[Saga sake brewery/Kimine Tsuru] Preliminary survey released for online sake brewery event!

It all started in the early Meiji period when local volunteers got together and started brewing sake. Later, in 1920, Hatsuzo Komori took over and incorporated the company, which became Kiyama Shoten, a limited liability company. We celebrated our 100th anniversary on September 24th last year (2020).

Kiyama Town is located at the easternmost tip of Saga Prefecture, on the border with Fukuoka Prefecture. The location is very convenient for transportation, less than 30 minutes from Hakata Station on the JR Kagoshima Main Line, and 5 minutes by car from Tosu Junction on the Kyushu Expressway.
However, it is surrounded by mountains and is rich in nature. We use underground water from the eastern end of the Sefuri mountain range as brewing water, and it is a good environment for sake brewing even in Kyushu, which is cold and warm.

It goes without saying that we were born into a brewery, but in the past, in many cases, the manager and the sake brewer were two different people, and up until the 2013 sake brewing year, our company employed a sake brewer.
However, in order to adapt to the times, I believed that there was no future for the company unless the business owner brewed sake himself and listened directly to what customers had to say and incorporated it into the products, so I became a brewer.

The raw material for sake is rice.
Even raw rice of the same variety has different characteristics depending on the place and year of production.
Under such circumstances, I think H29BY was a successful year for me.
The ``Junmai Ginjo Yamada Nishiki'' and ``Junmai Daiginjo Yamada Nishiki'' that we made at that time left a lasting impression on me.
After preparation and analysis, we check the ingredients of the liquor every day, and to be honest, we were able to finish it in an ideal condition with almost no work required.
It was also a year when the rice was exceptionally good, and I feel like the rice, the brewery, and the makers were a perfect match.
I remember that the finished sake was a very good sake with a soft flavor and a clear aftertaste, which was one of my ideals.

Nowadays, sake breweries everywhere are working hard to produce delicious sake. We work hard every day not to give in to everyone's feelings, starting with washing the rice, preparing it in small tanks, and carefully managing storage. Also, the culture of sake is traditional. However, we do not just protect them, but also strive to evolve every day by constantly incorporating new technologies and ideas.