Wooden barrels are used for brewing sake, soy sauce, miso, and other fermented foods. Among them, it is said that there is now only one barrel maker in all of Japan that can produce the traditional large barrels that are bound together with woven bamboo hoops. Wooden barrels, in which the wood breathes, are home to a rich array of microorganisms that cultivate a deep and complex flavor. Over time, they have been phased out for reasons such as production efficiency, but now a younger generation of craftsmen is beginning to rediscover their charm! In order to inherit the exquisite flavor and the wisdom of their predecessors, we introduce the thoughts of the next generation who are breathing new life into wooden barrels, the perfect partner for fermented foods.

Kazuki Usui, the 11th generation of Senkin

The 11th generation of Senkin, which was founded in 1806 (Bunka 3) in Sakura City, Tochigi Prefecture. Rather than prioritizing efficiency in sake brewing, he is one of the young sake brewers who is attracting attention for his commitment to the traditional kimoto brewing method and his thorough domaine-style approach, such as using "Kame no O" rice from Sakura City.

Sake brewing was once commonly done in wooden vats. However, with the advent of easier-to-manage plastic and metal containers, the production of sake brewed in wooden vats has drastically decreased. Amidst this trend, we heard about a sake brewery in Tochigi Prefecture that was brewing unique sake using wooden vats, and we went to visit Senkin, a brewery founded in 1806. The person who introduced wooden vat brewing is Kazuki Usui, the current 11th generation representative.

In 2004, Mr. Usui, who had been working as a sommelier in Tokyo, returned to his family home, where they used to mass-produce regular sake using enamel tanks. "Back then, we were a large-scale producer making about 5,000 koku of regular sake. But when I came back, the sake boom wasn't what it is now, and we were on the verge of going out of business." Sensing a sense of crisis, Mr. Usui implemented radical reforms, such as switching from metal tanks to wooden barrels and starting the kimoto method of sake brewing. The new "Senkin" series that resulted from these efforts was praised as "sweet and sour, and refined," and quickly became a hot topic among sake fans. As a brewery that returned to traditional sake brewing, it achieved a remarkable revival. Mr. Usui says his aim was to return to his roots.