Asahi Shuzo’s New York State brewery (courtesy of Asahi Shuzo)
According to the Yomiuri Shimbun on September 19, Asahi Shuzo (Iwakuni City, Yamaguchi Prefecture), known for its sake Ottersai, will hold a ceremony on September 23 to mark the completion of its brewery in Hyde Park, New York, USA. The brewery is the first brewery to be established overseas, and will produce “DASSAI BLUE,” a junmai daiginjo-shu using local water.
The brewery was completed in March on a 62,400 square meter site at a total cost of 8 billion yen. The brewery began full-scale operations in July, and the ceremony was held after the quality of the sake was confirmed to be of a certain level.
President Sakurai (center) reports on the completion of the brewery in the U.S.
For the time being, the brewery will use local water and Japanese sake rice Yamada-Nishiki, but plans to gradually increase the percentage of U.S.-grown ingredients. The alcohol content is about 1 degree lower than that of Otters in Japan, to suit American tastes.
For more information on Otters and other sake exports to overseas, please visit
info@kofukutrading.com