Miyashita Sake Brewery | 宮下酒造株式会社

Rice:
Rice is the most important ingredient in sake brewing. We use “Omachi rice”, a famous rice brand best suited for sake brewing and other brands, including “Yamada Nishiki”, “Asahi rice” and “Akebono”, which are all grown in the wonderful natural settings with warm and mild climate and fertile land.

We particularly focus on “Takashima Omachi rice”, which is considered to be the pure ancestor of normal Omachi rice and is grown in Takashima district nearby our brewery. The two types of sake brewed from this special rice in our selection, Tokubetsu Junmai-shu (a high-quality variety of sake brewed with rice milled down to 60% or less of the original grain without any alcohol) and Junmai Daiginjo-shu (the top-class variety of sake brewed with rice milled down to 50% or less of the original grain without any alcohol), are becoming increasingly popular.

One of the characteristics of Omachi rice that makes it shuzo kotekimai (rice suitable for brewing sake) is its shinpaku, the center white part. Different from other strains, the shinpaku of Omachi rice is round, large and soft, creating sake with mellow and refined flavor. The reason Omachi rice is called “rare brewer’s rice” is because despite its high quality, this is a very scarce brewer’s rice due to difficulty in growing it. Omachi rice tends to collapse more easily as it grows to greater height and is prone to sickness as well, making it difficult to obtain and thus is called “rare brewer’s rice”. Due to excellence of its quality, this rice is said to be the root of shuzo kotekimai (rice suitable for brewing sake) used all around the country, such as Yamada Nishiki and Gohyakumangoku.

Water:
The water for our products comes from the underground water running 80 to 100m below Asahi River bed. Similar to the famous “Omachi no Reisen” water running nearby our brewery for its quality awarded by Ministry of the Environment as one of the 100 famed mineral waters in Japan, the underground water of Asahi River bed is soft and suitable for sake brewing.

Koji (mold):
In sake brewing, there is a common saying “first koji, second moto (the yeast starter) and third tsukuri (the main mash)”, which refers to the brewing processes with the order of importance of their impacts on the quality of sake. Because the koji making is the most important process, we take extra time and care using Koji buta (a special wooden tray) by hand to prepare excellent koji, when we brew the top quality sake varieties such as Daiginjo-shu and Junmai Daiginjo-shu.

“Doppo” is a live-yeast-added beer brewed in the warm and mild climate of Okayama Prefecture. With the ingredients of tasty soft water, which is also suited for sake brewing, the choicest high-class malt, hop, and yeast from Germany and Czech, and high-grade “Omachi rice” grown in Okayama, the beer is brewed by our staff who have been provided technical guidance by a brewmaster named Wolfgang Rajal.

Doppo is a craft beer brewed fully using our beer brewing skills and experiences that have been developed for 20 years since 1995 when we introduced then current beer-brewing facility from Germany. Currently, we offer 14 varieties of beer.

In addition to traditional European beers such as Pilsner, Dunkel and Schwarz, our unique lager beer brewed from Omachi rice and beers brewed from fruits such as Muscat grapes or peach grown in Okayama are becoming popular.

We also offer seasonal products including chocolate beer for the Valentine’s Day and Sakura Ryojo (a sparkling rose wine made from cherry juice) for spring months.

Lately, we started selling Imperial Ale, which has a higher alcohol content of 7.5% and gives a high level of satisfaction after drinking.

History of its foundation – Sake brewery established by brothers
Kamezo Miyashita and Motosaburo Miyashita, the brothers that founded Miyashita Sake Brewery were born in Akaiwa County (now Akaiwa City). As the brothers lost their father at young age, they were left in the care of a relative. During that time the brothers gained experience in brewery, as this relative managed a brewery business. Taking the opportunity of Uno Port’s harbor construction in 1909, they started brewing sake anew in 1915, at city of Tamano, in Okayama Prefecture. This was the start of Miyashita Sake Brewery.

In search of good water
In 1967, the Brewery was relocated to its current location (Nishigawara, Naka-ku Okayama-shi) by Asahigawa River, one of the three major rivers in Okayama. The underground water of Asahigawa River, drawn from 100 meter beneath, is used for our brewing. The location is exceptionally blessed for brewing – nearby is Korakuen, one of the three famous gardens of Japan, and also cold spring of Omachi, chosen as one of the 100 Best Waters of Japan.

Renowned sake of Okayama – Kiwami Hijiri
The name of the representative sake, Hijiri, comes from ancient Japanese poem by Otomo no Tabito, poet of Manyo(*), who recited poem “in ancient times, code word for sake was said to be saint (hijiri). How wonderful are the words of great saint that named sake as such.” In Okayama, where sweet sake is the mainstream, Hijiri has been brewed since 1974 as sake that appeals for its dry taste. Taking daiginjo (**) as meaning the highest quality, it was capped with letter of “kiwami” (means “to attain the ultimate goal”) and was named “Kiwami Hijiri”. The number of times it won gold prize in Annual Japan Sake Awards is highest in Okayama Prefecture. Currently, the representative sake has been changed over to Kiwami Hijiri.
*Manyo is the collection of oldest Japanese poems put together from late 7th century to end of 8th century
** Daiginjo is top-quality sake brewed from rice grains milled to 50% or less of their weight

Craft Beer – Doppo
In 1994, beer production quantity regulation was moderated from 2000 kl to 60 kl. Taking advantage of this, production of Doppo, the first craft beer in Chugoku region and ninth in the country, was started in July 1995. This “Doppo” was named from our ambition that “as a Japanese microbrewer, we shall make unique beer independently (dokuritu-doppo) and with conviction.” In addition to the traditional beer, we are engaged in research and development for variety of beers with seasonal and regional characteristics.

Aspiring to become comprehensive liquor manufacturer
Miyashita Sake Brewery is aspiring to become a comprehensive liquor manufacturer that produces all types of liquors, such as shochu, liqueur, low-malt beer, spirits and whisky as well as sake and beer. Currently, in addition to selling at the greater metropolitan areas such as Tokyo and Osaka, we are also expanding our liquor export to US, Europe and Asian countries such as China.