Nøgne Ø SAKE

Norwegian Sake in Vinland.

2011-09-18T16:55:00.001+02:00

In August I had the opportunity to return to my home town, Vancouver, and of course I brought back as much of our Hidaka Jima (Nøgne Ø) Sake as I could pack into my suitcase. I was able to present our fine Yamahai Sake for tasting on two evenings at two different Japanese Restaurants. The first was an intimate meeting of former alumni of John Gauntner’s Level II Sake Professional Course. Lori Katakoa hosted the event at Shuraku Restaurant.

She’s the manager of this upscale Izakaya, that has a good showing of different types of Sake and an innovative menu of Japanese delicacies and Sushi. She is a strong local supporter in raising the profile of Sake in Vancouver. This was a group of experienced discerning Sake tasters and they were duly impressed with Hidaka Jima Sake.

I was also able to piggyback a tasting of our Sake onto a Ginjo Sake/ Food pairing event at the first of a new monthly event, called Sake Sessions, to be held at Hapa Umi Restaurant.

Our Nøgne Ø Sake is not Ginjo (made with Sake rice polished down to at least 60%) but we made it in with our good name and credentials such as we’re a Yamahai Junmai made with a more uncommon Ginpu rice from Hokkaido. The food pairings were outstanding and this less experienced but very enthusiastic crowd thoroughly enjoyed our Sake.

The popularity of Sake in Canada is steadily growing. There is a ground swell of people looking for the new tastes and nuances of Sake and the way it pairs so well with so many types of food. Sake lovers in Canada have heard rumours about this Hidaka Jima and now a few have even tried it. Who knows, maybe someday soon it will make it across the Atlantic to be enjoyed in Canadian Izakayas, restaurants, and homes!

Sake division

2011-06-18T22:10:00.000+02:00

Our great friend, Beau Timken of True Sake in San Francisco, is a player on the world stage spreading the beauty and joy of Sake. And in the spirit of giving back he is auctioning our Sake with 100 % of the proceeds going to the Northern Japan Earthquake Relief Effort (www.jcccnc.org). We salute his untiring efforts and vision!

In the latest newsletter (www.truesake.com) you can find out all about this as well as read about Kjetil, our Sake, and a short piece written by me about being a kurabito in Norway.

Norwegian Sake in Seattle and San Francisco

2011-04-07T20:53:00.002+02:00

Sake Nomi

Sako Nomi

It is a privilege to have good friends.

We have good friends all over the world.

Which is a good thing when we want to pass on the message about the great things we do.

Last month we served Norwegian nihon-shu at Sake Nomi in Seattle (Thanks, Johnnie!) and True Sake in San Francisco (Thanks, Beau!).

Reaching out like this is incredible and the feed back was phenomenal!

True Sake

Sake Sabbatical

2011-03-06T09:59:00.006+01:00

Reflections of Nøgne Ø’s Kurabito (Sake Brewer)

Sake is a wonderful drink and brewing it is so rewarding, there is always something new to be inspired by, experience, and savour. I consider myself very fortunate to be a kurabito at Nøgne Ø. Our Head Brewer/Toji, Kjetil, is a Sake purist and is always encouraging refinement and improvement in our Sake brewing.

My first brewing season at Nøgne Ø was full of challenges and extremely rewarding. It is great to be working at Kjetil’s new brewery to see how his vision has become a reality. And this was my first opportunity to be working with the Yamahai method, an older more traditional way to prepare the moto. The moto is the starter, or the mother, for a batch of Sake and is one of the key parts of Sake brewing.

At the end of our brewing season as fortune would have it I was able to intern as a kurabito at the Daimon shuzo (brewery) in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. I had planned a trip to Japan to take John Gaunter’s Level II Sake Professional Course and Daimon-san generously offered me the chance to do an internship during my stay as well. Yasutaka Daimon (Daimon-san) is the Kura-moto (owner) and Toji (Head Brewer) of Daimon shuzo (English language website http://mukune.com/). Not only does he make great Sake but he also shares his passion with the world at large.

