You are here

Brooklyn startup says Japanese sake fits New York 'terroir'

It is made from all-American ingredients. It uses Brooklyn water. The head brewer watched lots of YouTube videos of Japanese sake masters.

Yet the finished product of Brooklyn Kura, the new sake brewery and taproom in Brooklyn, New York, is a thing of wonder. The peach-like aroma of their signature No. 14 and the ripe banana-like fragrance of the junmai blend are not derived from additives, but from the touch of koji, the rice mold that brewer Brandon Doughan sprinkles on the California rice, along with the temperature and humidity that the substance is kept in.

It follows centuries-old methods of Japanese sake-making, using deceptively simple ingredients -- rice, water, yeast and koji. The team, Doughan and his business partner Brian Polen, have high regard for tradition.

 

But they make do with what is available. Doughan uses a pizza shaker to sprinkle the koji. The sake is fermented in stainless steel tanks that were made for Italian wine.

Read Complete Article