”Ikemoto Shuzo” The Key is to not Spare Effort

Fermented twice as long

Ikemoto Shuzo is a brewery said to be the only one that has skills for making refined ”sake” at ”low temperature long period mash”. When ”moromi” (mash) is fermented longer, ”sake” becomes full-bodied. At the same time, longer fermentation causes the ”moromi” to melt out, creating a bland taste.
Ikemoto Shuzo has established, under difficult circumstances, a method to ferment for nearly double the normal time to create a sharper full-bodied ”sake”. Doubling the time means that more care is required. However, that effort will not be spared if it results in better taste.
The ”sake” pressing is all done by hand as well. This procedure if done by machine, will crush the ”moromi”, and ruin the fine taste. Priority is placed on creating good tasting ”sake”, but it is a difficult decision when considering efficiency.

Using the fine ”Gozensui”

The water that Ikemoto Shuzo uses is ”Gozensui”, spring water offered to the 15th Shogun Yoshinobu Tokugawa upon his visit to suppress Tenguto. Lake Biwa offers abundant waters, however there was a bit of a problem with the reeds that covered the lake in the past which had deposited and oxidized, emitting a metallic smell. It often seeped in to the waters for households as well.
The water at the where temple Yoshinobu stayed also produced this odor at times, thus water from a nearby well known to produce quality water, was offered for the Shogun. This is the same spring water from the same well that Ikemoto Shuzo uses for their sake.
Ikemoto Shuzo uses the water that was regarded suitable for the Shogun, for everything related to water including brewing, washing the bottles, etc. It can be said that their ”sake” is an honorable ”sake”.

ACCESS

Ikemoto Shuzo Ltd.: 211 Imazu Imazucho Takashima-shi Shiga; URL http://www.biwa-cho.com/