Japan’s top-ranking representative in the Southeast, Atlanta-based Consul General Kazuyuki Takeuchi, will attend the American Craft Sake Festival hosted by Ben’s American Sake in Asheville, NC. The Festival is the largest gathering of North American sake brewers in the country and will include tastings and lectures on sake and sake brewing from over a dozen producers from across the continent. Craft sake is a growing industry, with almost two-dozen breweries cropping up across Canada, the United States and Mexico. North American sake draws from the Japanese tradition of brewing rice, water, yeast and koji mold to create an alcoholic beverage with roughly the same ABV as wine (typically 16%)
In addition to the sake tastings, the organizers plan to hold educational seminars for sake newcomers as well as experts on sake and sake making. Consul General Takeuchi’s participation in the event demonstrates the importance of the growing American craft sake industry in deepening the cultural and commercial ties between Japan and the United States.
The American Craft Sake Fest Educational Seminars will cover the following topics:
- “What is sake and how to drink it” with Michael John Simkin (Uka Sake)
- “Growing sake grade rice and brewing techniques” with Whitney and Jeremy Jones (Isbell Farms, AR) and Brandon Doughan (Brooklyn Kura)
- 3) “Koji making for American craft sake” with Andrew Centofante (NASB)
- 4) “Sake and food: A match made in heaven” with Michael John Simkin (Uka Sake) and Byron Stithem (Proper Sake, TN)
The participating breweries are:
- Islander Sake Brewery – Honolulu, HI
- Proper Sake Co. – Nashville, TN
- Tsuki Sake – Salt Lake City, UT
- The Void – Lexington, KY
- Sawtelle Sake – Los Angeles, CA
- Brooklyn Kura – Brooklyn, NY
- Den Sake – Oakland, CA
- North American Sake – Charlottesville, VA
- moto-i – Minneapolis, MN
- River City Sake – Louisville, KY
- Ben’s American Sake – Asheville, NC