Immersion in a family sake brewery in Shirakawa

Sometimes it doesn't take much to see how passionate someone can be about their job . When you meet Hiroo Oya, you immediately understand that the visit that will follow is going to be more than interesting. And not only because we are going to learn more about the making of sake . Also because we feel that Hiroo Oya, this Japanese man in his forties, likes to share his knowledge and thus, perpetuate the know-how he learned from his ancestors.

A skill he hopes to pass on to his son. “ At the moment he is still too young to understand everything, but I would like him to take over the factory after me. But if he wants to do something else, I'm not going to force him ”, explains the master of the place.

A FAMILY KNOW-HOW SINCE 1879

Because his ability to create, every year, 13,000 bottles of this rice beverage, he owes it to his parents. His parents who had also learned it from their parents over several generations. Indeed, Hiroo Oya's family has been making sake since 1879 in the city of Shirakawa, located in Fukushima prefecture.

Next to his shop with its neat wooden frontage is the sake factory, from which the annual 13,000 bottles come out. A production that requires both a demanding eye in the choice of vats, a trained palate to know if the maturation of the sake has come to an end, but also a drastic selection of the type of rice that will constitute this precious nectar.

“ I'm very careful about the type of rice I use in making my sake, ” Hiroo Oya enthusiastically explains. “ It comes from the outskirts of the city, where the climate, combined with the quality of the water, makes it a very tasty rice ”.

A COMPLEX PROCESS

When the rice is received, it is first polished, in order to remove the outer layer of the grains which contains a lot of fats, proteins and minerals. This allows the rice to have a finer taste. Once polished, the rice is washed to remove the bran. It is then left to soak before steaming , once it has absorbed 30% of its weight in water.

The rice then enters the fermentation phase, the one that lasts the longest, using yeast and ferments. The moromi , the product that remains at the end of fermentation, is then filtered to remove the last grains of rice and the yeast. A phase of sedimentation follows, before sterilization and the final stage of bottling . However, there is no question of savoring a sake immediately after bottling, it must be left to rest for 6 to 12 months so that the aroma is refined.

“ You have to check very regularly that everything is going well, make sure you put the right doses of yeast, don't let the fermentation take too long. Sake making is a very precise science ,” says Hiroo Oya, still smiling broadly.

To read: Choosing sake

WINTER SAKE

Produced exclusively in winter , it takes about a month from the reception of the rice to transform it into this alcohol particularly appreciated by the Japanese and which can be consumed both daily, or for special occasions.

Let's save the best for last: the sake produced by Hiroo Oya's family is called Toryu , which can be translated as “ dragon rising to the sky ”, poetic isn't it?

To go further: 10 amazing facts about sake