With a generous spirit he champions its culture, enjoyment, philosophy and brewing. In fact Kjetil and I first met at Daimon-san’s brewery as members of the very first Mukune International Sake Brewing Internship in February, 2009. For the lucky few who were accepted into the program it was an opportunity of a lifetime.

I was able to work through a full five day brewing cycle (Tuesday through Saturday) and then returned to work another two and a half days after I completed the Sake Pro course. Another Canadian kurabito, Greg Newton, now living in Japan also came to intern during my visit. It was really interesting for us two novices to compare notes about Sake brewing.

Greg worked for a whole brewing season at a Sake Brewery in Nagano Prefecture last year and shared many interesting insights. His blog is at http://thesakechronicles.wordpress.com/

I have learned so much at Daimon shuzo. He has a great deal of respect for Kjetil and what he has accomplished in the Sake world......the successful start up of Europe’s first Sake Brewery! This respect for what we are doing in Norway, and a desire to further the enjoyment of Sake throughout the world in part explains Daimon-san’s great generosity. But I think also he is pleased on a personal level that two of his former students have gone on to be Sake brewers.

I brought samples of Nøgne Ø Sake to Japan and had the opportunity to conduct some tastings. The fact that the latest issue of Dancyu (a high end, high circulation Japanese food and lifestyle magazine) had an article about our Sake only added to the interest in our products.

Two tastings of a more formal nature were arranged by Daimon-san. Mr. Ueda, current Chief Advisor of the Osaka Division of Technical Support for Sake Brewing (Kanteikan Office) and Takahara Sensei, retired former Chief Advisor from the Kateikan Office and Daimon-san’s Technical Advisor conducted these tastings. We received a lot of praise and positive feedback for our Sake at all the tastings. And when I mentioned that all our Sake are Yamahai, I invariably got the response…..Sugoi!

Informal Nøgne Ø Sake tasting; from left to right Ue-san (Head Brewer), myself,
Makine-san (kurabito), Yasutaka Daimon (Toji, Kura-moto), Greg Newton

What it's all about......tasting the freshly pressed genshu!

Inside the Kura (Brewery); at left - old wooden Fune (Sake press),
background adjoining room - Koshiki (Rice Steamer)

Dancyu magazine

2011-02-15T18:36:00.001+01:00

There is an article in the latest edition of Dancyu magazine, mentioning us.
This is a lot of fun, as Dancyu is regularly read by millions!
Perhaps the Japanese understand us better than the Norewegians.............?

The Old Baker

2011-01-13T10:04:00.001+01:00

We are frequently asked how our sake project is going.

Frankly we are proud to tell that we are very happy about our products and its quality.

However, our wonderful sake(which we have a lot of!) goes nowhere, as turnover is extremely slow.

So how to explain our feelings about this?
Poet and writer, Ingrid Hagerups’ children’s song (at least the first two verses) about the old baker really reflects our emotions.

Maybe this contemporary video is not what Ingrid Hagerup had in mind when she wrote this, but it is kind of descriptive anyway:

Water from Olavskilden- “Olav Sources”

2010-12-08T23:20:00.001+01:00

We collect water for our Yamahai Moto (starter for Sake batches) from Olavskilden very near Fjære Kirke in Grimstad Kommune.

We use this water because it is completely natural and pure which is very important for a strong, healthy Moto, the Mother of a Sake batch.

Olavskilder refers to “Olav Sources” named after Olav II, King of Norway from 1015 to 1028, who was canonized as St. Olav. There are many springs throughout Norway that bear his name. They are often related to the pilgrimage route. They commonly have the attributes of rarely running dry even in periods of drought. Many of these sources were likely associated with paganism before the introduction of Christianity.

The bottom line is everyone appreciates good water!

