"The best sake" gathers National New Sake Competition May 10 at 5:19

The National New Sake Appraisal Contest is an annual nationwide contest in which sake breweries from all over the country put their prestige on the line and exhibit Japan sake that brings together the best technologies.

The results will be announced on the 1th of this month.

Whether you like Japan sake or not, reporters from "Japan Sake Kingdom" wanted you to take this opportunity to learn about the deep world of alcohol.
(Fukushima Broadcasting Station Reporter: Ao Aibara, Yuma Shio)

Speaking of the "Japan Sake Kingdom"?

Those who answered "Fukushima Prefecture" to this question must be quite familiar with sake Japan.

The top three Japan sake producers in fiscal 2021 are Hyogo Prefecture (about 3%), Kyoto Prefecture (about 29%), and Niigata Prefecture (about 16%), and these three prefectures alone account for more than half of the national production.

On the other hand, Fukushima Prefecture ranks 9th (about 3%).

Still, the reason why it calls itself the "Kingdom of Japan Sake" is that it is the only Japan nationwide sake competition with the longest history, and it has achieved overwhelming results in recent years.

This year marks the 111th time that the National Institute of Brewing and Brewing (Hiroshima Prefecture) has held a national new sake competition to improve the manufacturing technology and quality of Japan sake.

Since it is possible to quickly know the trend of the quality of sake that year, it attracts the attention of industry insiders and Japan sake fans nationwide, and since it affects sales, each brewery exhibits the best sake with prestige.

Among ginjo sake with a rice polishing ratio of 60% or less, "undiluted sake" that has not been adjusted by adding water and adjusting the alcohol content can be exhibited, and the acidity index "acidity" is 0.8 or higher.

Judging is conducted in two stages, narrowed down to about half in the "pre-trial" in April, and then the final "final judgment" is held after the long holiday in May, and the "Gold Award" given to the particularly outstanding sake is decided.

About 2 sake items selected from 4~5 exhibited sake will win the gold prize.

This is the number of gold awards won by prefecture in the past 20 years, for which detailed records are kept.

In the past, Niigata Prefecture and Yamagata Prefecture reigned at the top, but Fukushima Prefecture has achieved nine consecutive Japan since 2013, when the final screening was canceled due to the influence of the new coronavirus, until last year.

It's just that there are so many sake breweries, so there are a lot of gold awards.

If you think so, please take a look at this data.

Although the number of entries by prefecture was announced at one time, when the "Gold Award Winning Rate" was calculated, Fukushima Prefecture ranked second in Japan after Miyagi Prefecture on average.

It was the top in 2 (2012.57%) and 9 (2013.70%).

Fukushima Prefecture is home to many sake breweries and has high technical capabilities, making it truly the "Kingdom of Japan Sake."

"Special sake" gathered from all over the country

The preparation of sake exhibited at the National New Sake Competition begins around the beginning of the year, when the cold becomes more severe, after the regular sake preparation is completed.

Each sake brewery works backwards from the deadline of late March, paying close attention to each process such as selecting rice as a raw material, processing, making koji, and moromi management, and pouring all the techniques they have into aiming for the best sake.

This is a type of "bag hanging" that affects the taste of sake.

Pour the moromi into a cotton bag, do not apply extra force, and wait for the sake to fall naturally under the weight.

It is an ancient luxury method that does not rely on machines and takes time to bring out the original taste of sake without any unpleasant taste.

Some of the sake breweries exhibit this work, which is usually impossible because it takes a lot of time, but is specially done once a year only when making sake exhibited at the National New Sake Competition.

Why are sake breweries in Fukushima Prefecture so strong?

The secret lies in the "team battle".

The once inconspicuous sake brewery in Fukushima began to focus on high-end sake brewing at the Sake Academy, which is operated by the Prefectural Sake Brewers Association.

This vocational training school, which allows young employees of sake breweries to learn knowledge and techniques of sake brewing beyond the boundaries of the company for three years, was established in 3 and has sent out about 1992 graduates so far.

Today, two-thirds of the prefecture's 300 or so sake breweries are academy graduates.

Based on the foundation created in this way, the momentum was further accelerated by the "High Quality Sake Research Group" launched by volunteers.

It is commonly known as the "Kintorikai", literally a meeting to win the gold prize at the National New Sake Competition.

We have shared the know-how of ginjo sake brewing, which is also a trade secret, with each other without hiding it, and have pursued a high level of sake brewing while working hard together.

Experience and intuition, science and data

Supporting the long-term efforts of sake breweries in Fukushima to become the best in the Japan, there are people who are called the "god of Japan sake" among those involved as the protagonist behind the birth of Fukushima, the "kingdom of Japan sake."

As a prefectural technical employee, Kenji Suzuki has been consistently researching sake brewing since more than 30 years ago, when sake breweries in Fukushima began focusing on high-end sake brewing, and has served as a lecturer at the Fukushima Prefectural Sake Academy for many years.

By demonstrating numerically how to increase the probability of producing good sake, he has raised the level of sake brewery technology, which relied on Toji's experience and intuition, with science and data.

This manual has been created by Mr. Suzuki every year since 2002 and distributed to sake breweries in the prefecture.

It summarizes industry trends and technical points for aiming for the gold award, so to speak, it is a strategy guide for the National New Sake Competition.

