American Sake Takes Off: Toward a Future with Sake Breweries in Every State (Part 2)

Of all the countries overseas where the number of sake brewers has been increasing in recent years, the United States continues to lead the world in number. In this series, sake journalist Saki Kimura will explore the future possibilities of sake in the United States by interviewing players involved in the industry.

In the first installment, we spoke with Kita Sangyo's President Tsuneo Kita, a leading expert on the history of sake in the U.S. For the second and third installments, we'll be interviewing Weston Konishi, president of the Sake Brewers Association of North America (SBANA), a trade association of American brewers established in 2019. In this interview, we asked him about the current state of local sake breweries in the United States.

The three objectives of SBANA

─ How did SBANA, a trade association of American brewers, come to be established?

Konishi: There were two people involved in the founding of SBANA. Andrew Centofante, co-founder of the North American Sake Brewery in Charlottesville, Virginia, and Bernie Baskin, the first president of SBANA and the publisher of an English-language book on Japanese sake (*2) that features 75 breweries. Bernie was working as a corporate lawyer in Singapore and then got into sake by publishing his book. When he returned to the U.S., he visited Andrew at his brewery and they both talked about how there was no sake association outside of Japan. That’s when they decided to start up SBANA.

*(2) Elliot Faber, Hayato Hishinuma, Jason Lang "Sake: The History, Stories and Craft of Japan's Artisanal Breweries" ( Gatehouse Publishing, 2015)

Konishi: SBANA has a three-fold mission. The first is to promote sake knowledge and awareness to the general public. The second is to help North American sake brewers develop their businesses and contribute to the growth of the industry as a whole, including sake imported from Japan. The third is to advocate for laws and regulations that will be favorable to our growth.

─ It seems to me that the Sake Brewers Association has great intentions in inviting you to represent them as a professional in Japan-U.S. relations, rather than as a brewer or industry representative.

Konishi: I think sake making is a combination of science and art, but I'm not a scientist nor an artist so I can never be a brewer (laughs). However, as someone who has been involved in Japan-U.S. relations and policy, I feel that sake is a great bridge between the two countries and it’s exciting to me to represent a quintessentially Japanese product in a new and innovative American way.

─ SBANA has a number of advisors, including John Gauntner, an American sake evangelist who was nominated as a Sake Samurai.

Konishi: Yes, John Gauntner, Haruo Matsuzaki, president of the Japan Sake Exporters Association, Justin Potts, producer of the podcast "Sake On Air," Marcus Consolini, CEO of Daimon Brewery in Osaka, and Elliot Faber, Beverage Director at Yardbird in Hong Kong. We are lucky to have them and their wealth of knowledge as members of our Board of Advisors.

Improve skills with resources open to members only

─ SBANA publishes a list of its current members on its website, but who exactly are the members?

Konishi: There are two main types of members: brewery members and other associate members. We currently have 14 breweries [now we are up to 18], mostly in the U.S., but also brewers based in Canada and Mexico.

─ Many American brewers can't read Japanese and have limited access to local ingredients and equipment, so the resources you provide should be very useful. Externally, you hold webinars and events, don't you?

Konishi: After joining the Association, we won a contract from the Japanese Embassy to host a series of webinars, which was a great opportunity to raise the profile of the Association. One of the webinars was a “North America-Japan Brewers Dialogue,” an exchange between six Japanese and American brewers, and we plan to continue this initiative in the future. If the pandemic situation continues to improve by this fall, we hope to hold a "Craft Sake Festival" in Asheville, NC (Editor’s note: This interview was conducted in May 2021 and the Craft Sake Festival was successfully held this year). We would like to highlight each and every member of the group, while also encouraging the general public to become more interested in sake.

We also plan to hold a summit to highlight female brewers and professionals, as it is very important for women to be involved in the world of sake, and holding such a summit will signal our commitment to diversity and hopefully encourage more women to become sake brewers. Currently, our membership has several outstanding women-owned breweries such as Islander Sake in Honolulu, Hawaii and Tsuki Sake in Salt Lake City, Utah.

─ Islander Sake was established in 2018 by a woman brewer from Japan.

Konishi: Ben's American Sake in Asheville, NC is also run by two women, and I'd love to invite Euka Isawa of MiCURA, another SBANA member, to this event. I hope we can enliven the dynamic phenomenon of so many women in this industry and bring their voices to a wider audience.

The COVID Reveals the Potential of Sake in America

─ I know this is a sensitive topic, but are there any breweries in the U.S. that have been closed due to COVID?

Konishi: I haven't heard of many, at least not since I've been working for this Association. There have been people who were going to open breweries, but whose plans fell through due to the pandemic. Of course the American brewers are having a very hard time, but they seem to be doing better than I expected. Rather, it is very distressing to see how some brewers in Japan are struggling.

