The climate is very cold in winter and cool in summer. This means the weather is too cool to age the sake deeply. Flavors take longer to ripen and the youthfulness of the sake is preserved longer. Seafood is plentiful and eaten in simple ways, uncooked (nama) or grilled in salt. To fit this local food, the sake from Hokkaido is usually clean, delicate, very light and dry.
Hokkaido was only seriously settled by the Japanese in the late 19th century, so sake breweries are seldom more than 130 years old. Their numbers increased with the immigrant population and reached a peak of 50 at the time Hokkaido's coal mines were active in the first half of the 20th century. Since then the number has decreased and now there are between 10 and 20, mainly located in the Ishikari Plain.
Hokkaido produces a lot of rice. Sake was originally mainly made with food rice as "kirara 397 ", but there are now also two types of sake rice: "ginpu" and "hatsushizuku".
Some companies use the special climate of Hokkaido in inventive ways. There is one company using ice from the Sea of Okhotsk as part of the brewing water; another company builds an ice dome in its grounds to ferment the main mash inside.
[Daisetsuzan near Asahikawa, Hokkaido. Photo Ad Blankestijn]
The main breweries are (in alphabetical order):
- Chitosetsuru (Nippon Seishu K.K.), Sapporo. "Crane of Chitose (Chitose is a name for the Sapporo area)." Set up in 1872. "Local sake of Sapporo." Uses local sake rice "ginpu." Used to be one of the larger breweries in the whole country with eight factories in Hokkaido alone; still produces more than 10,000 koku. Also produces wine, miso and mineral water. No brewery visits.
http://www.nipponseishu.co.jp/ (only Japanese)
Products: daiginjo "Kissho" (Yamada Nishiki 40%, SMV +6, acidity 1.1); ginjo "Chitosetsuru " (Ginpu 55%, SMV +4, acidity 1.2); junmaishu "Chitosetsuru" (Ginpu 60%, SMV +4, acidity 1.2)
- Kitanohomare (Kitanohomare Shuzo K.K.), Otaru. "Pride of the North." Set up in 1901. Operates brewery museum in historical kura "Shusenkan." Produces more than 10,000 koku. 65% of production consists of premium sake, especially junmaishu. Has developed its own yeast for ginjo sake. Welcomes visitors to the Shusenkan museum.
http://www.kitanohomare.com/ (only Japanese)
Products: daiginjo "Gokutaiho Kitanohomare" (Yamada Nishiki 40%, SMV +3, acidity 1.2); junmai genshu "Samurai" (Ginpu 60%, SMV +2, acidity 1.6; ); Honjozoshu "Kissui Kitanohomare" (RPR 65%, SMV +2, acidity 1.3)
- Kitanonishiki (Kobayashi Shuzo K.K.), Kuriyama (Yubari). "Brocade of the North." Founded in 1880 to cater to the workers in the newly opened coal mines and therefore the oldest brewery on Hokkaido. Still uses a beautiful kura built from red tiles (often used as location in TV dramas). Makes sake with a strong "Hokkaido" identity, transparent and smooth. Produced about 12,000 koku when the mines were still open, but the volume is now down to about one third of that. Welcomes visitors to its memorial hall, event hall, restaurant and other facilities in the large brewery (the grounds contain 18 buildings). Also makes a special sort of low alcohol sake with its "ocean yeast" Shione (yeast from seawater).
http://www.kitanonishiki.com/ (only Japanese)
Products: tokubetsu junmaishu "Hizo Junmaishu" - aged five years - (Ginpu 55%, SMV +3, acidity 1.6); tokubetsu junmaishu "Maruta" (Ginpu 50%; SMV+4; acidity 1.6); tokubetsu junmaishu "Kita no Roman" (RPR 60%; SMV +4, acidity 1.3)
- Kokushimuso (Takasago Shuzo K.K.), Asahikawa. ”No Equal in the Land." Established in 1899 as Kohiyama Sake Shop. In 1926 it became the first Hokkaido brewery to win a gold medal at the National New Sake Awards. Took over another brewery after WWII, and started calling itself Takasago Shuzo. The brandname Kokushimuso was introduced in 1975. This is the company using the ice dome mentioned above for its moromi (Asahikawa is one of the coldest places in Hokkaido!). The first sake below has been obtained by natural drip for one night inside such an ice dome (no wind to blow the fragrance away and no microbes because of temperature just below zero). Ice storage is also used to age certain sakes. In this way, the company utilizes its particular environment in a playful way. Produces between 3,000 and 10,000 koku annually.
http://www.takasagoshuzo.com/ (only Japanese)
Products: daiginjo "Ichiya Shizuku" (Yamada Nishiki 35%; SMV +5; acidity 1.1); tokubetsu junmaishu "Kokushimuso Retsu" (Miyama Nishiki 58%; SMV+5, acidity 1.4); junmaishu "Kaze no sasayaki" (Ginpu 60%, SMV +3. acidity 1.3)
- Kunimare (Kunimare Shuzo K.K.), Mashike. "Rare in the Land". Mashike lies on the Japan Sea coast in northwestern Hokkaido and used to be a fishing village for herring. The brewery was set up in 1882 to cater to the fishing crews. The herring has disappeared, but the sake remains. The company still occupies the original buildings of stone and wood. Produces between 1,000 and 3,000 koku annually.
http://www.kunimare.co.jp/ (only Japanese)
Products: tokubetsu junmaishu "Kunimare" (Gohyakumangoku 55%, SMV +5, acidity 1.5); tokubetsu honjozoshu "Sengokubasho" (Gohyakumangoku 60%, SMV +7, acidity 1.6); futsushu "Hokkai Onigoroshi" (RPR 65%, SMV +11, acidity 1.4)
- Otokoyama (Otokoyama K.K.), Asahikawa. Also called "Hokkai Otokoyama" to distinguish it from other "Otokoyama" brands. Otokoyama ("Man Mountain") is a hill just south of Kyoto with the famous Iwashimizu Hachiman Shrine. When this brandname became famous in the Edo-period, many companies copied it. The Hokkaido company in fact has acquired the brandname from a company in Itami that went out of business in the middle of the 19th c. The brewing water is drawn from the subsoil flow of the snow of the Daisetsu mountain range. Produces more than 10,000 koku annually. The share of premium sake, especially junmaishu, is 50%. Uses the Kimoto-method and other traditional techniques for some of its sakes. Otokoyama started exports to the U.S. in 1985. The company operates a brewery museum where visitors are welcome.
http://www.otokoyama.com/english/index.html (some English)
Products: junmai daiginjo "Otokoyama" (Yamada Nishiki 38%, SMV +5, acidity 1.3); tokubetsu junmaishu "Kuniyoshi no Natorizake" (miyama Nishiki 55%, SMV+10, acidity 1.5); tokubetsu junmaishu "Kimoto Junmaishu" (Miyama Nishiki 60%, SMV +4, acidity 1.6)
Useful website: Hokkaido Sake Brewers Association (only Japanese)
