The Ultimate Weapon to Differentiate Own Brand
Some very edgy breweries cultivate their own yeast in their small lab. It is really science and takes a very long time to divide only sake yeast and cultivate it to the practical level. However, it definitely becomes the ultimate weapon to differentiate own brand.
Koshinohana Shuzo's Story of Self-Cultivating Yeast
This brewery self-cultivates its own yeast. After repeated trials and errors for a decade, they finally succeeded in producing satisfactory yeast. One episode that the owner shared with us related to self-cultivating yeast was so interesting. A famous brewery had been opened to visitors, but they quit welcoming them after several years. The reason? A spy from another brewery mixed in with the visitors and stole an examiner of yeast to bring back to his brewery. After a few years, some people recognized that the taste became very close to that brewery's sake, and it was brought to light. From that, we learn the importance of yeast in sake brewing.
