Japan-based
British Sake Association Director Philip Harper was
recently awarded a Gold Medal in the Nationals,
the nation-wide competition in Japan, held by
the National Research Institute of Brewing in
Hiroshima.
Philip is the only non-Japanese to have attained the rank of toji, or master brewer in Japan, a position gained through gruelling hard work, dedication and talent. Philip has spent the past seventeen winters brewing sake in the Kansai region of Japan, working every single day throughout the season.
This year, working for a brewery in Ibaraki Prefecture, Philip's sake was awarded a Gold Medal in the competition. He explained the competition to us :
Philip is the only non-Japanese to have attained the rank of toji, or master brewer in Japan, a position gained through gruelling hard work, dedication and talent. Philip has spent the past seventeen winters brewing sake in the Kansai region of Japan, working every single day throughout the season.
This year, working for a brewery in Ibaraki Prefecture, Philip's sake was awarded a Gold Medal in the competition. He explained the competition to us :
"Each
brewery is allowed to enter only one sake.
There were about a thousand entries in this year's competition. All the entries which clear the first round of
judging (about half) get to go to the final assessment. Those which score well in the final round of tasting
are given Gold Medals, the rest get a Silver, which actually feels very like a wooden spoon to the
recipients. 255 Gold Medals were awarded this year.
The classic formula for winning a medal was YK35 - meaning Yamada Nishiki rice polished to 35%, brewed with
Kumamoto yeast. New, flashier yeast strains have largely bumped Kumamto yeast off the top spot in recent years.
Our entry was Kumamoto, meaning it is aromatically on the quiet side compared to much of the the competition
As of several years back, breweries were given the choice of entering in one of two sections. Section Two is Yamada: Section One is all other varieties. We entered ours in Section Two, but we used rice polished only to 50%"
This is a particularly stunning result, as Philip's entry used rice polished to a humble 50%, but it still beat more highly polished entries, created with a higher level of production. Congratulations to Philip and all the brewery workers.
We look forward to having Philip with us in the UK later in the summer, and will let you have details in due course.
Shirley Booth
We have copies of Philip's book for sale through the British sake Association (a very few signed copies remain). Just click on the link.
There were about a thousand entries in this year's competition. All the entries which clear the first round of
judging (about half) get to go to the final assessment. Those which score well in the final round of tasting
are given Gold Medals, the rest get a Silver, which actually feels very like a wooden spoon to the
recipients. 255 Gold Medals were awarded this year.
The classic formula for winning a medal was YK35 - meaning Yamada Nishiki rice polished to 35%, brewed with
Kumamoto yeast. New, flashier yeast strains have largely bumped Kumamto yeast off the top spot in recent years.
Our entry was Kumamoto, meaning it is aromatically on the quiet side compared to much of the the competition
As of several years back, breweries were given the choice of entering in one of two sections. Section Two is Yamada: Section One is all other varieties. We entered ours in Section Two, but we used rice polished only to 50%"
This is a particularly stunning result, as Philip's entry used rice polished to a humble 50%, but it still beat more highly polished entries, created with a higher level of production. Congratulations to Philip and all the brewery workers.
We look forward to having Philip with us in the UK later in the summer, and will let you have details in due course.
Shirley Booth
We have copies of Philip's book for sale through the British sake Association (a very few signed copies remain). Just click on the link.