This is the second best sumo wrestler in the world.

2010-10-30T18:42:00.001+02:00

He`s called Baruto and
he loves the products
from
Nøgne Ø

Japanese version of the sake description

2010-10-13T15:13:00.001+02:00

Click the image for larger picture

Newsletter from True Sake - America`s first sake store

2010-10-13T14:48:00.000+02:00

Dear Sake Drinker,

Welcome to the October Issue of America's sake-centric Newsletter. In this issue read about the first batch of sakes made in Norway, discover what Chapter 11 means in the sake world, see how magazines get it wrong and right about sake, learn what a retailer in Hokkaido thinks about big vs small breweries, and drool over the great combination of chicken skin and Yamahai sake.

Read more: http://www.truesake.com/newsletters/newsletterCurrent.php

Name giving ceremony

2010-10-04T21:37:00.000+02:00

On September 25th K-Line had a name giving ceremony for a new ship.
We are proud to announce that K-line chose Nøgne Ø as supplier of sake for this traditional japanese ceremony.

Sake tasting

2010-09-20T21:24:00.000+02:00

A few days ago Nøgne Ø was invited to a sake lecture and tasting in London. The event was hosted by Hasegawa Saketen. More than 200 different sake were available, and lots of toji from the different sakegura were present.
As always it is interesting to taste new and interesting Nihonshu, and there were lots of interesting people to meet.
At the end of the tasting, Hasegawa-san suggested that he and some professional sake judges could evaluate the Nøgne Ø sake. A pretty nerve wrecking idea if you are asking me.
So how did I feel? Like a schoolboy in front of the professor! These judges were true professionals. I was very impressed with their feed back, which was highly appreciated.
And what was the verdict?
Hmmm........I guess we are in disagreement on amino-san levels and whether to pasteurize or not.
The rest can wait until some other time!

Kanpai!

Kjetil

Europe`s first and only sake brewery will present products in Copenhagen

2010-09-13T20:53:00.001+02:00

Click on the picture

Europe’s first and only sake brewery will present products in Copenhagen

Nøgne Ø - Det Kompromissløse Bryggeri, Grimstad, Norway is proud to present our five sakes in Denmark! We are having a small informal press conference where we will present and taste our sake products at Mikkeller Bar, Viktoriagade No. 8 B-C in Vesterbro, Copenhagen Monday, September 20th at 3 o’clock in the afternoon.

Nama-zake

2010-08-28T13:00:00.001+02:00

We have previously released some news about our philosophy on storing nama-zake.

I have since then learned that there is a Norwegian importer planning to release a nama-zake (brand or kura name, Terade Honke) at Vinmonopolet(government operated outlet system for alcoholic beverages) bestillingsutvalg(the potrfolio of products which can/has to be ordered by the individual outlet). This importer is quite satisfied with the fact that the cold storage of these outlets are kept at 12-15 degrees C. We think this is very interesting, and lots can be learned by this experiment.
As we wait for this to take place, we are eager to learn more about the storing and aging of nama-zake. As such, we invite everyone with experience, knowledge or opinions about this, to send us comments!

Kjetil

Sake sales rep for Oslo

2010-08-26T22:47:00.000+02:00

We are proud to announce that we now have a sake sales representative for Oslo. Yutaka Otashiro has long experience in importing, selling and distributing alcoholic beverages of various kinds.

This photo is from a sake and food pairing event at the brewery, were Yutaka totally impressed us all with his cooking!

Labels

2010-08-25T21:32:00.000+02:00

We have done some adjustments and changes to our labels.

From now on, they will all have a name.
Also note the text about cold storage and that the nigori has pressure!