Kenji Suzuki, Special Advisor to the Fukushima Sake Brewers Association,
said, "As the word "liquor store Manryu" suggests, Toji has a strong commitment and affection, and once a good sake is produced, he tends not to change it as a secret measure for his brewery. For this reason, the problem was that quality improvement would stop there, but some toji masters and young brewers accepted my manual relatively flexibly. Mainly young people, we have made better sake than I taught, and veteran toji have been inspired by this to make good sake and improve each other, saying, 'We can't afford to lose.'"

As a result of these steady efforts, Fukushima Prefecture won the first gold award at the National New Sake Competition Japan 2006 for the first time.

Catalyst for further leaps forward

Ironically, the reason why the sake brewing industry in Fukushima Prefecture attracted nationwide attention was that event.

The Great East Japan Earthquake and the world's worst nuclear accident have caused unprecedented suffering.

Everything produced in Fukushima Prefecture was shunned by consumers and could not be sold.

Therefore, the Fukushima Prefecture Sake Brewers Association focused on the number of gold awards won by prefecture at the National New Sake Competition, which had not attracted much attention to the general public until then, and launched a plan to announce it to the media.

Originally, the National New Sake Competition evaluates the quality of sake and the techniques of each brewery, and is not a "team competition" in which each region competes, but the idea was to use the Gold Prize brand to counter rumors of the nuclear accident.

The year after the earthquake, it came in second place, and in 2, it returned to the top Japan.

From there, it surpassed the five consecutive victories achieved by Hiroshima Prefecture in the Showa era, and won an angry nine consecutive titles.

Sake from Fukushima became a star of hope for the people of Fukushima, who were no longer proud of their hometown.

The Fukushima Prefecture team's rapid progress has been spared no praise by its rivals.

An executive of
the sake brewers' association of a "strong prefecture" said, "Frankly Japan, it is worthy of respect that each brewery is achieving excellent results despite the hardships caused by the nuclear power plant accident. The difference between first and second place is a huge difference, and to be in first place nine times in a row is nothing short of amazing."

Judging shrouded in mystery

What is the judging of the National New Sake Competition, where sake breweries all over the country are fighting for ups and downs?

In principle, the camera entered the site, which is closed to the public, with special permission.

At the "final decision" held from May 5 to decide the gold award, 10 judges, including appraisers from the National Tax Bureau and representatives of sake breweries, served as judges.

Each person sits at a prepared seat and holds the sake poured into a special cup with the brewery and brand hidden in his mouth to check the taste and aroma.

However, this is the end of the shoot.

To learn more, we asked Kenji Suzuki, who has served as a member of the jury four times, including this one.

This is the screening card used in the first stage of the "pre-trial".

After evaluating the quality and gorgeousness of the fragrance on a five-point scale, we check in detail what kind of scent you felt.

In addition to those related to "ginjo aroma" such as the aroma of fruits such as bananas and apples, there are also negative points such as mold and earthy smell.

Similarly, after checking the quality, shade, and lightness of the aftertaste in detail, a comprehensive evaluation is given on a five-point scale.

On the other hand, the "final judgment" does not subdivide elements such as aroma and taste, but judges only the overall evaluation, and the best one is "1" and the next is "5".

Kenji Suzuki, Special Advisor to the Fukushima Sake Brewers Association,
said, "All of the sake that has advanced to the final screening is a candidate sake that has passed rigorous judging, so there are almost no problems. For this reason, if there is a sake that is evaluated as unsuitable for the prize, the reason is written on the judging card. Since it is assumed that everything is good sake, the image is to lower the score by looking for the missing points with the demon in the heart, and especially well-balanced sake, fragrant sake, and very impactful sake are often good. If there is an astringency, it will highlight areas for improvement, such as whether the bag was washed poorly when pressing sake, which will lead to the improvement of technology."

The results of the screening are quantified and fed back to each brewery in the form of a report card, which is then used for the next sake brewing.

Items such as aroma and taste are indicated by deviation values, and it is possible to check in detail the difference in evaluation between the winning sake or gold prize sake and the sake produced by your brewery.

The best liquor is at its best.

In order to identify the best sake produced by sake breweries nationwide, the judges must also be in the best condition.

The judges are very careful not only about managing their physical condition, but also about the meals they eat on the day.

Kenji Suzuki, Special Advisor to the Fukushima Sake Brewers Association,
said, "We have to avoid foods with a strong aroma or spices, so we don't eat sausages, bacon, or coffee, and we also try to avoid onions and garlic so as not to disturb the other judges. People often ask me if I drink water every time to reset it, but doing so has the opposite effect. It's not that you can't tell the difference because you judge a lot in a row, but because you do a lot of things, you will gradually become less confused and you will be able to clearly see the difference. To be honest, judging nearly 1 sake in two days is very physically demanding, but it is a valuable experience because you can sometimes find sake that impresses you, and you can feel the nationwide trend firsthand and make use of it in the next sake brewing."

The featured results will be announced at 24 a.m. on the 10th of this month.

On the website of the National Institute of Brewing, a list of winning sake and gold prize sake is posted.

Why don't you take a look at the whereabouts of the number Japan number of gold awards won by prefecture, as well as what kind of evaluation the brands of sake you know are received?

Fukushima Broadcasting Station reporter
Rio
AiharaAfter joining
the police station in 2020, he has been covering sake breweries at the Aizuwakamatsu Branch Office, and has been in the Yujun since this spring.
He traveled to Hiroshima to cover the screening of the National New Sake Competition, which is closed to the public.

Fukushima Broadcasting Station Reporter
Yuma
ShioAfter joining the police station
in 2017 and working at the Aizuwakamatsu branch office, he is currently in charge of the prefectural government and TEPCO, covering the problems of reputational damage caused by the nuclear power plant accident.