Shinkame brewery is famous for being the first brewery to start making Junmai Sake after the war. During the war, due to rice shortages, all breweries began making Sake with artificial alcohol. Their are still breweries that continue to make Sake this way to cut cost and labour. Shinkame brewery made the choice to make only Junmai Sake in 1987. At that time, Sake was losing popularity in Japan, but Shinkame Sake was gaining a lot of interest. Mr Ogawahara, Shinkame brewery owner is famous as a pioneer of Junmai Sake and has supported many brewers interested in following in his footsteps. This was the beginning of the Junmai movement in Japan.
１９８７年に戦後の日本で最初の全量純米酒蔵となった蔵です。全量純米酒への移行と熟成酒中心の酒造りと言う決断は当時としては偉業であり、それによる税務署からの圧力との戦いは酒造業界の中ではあまりにも有名です。しかし、神亀酒造を現在のカリスマ的地位に押し上げたのは、その成功の後に彼に続こうとする酒蔵に自らの持つ技術と知識を惜しみなく共有したことにあります。それによって経営難を回避した蔵も数多く、また現在の純米酒ブームを牽引する一つの要因となっているに違いありません。更には過去の偉業に終わらず、味、品質において現在も尚業界をリードする超一流の酒を造り続けています。
When was your brewery established?
1848
What is your annual output?
800 koku or 144,000 litres
Including the Tōji (Master brewer) how many brewers do you have?
8
What is your emphasis in brewing Sake?
1.Use good rice.
2.Not to spare any effort when making Sake.
3.Take the time to age at low temperatures.
In 100 words or less tell us what is Shinkame’s appeal?
What is most important to us is to make Sake that tastes good when heated.
Sake that can be enjoyed with meals. In other words Sake that supports a meal and helps bring out the best in a meal. In order to achieve this we age our Sakes for over 2 years. In this way we are realising our dream of making Sakes that are good even when heated.
Which Sake, from Shinkame’s line up do you recommend?
Hikomago; Shinkame Junmai
How would you drink this Sake and what kinds of food does it go with?
Hikomago Junmai:
Okan 55-6ºc; Grilled chicken, fish, goes well with vegetable dishes.
Shinkame Junmai:
A hot okan of around 55-70 ºc…. Even up to piping hot 80ºc!! It goes better with cooked dishes with a rich sauce, e.g. yakitori