Mizutani Shuzo, a sake brewery in Aichi Prefecture with a long history, is using a digital tool developed by the Nagoya Regional Taxation Bureau to assist in the fermentation process of sake. The tool, called “Moromi-eru,” calculates the degree of fermentation and presents the data in graph form. This technology aims to support breweries in maintaining quality and preserving the sake culture.
Sake production involves creating moromi from rice, koji mold, and water, then extracting the liquid. The fermentation process can be influenced by factors such as water quantity and temperature. Traditionally, brewers relied on intuition or rule of thumb to determine when to squeeze out the moromi. However, with Moromi-eru, workers can input data such as water added into a digital tool that automatically calculates the degree of fermentation and displays it on a graph. This visual aid helps determine when to proceed with squeezing.
The tool also provides reference points by showing past winners’ degrees of fermentation at the Japan Sake Awards.
Mizutani Shuzo recently faced adversity when their brewery was destroyed by fire earlier this year. To resume operations at another location temporarily, they are inputting surviving data into Moromi-eru.
The digital tool was officially introduced in January last year and has been provided to around 40 sake breweries in Tokai region so far. Breweries from other regions have also shown interest.
At Fukui Syuzo brewery in Toyohashi, Aichi Prefecture, Moromi-eru has helped reduce work hours for brewers.
In Japan there has been a decline of about 40% in sake breweries over the past three decades due to factors like increased popularity of cheaper alcoholic beverages and an aging workforce without successors for running breweries.
The Nagoya tax bureau hopes that Moromi-eru will help oversee sake production while maintaining quality standards amidst labor shortages within the industry.
Kenichiro Tajima from Nagoya’s Office of Analysis and Brewing Technology emphasizes that while individual instincts are important for brewers (toji), this digital tool contributes to producing stable supplies of high-quality sake.
