ginjo
or regular sake, all koji rice is handmade and follows the traditional method
of using shallow wooden trays. According to Umenishiki's policy, the difference in
the rank of sake should be determined only by the difference in rice quality and
amount of polishing (seimai). That's why they need three large koji
rooms.
It's also worth mentioning that the historical shuboshitsu (the room where
sake mash is made) built over 100 years ago becomes the unique stage of an annual
kura (brewery) performance.
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The ginjo sake brewery located
downstairs in the shuboshitsu.
Modern tanks and wooden flooring
create a unique atmosphere |
If you go beneath the flooring...
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A stainless steel koshiki with wheels. This and much of the
other equipment emphasize mobility.
The shuboshitsu, built in the beginning of the Meiji Era, has hosted annual kura
performances since 1983 (sponsored by the Ehime Shimbun Newspaper, supported
by Umenishiki Yamakawa)
A decorative roof tile of Umenishiki's brewery shows a figure of a sake-loving fairy
named Shojo, a no character. Shojo is said to have given a dutiful son of a sake
dealer a jar of sake that never ceased to flow
Mr. Aoyagi, production manager |
