As we close out February and head into March, which is (by the calendar at least) well and truly spring, many breweries – but definitely not all – will be on the homeward stretch. The brewing season always seems to go much more quickly when you’re not actually doing the brewing yourself. No doubt it feels different for all those kurabito out there.
For us, those spring releases are starting to hit the market thick and fast, so it’s almost time to break out the paper cups and get ready for “sake in the park” season. Who needs to wait for the cherry blossoms? Do it now!
And now for the news…
Niigata- Nakagawa Shuzō has begun brewing with the use of rice not normally associated with the region. The heirloom rice, Omachi, is best known as the rice of Okayama Prefecture, where the fields account for around 90% of the country’s Omachi stocks.
In Niigata, Mitsuke City is the only place where Omachi is being grown and now Nakagawa Shuzō has become the only brewery to use the local grain.
Omachi is known to grow much taller – up to 1.5 times the height of regular rice – and is generally regarded as a difficult rice strain to grow. One of the reasons for Omachi’s affinity for Okayama Prefecture is the long sunny days – something for which the colder region of Niigata is not as well known. However, in an odd twist, recent global warming has afforded Niigata with climate conditions more conducive to growing Omachi.
