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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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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