Click on the picture for larger image

Extreme products will be available in “Vinmonopolet”:

2010-08-24T20:34:00.000+02:00

Finally, some extreme products will be available in the government owned outlet system for alcoholic beverages, “Vinmonopolet”:

In the recent past we have been having a little bit of extra fun, and now in September it will be possible to see the outcome:

Junmai-shu. This is our only pasteurized sake, and therefore the only one which can come in the usual portfolio of Vinmonopolet. This is a sake made by the traditional Yamahai-shikomi method. (Well all our sake are!) An aromatic sake with good mouthfeel.

Since unpasteurized sake must be kept cool, such cannot get to the standard portfolio at Vinmonopolet. We think this is regrettable. For starters Vinmonopolet does not offer refrigerators or cold storage in their stores. In addition, no wholesalers/distributors with delivery agreement with Vinmonopolet has cold storage.

This means that Norwegian consumers do not have access to unpasteurized sake. Unpasteurized sake is more lively than pasteurized. In many ways it speaks with capital letters, or without filter if you will.

To try to do something with this, we challenge our customers to order directly from the outlets. This is referred to as special orders. This is done by the individual customer at Vinmonopolet outlets. We will then send the stuff by Post. The two to three days delivery time for this shipment is acceptable, even for nama-zake!

We now have 4 unpasteurized sakes:

Niogori. Milky White and slightly sparkling, with a grains of rice.

Nama-Genshu. Fermented with the famous Masumi-yeast. Peaches and sweet flower.

House Yeast. Fermented with naturally occurring yeast. Wild Raspberry and yuzu.

Yamahai motoshibori. A pressed moto (yeast starts). Intensely acidic, almost like rhubarb.

Kanpai!!!

A Norwegian sake adventure

2010-08-10T10:00:00.000+02:00

Sake from Nøgne Ø. Photo: Gunnar Lie
Source:Dagens Næringsliv, 06.08.10,Vinguiden; Merete Bø

After several years of planning could finally micro brewery Nøgne Ø initiate its own sake production in January this year.

Although sake has roots stretching back to the year 700 AD in Japan, sake has been an unwritten chapter in the Norwegian context. Until now.

Japanese rice is imported to get the best result, although Nøgne Ø for fun also tried the Italian matrix. Some of the rice Nøgne Ø User Name Yamada Nishiki, also called the King of sakeris and regarded as the most exclusive and best brand. While most of the rice is of type Ginpu coming from Hokkaido.

This has resulted in three very different cases that were launched in May this year. Unfortunately, production is small and the bottles have not yet found its way to Vinmonopolet shelves. It is expected however, that they appear in the order range in autumn. So far, only a few selection of restaurants and bars that have bottles from the menu. But those who wait for something good does not wait in vain.

Read more, check test, see the selection: http://www.dn.no/vinguiden/article1950549.ece

First European sake was released by Nogne-O

2010-05-25T23:10:00.000+02:00

We are proud to announce that our sake was released for sale on May 4th.
We have three products: A pasteurized junmai-shu, a nigori and a nama genshu. All these are yamaha and unfiltered.

On this picture you can see our bottling device on the left. As the bottles are filled, they are put on the table, then lifted into the pasteurizer (rice steamer). When pasteurizing is finished, the bottles are put on the conveyer belt to the labeler (Kjetil is doing it here). After labeling, the bottles are packaged in boxes(you can see Sean at the end of the packaging line putting bottles in boxes).

For more information - visit our website: http://nogne-o.com

Sake fra Nøgne-Ø

2010-05-15T19:03:00.000+02:00

Europas første komersielle Sake lages av Nøgne-Ø i Grimstad. Dette ble behørig dekket av norges største tv kanal.

Mer om dette kan du se og høre fra Norge Rundt sendingen til NRK som gikk 14.05.10
Opptaket kan sees i sin helhet ved å klikke her
(ca.8,30 minutter ute i sendingen)

Unik Sake fra Nøgne Ø

2010-05-14T22:38:00.000+02:00

Under construction
Denne siden vil være den ofisielle bloggen om Sake produksjonen til Nøgne-Ø

Den vil innholde videoer,bilder,artikler, lenker.