─ In Japan, there are many sake breweries that have experienced a significant drop in sales due to restrictions on the operation of restaurants. The lack of compensation from the government to suppliers is also a major issue.

Konishi: Many of the smaller sake breweries in the U.S. sell directly to the public, so their fate doesn’t depend on restaurant sales as much as sake breweries in Japan. Another important factor is the small scale. If they were a family business that had been in existence for several generations, the pressure to continue running the business would be immense, but since most American sake breweries are relatively small operations, they were able to adapt fairly flexibly to the pandemic.

─ What surprised me was the number of new breweries that have sprung up during COVID. In addition to Wetlands Sake and Tsuki Sake, which we mentioned earlier, The Void Sake has opened a new brewery in Kentucky, and there are several breweries under construction.

Konishi: Most people were planning this long before the COVID happened. Also, as a result of government support measures such as the Payment Protection Program (PPP), the U.S. economy is recovering much faster than expected. Recently, the Restaurant Revitalization Fund, which was established by the federal government to help with the COVID, can also be used by breweries, although I’m not sure how many sake brewers took advantage of this program.

─ I also heard that the COVID has created more opportunities for online discussions, which has strengthened the bonds between members.

Konishi: I'm sure there were members who were relieved to feel that they had buddies they could rely on, and the crisis certainly brought people together.

Reasons why American brewers were attracted to sake

─ Some of the sake brewers in the U.S. come from the beer and wine industry, while others are newcomers from completely unrelated industries such as finance and IT.

Konishi: In the U.S. today, there is a fermentation boom, such as kombucha and pickling. SBANA has enthusiasts who are interested in all kinds of fermentation.

─ What is it about sake that attracts people from the world of wine and beer?

Konishi: I've heard that making sake is more complicated than making wine or beer. If you're a beer or wine making enthusiast, you'll probably be hooked right away. Of course, the premise is that everyone loves sake. If you don't love it, you can't make sake. It's labor intensive and complicated to make, and unless you have a lot of passion, you simply can’t make decent sake.

─ I've heard of people who used to brew their own beer as a hobby, but when they started making sake, they decided that it was not something they could do on their own and started their own brewery. What do you feel is the difference between Japanese sake breweries and American breweries?

Konishi: I would say innovation. I think it comes from the fact that good equipment and key high quality ingredients like yeast are hard to come by. For instance, the sophisticated equipment that Japanese breweries have is too expensive for most American brewers. Many make or repurpose their own fermentation tanks, pressing machines, koji rooms, and so on. Also, there are many experimental efforts. For example, Ben's American Sake in Asheville, North Carolina, makes all kinds of flavored sake.

─ I know they make lemon ginger, pineapple jalapeno, blueberry lime, and so on.

Konishi: It's a lineup that Japanese brewers would never have thought of, but they’re wildly popular and a great entrypoint for sake newcomers. On the other hand, there are brewers who stick to a more traditional style, such as Proper Sake in Nashville, Tennessee.

Balance between tradition and innovation

─ What do you think should be the relationship between the traditional Japanese-derived style and the unique American style in the American sake culture?

Konishi: That's a big issue for us. SBANA is currently starting a project to define what sake is in the North American context. Determining "what is sake" and "what is not sake" in the North American context will help us set standards, advocate for more favorable liquor regulations, and make sure everyone has a common understanding of our product. There’s a delicate balance though. On one hand we want to respect and honor the Japanese sake tradition while at the same time allow for the kind of innovation that North American brewers can bring to a broader market. This is obviously a very delicate balancing act and so that’s why we’re relying on seasoned advisors like John Gauntner to help us along this process.

─ It is necessary to set a clear standard so that drinkers can understand what they are drinking, isn’t it? Also, the laws in Japan and the U.S. are different. For example, in the U.S., there is no rule that says you have to press the sake during the brewing process. There are aspects of such factors that lead to creativity and innovation.

Konishi: That's true, but most American brewers want to learn the right way of doing things from Japan. They want to have access to the best rice and yeast, and they want to know the techniques that Japan has developed over generations, such as mixing ratios and fermentation times. If there are people in Japan who are concerned about the quality of overseas sake, it would be great if they provide us with knowledge and technical support.

─ When a unique sake is created in the U.S., it is important to understand whether it is a deliberately creative or an unavoidable result of the limitations of raw materials, equipment and information. Of course, the latter can lead to revolutionary products.

Konishi: Aside from technology, I am also concerned about the ability of craft sake breweries to develop sound businesses and can market themselves so that their breweries can be successful in a very competitive beverage market. This is an issue for the sake industry as a whole. In spite of its great tradition and drinkability, sake is still not very well known among American consumers. This is why everyone is hoping that sake will one day become a big hit. Good marketing is as important in some ways as making good sake.

─ As Mr. Kita, president of Kita Sangyo, mentioned in the last article, American brewers seem to have relatively good business acumen. I think that the establishment of a trade association like SBANA is a reflection of this strength.

