The Big Sort: 1 - Sake brewery in the off season
上原酒造
高島市、滋賀県
2020.09
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A one tonne weight that's used to squeeze sake out of moromi - a fermented mixture of steamed rice, koji, water and yeast.
During the sake filtration process, most breweries use machines to extract as much sake as possible from moromi. Uehara syuzou is one of a handful of breweries (possibly three) that still practice 木槽天秤しぼり kibunetenbinshibori filtration - a method that involves hanging these weights from a wooden pole to press moromi-filled cloth sacks. Imagine a crane-like contraption made from a single tree bark that looks like it's suspended in the air.
All the brewing happens in the winter. Summers are eerily quiet. Most of their staff work in the rice fields and return to the brewery after harvest.
Uehara syuzou
Takashima, Shiga.
To see more photos of the process, check out the 1999 version of their website. (Warning: it looks spammy!)