1. A lovely and vibrant sake brewed with flower yeast from a “loving” prefecture.

A gorgeous Ehime sake. The lovely flavor, which is different from Ginjo Kaori, is due to the fact that it is brewed with the newly developed "Ehime Sakura Hime Yeast." The sweet yet clear and refreshing quality of the sake flows smoothly down your throat, inviting you to have another drink, and gently enveloping the pale seafood from the Setouchi and Uwa Sea. We spoke to Mr. Ochi, chairman of the Ehime Prefecture Sake Brewers Association, about sake grown in a prefecture with "love" and the challenge of developing flower yeast for sake after the coronavirus shock.

I spoke to this person

On the right is Hiroshi Ochi, chairman of the Ehime Prefecture Sake Brewers Association.

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He is also the representative director and president of Ishizuchi Sake Brewery, a sake brewery that has been brewing sake since 9. On the left is Minoru Ochi, the brewery's production manager and younger brother.

2. Pink flowers named “Sakura Hime”

“There are many relatively small sake breweries in Ehime Prefecture, and all of the 34 breweries in the prefecture are unique (33 breweries make sake).Currently, there are no breweries that hire chief brewers from outside to make sake. , I think there is a generational shift going on, and there are many relatively young brewers,'' says Mr. Ochi, chairman of the Ehime Prefecture Sake Brewers Association. This is his eighth year as chairman. He experienced the coronavirus pandemic, which made it impossible to hold events or eat out, and while he was groping around, he started working on flower yeast sake.

"For the post-coronavirus era. In the summer of 2020, we were thinking about what we could do. It was also a turning point for us (Ishizuchi Sake Brewery) as we celebrated our 100th anniversary and also had a change of president."

At the time, Mr. Ochi was working at the Ehime Prefectural Office to cooperate with a project to promote the prefecture's special products domestically and internationally. What happened to catch his eye was the pretty flowers displayed at the entrance to the prefectural office. The flower is a pink dilphinium named "Sakura Hime." Delphiniums are originally blue-colored flowers, but after 11 years of research, they were reborn as pink.This flower was born in Ehime. At that time, he had an idea for making Ehime-style sake using flower yeast.

“There used to be a project called ``The Last Sake Brewing of the Heisei Era.'' The idea was to brew sake using a flower yeast for sake that Tokyo University of Agriculture had successfully isolated from Princess Michiko, a rose variety. Seven breweries from around the country (Nanbu Bijin, Dewazakura Sake Brewery, Ichinokura, Asama Sake Brewery, Sekiya Sake Brewery, Ishizuchi Sake Brewery, and Sumikawa Sake Brewery) participated, and each brewery produced their own sake. I got an idea from that track record.I immediately consulted with the Ehime Prefectural Institute of Industrial Science and Technology and the Ehime Prefectural Office, and I also connected with Tokyo University of Agriculture, which has a proven track record, and the project was funded by Ehime Prefecture. ”.

*Princess Michiko: A flower presented in 1966 by Britain's Dixon Company to Empress Michiko, who was the Crown Princess of Japan at the time.

3. What I believed in was the language of flowers called “hope”

"The flower language of Sakurahime is 'hope' and 'smiles at you.' It was perfect for the post-corona era."

Flower yeast is not uncommon, but not all flowers can produce yeast suitable for making sake, and unfortunately there are times when yeast cannot be extracted. It is a well-established theory that there is only one type of fish that can be harvested.
Because the project was developed through collaboration between the prefecture, universities, and the Sake Brewers Association, it did not go well at first, and there were times when there were many failures and anxiety. However, just as everyone was thinking that it might not be possible, we luckily succeeded in collecting it. What's more, a miracle happened in that we were able to catch 8 types. As the research entered its second year, test brewing was conducted using eight yeasts, and the resulting sake was classified into four main types.

In the end, they succeeded in commercializing four yeasts. With an eye toward overseas sales strategy, we have also given sub-names to the types to make it easier to imagine the flavors (Tropical, Clear, Well Balanced, Rich). Each brewery buys stickers for each type of yeast from the Sake Brewers Association, and proceeds from the sale of the stickers are donated to the Ehime Smiles for Children Fund.

"Women will lead consumption in the coming era. Each company put effort into the design of bottles and labels by introducing new designers based on pink. Crowdfunding also achieved 500% of the plan. We successfully overcome the coronavirus. Now that the virus has subsided, we are now starting to promote the disease in Taiwan and other countries,'' says Ochi.

*The photo shows a PR event in Taiwan, Ehime's largest exporting country. Wanting something new, he went to battle wearing a pink suit, in honor of Sakura Hime, instead of wearing a happi coat.

“Ehime Sakurahime Yeast” was developed over a period of three years. Using this yeast, 22 breweries from the Sake Brewers Association are currently brewing 22 types of sake. It's been exactly a year since the release, and the second year series from each company is about to be completed. The number of participating breweries is expected to increase a bit. Keep an eye on Ehime's sake, which continues to evolve.