Konishi: Many of the brewers who belong to SBANA are young, mostly millennials. That’s a much sought after demographic for the alcohol and food industries in the United States. So they kind of have a good feel for what’s cool and trendy. Also, there is high demand for locally made products. Compared to traditional Japanese sake brewers and exporters, this may be a big advantage. The key to marketing is how to make it more accessible to consumers through stories and packaging. We need to tell people that sake does not have to be served with sushi, but can be served with pizza, hamburgers, etc. We need to demystify sake.

─ Demystify is a good word. When I interviewed Beau Timken, owner of True Sake, the first sake specialty store in the U.S., he used the word "disarm". It seems that demystify and disarm will be key words in expanding the market.

Konishi: That’s true but at the same time a certain amount of mystique is appealing, because the types of people who are attracted to sake are often also looking for something new and different. I want to appeal to sake newcomers by making sake accessible, but it’s also good to have a certain sense of discovery. Luckily, because sake is so complex and can be served and paired in so many different ways, it can keep that discovery factor going ad infinitum.

─ What do you think would be the ideal situation after sake spreads in the U.S.?

Konishi: I know someone who runs a ramen business and his vision is to have a ramen restaurant in every city in the U.S. and, over time, to have regional styles take root. For instance, there might be a “Southern style ramen” or a “Pacific Northwest style ramen.” I have a similar vision for sake. I wouldn't be surprised if in five to ten years, every major city in the U.S. has a sake brewery. There’s plenty of room for growth.

─ In the U.S., where sushi has become a part of the daily diet, ramen is now a representative of Japanese cuisine. I think it would be interesting to see a movement like local ramen and local sake emerge in the US.

Konishi: I would like to see a regional style of sake, or some other expression of North American terroir, and I envision a future where sake becomes more mainstream and can be found on the shelves of local stores pretty much everywhere.

Need for cooperation between the U.S. and Japan

─ In 2021, Euka Isawa, who sells MiCURA, a brewing kit for overseas customers in Japan, joined SBANA. Euka is the daughter of Katsuyama Shuzo, a sake brewery in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, and has a strong belief in sake brewing. In the U.S., many people are moving from home-brewing to making sake commercially, so I think the collaboration between SBANA and MiCURA will help raise the quality of sake in the U.S. in the future.

Konishi: MiCURA is a great product and its developer, Euka, has great vision and foresight for the industry. I am very happy that she is actively working to connect the US and Japan.

─ The fact that SBANA hired you as its representative and encouraged Euka to join shows that this organization needs a communicator to connect the U.S. and Japan.

Konishi: The sake industry shouldn't be divided by country. I think that the U.S. and Japan should cooperate with each other as much as possible to raise the sake industry as a whole.

─ If more sake breweries are located outside of Japan and sake becomes more familiar to the local people, it means that the market for sake produced in Japan will expand and more people will drink it. What kind of involvement do you expect from the government, manufacturers, and exporters on the Japanese side?

Konishi: It is not always possible for the sake market to grow overseas through the efforts of Japanese companies alone. For example, if you look at Korea's Soju (*3), they are very familiar with the local American market and are actively engaged in commercial activities. There's a need for government agencies to have a strategy that looks at the sake industry as a whole, not just in Japan but around the world. I believe that this will be useful for Japanese sake brewers as well.

*(3) A distilled liquor made in Korea from rice and other ingredients. It is also called "Korean shochu" in Japan.

─ Speaking of Korea, the Soju industry group lobbied in California in the past to change the law so that stores without a spirits license could carry Soju if they had a wine license. This has greatly increased Soju's visibility and sales.

Konishi: One of our core missions at SBANA is to lobby and advocate for the sake industry in North America. There are many regulatory impediments to setting up shop, producing and distributing products. It’s our hope that we can improve the regulatory environment to make it more conducive to industry growth, which can benefit both American and Japanese sake makers.

We have introduced an episode on SAKE Street where Colorado Sake Co. in Colorado changed the laws related to sake (Editor’s note: currently in Japanese only). This was made possible by local players who understand the complex laws of the U.S. and have a sense of speed in business. Support for sake breweries in the U.S. will also lead to the future of the sake industry in Japan. I will continue to tell people about American sake to help people in Japan understand this fact.

Konishi: Thank you very much. We'd like to help in any way we can. I hope this will be the beginning of many conversations.

Interaction with the Japanese sake industry in Japan is essential to the development of sake in the United States. SBANA believes that the relationship between the two will be of great benefit to the future of sake in Japan, and they are working energetically to do so. We can't take our eyes off the unstoppable progress of American sake!

In the next and final installment of this series, we interview Kazuhiro Sakurai, President of Asahi Shuzo, which has just started a sake brewery in New York. We bring you the latest information on the new brand "Dassai Blue" along with President Sakurai's story.

*Translation support: Sake Brewers Association of North America