Dewazakura
Brewing Company
The
Brewery
Many sake enthusiasts are surprised to
learn that twenty-five years ago ginjo labels were
hard to find in Japan. In those days, people were
still drinking the cloyingly sweet sakes the breweries
had been churning out since the ’50s; no one thought
that customers would actually pay more for the
quality ginjo and daiginjo sakes brewed in limited
amounts for competitions.
In 1981, Dewazakura Brewing Company changed that
with the release of "Oka," an
affordably priced ginjo label with a polishing ratio
of 50 percent and a lovely floral aroma. It was
light, crisp and delightful. It was made to be drunk
cold. Soon other breweries introduced their own ginjo
labels. And so began one of the most creative periods
in the history of sake, earning for Dewazakura the
admiration and respect of even its most ardent
competitors.
What made the brewery stand out was a drive for
innovation. Dewazakura was not a wealthy brewery, or a
long-established one, but they were open to change.
When the opportunity arose in the years after the war
to invite research technicians in from the National
Research Institute of Brewing, they jumped at the
chance. Drawing on the knowledge and skill of Hideo
Abe, a former Institute research advisor, they put new
ideas into practice without hesitation.
By 1991, Dewazakura had perfected its cold storage
technique, aging freshly pressed sake at 28 degrees
Fahrenheit to keep it as aromatic and flavorful as
possible until bottling. In 1996 it introduced
"Dewasansan," brewed from a new Yamagata
rice strain of the same name, another hit which opened
the way for other prefectures to introduce highly
specific regional labels. This year, for the first
time in history, Yamagata breweries received more gold
medals than any other prefecture at the 2004 Japan
National Sake Appraisal, an achievement due in no
small measure to the pioneering efforts of the
Dewazakura Brewing Company.
The
Sakes
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