The Sake Wire

Japan's sake news, now in Europe. Sake, shochu, whisky, wine & beer — and where to taste them. 日本のお酒の今を世界へ。By MADE IN AKITA, Amsterdam. 18+

[The Sake Wire @TheSakeWire]

IWC sake leaders visited Kato Kichibei Shoten, maker of Born in Fukui, on 3 October. The brewery won top prizes in sparkling and aged sake at IWC 2026.
https://t.co/GlgJfHRRgu
#Sake #IWC
Drink responsibly. 18+

[The Sake Wire @TheSakeWire]

LIXIL researchers found that diluting whisky with higher-alkalinity water kept more fruity aroma compounds. The effect was tested on whisky only.
https://t.co/b4AmnuRDaP
#JapaneseWhisky #Whisky
Drink responsibly. 18+

[The Sake Wire @TheSakeWire]

Yo-Ho Brewing has opened its first Kansai brewery, Yona Yona Beer Rise, in Izumisano, Osaka. A 7m by 17m glass wall lets visitors drink while watching the tanks.
https://t.co/tRayyGamuh
#CraftBeer #JapaneseBeer
Drink responsibly. 18+

[The Sake Wire @TheSakeWire]

Suntory launches a canned white wine sour, White Akadama Punch, in Japan on 13 October. It is 5% ABV in a 350ml can, based on its sweet Akadama white wine.
https://t.co/zHIQLBWjCd
#JapaneseWine #Suntory
Drink responsibly. 18+

[The Sake Wire @TheSakeWire]

Okinawa's Sunazaki Distillery and Shiga's Nagahama Distillery release a blended malt of seven malts on 7 October. It is sold only at Liquor Mountain's Kokusai-dori shop in Naha.
https://t.co/TUzuFXimST
#JapaneseWhisky #BlendedMalt
Drink responsibly. 18+

[The Sake Wire @TheSakeWire]

Yamaga Distillery in Kumamoto has spent about 500 million yen on a new warehouse, more than doubling its whisky maturation capacity, Nikkei reports.
https://t.co/K3Y6ZsjS3o
#JapaneseWhisky #Kumamoto
Drink responsibly. 18+

[The Sake Wire @TheSakeWire]

Ishikawa's five sake brewers' associations have merged into a single Ishikawa Sake Brewers Association. The aim is to speed up support for breweries in Noto.
https://t.co/RChUFqYFHt
#Sake #Ishikawa
Drink responsibly. 18+

[The Sake Wire @TheSakeWire]

Kiku-Masamune marks 60 years of its bottled taruzake with a limited-design pack, on sale from 5 October. The cedar-scented sake has been junmai since 2017.
https://t.co/z2xkVxe1Ua
#Sake #Taruzake
Drink responsibly. 18+

[The Sake Wire @TheSakeWire]

Ichinokura has released a super-dry junmai ginjo hiyaoroshi, rested through the summer in a cool brewery. It is available only to members of its Kinryuzo club.
https://t.co/L52gfWeZBi
#Sake #Hiyaoroshi
Drink responsibly. 18+

[The Sake Wire @TheSakeWire]

Gekkeikan has released Studio no.8, a limited drink in which yeast transforms the aromas of tangerine peel and sansho pepper. Only 1,000 bottles, sold in Japan.
https://t.co/pn7cSlhqXx
#Sake #Gekkeikan
Drink responsibly. 18+

[The Sake Wire @TheSakeWire]

A Hokkaido winery aged a red wine for 143 days using vibrations from Godzilla music. It goes on sale on 3 November, limited to 600 bottles.
https://t.co/UXzfTQiSxu
#JapaneseWine #Hokkaido
Drink responsibly. 18+

[The Sake Wire @TheSakeWire]

A Gifu craft brewery has made a beer fermented with wild yeast taken from local red wine grapes. Bonjour Bon Rouge went on sale on 2 October; no export has been announced.
https://t.co/PdSsgqTuVt
#CraftBeer #JapaneseBeer
Drink responsibly. 18+

[The Sake Wire @TheSakeWire]

Goto Tsubaki Distillery has released a limited gin blended with spirit distilled from Merlot pomace from Goto Winery. It is 47% ABV and has been on sale in Japan since 8 October.
https://t.co/UqnhgeGF1a
#Gin #CraftGin
Drink responsibly. 18+

[The Sake Wire @TheSakeWire]

Nichirei Foods and Brewlab.108 in Yamagata have made a 5% pale ale using leftover factory curry. It goes on sale in Japan on 11 October and must be kept chilled.
https://t.co/6vHSoPH1ML
#CraftBeer #PaleAle
Drink responsibly. 18+

[The Sake Wire @TheSakeWire]

Sapporo Black Label EXTRA DEEP launches in Japan on 27 October, matured 1.2 times longer than standard Black Label. It is 5.5% ABV; no European sales have been announced.
https://t.co/cLhNxOP6qB
#Beer #Sapporo
Drink responsibly. 18+

[The Sake Wire @TheSakeWire]

Amakusa Shuzo, the only distillery on the Amakusa islands, now grows part of its own sweet potatoes for shochu. About 40% of this year's potatoes are home-grown.
https://t.co/pJjo2NUuOt
#Shochu #ImoShochu
Drink responsibly. 18+

[The Sake Wire @TheSakeWire]

Zojirushi has launched a craft beer, Zou no Mai, made from rice left over from rice cooker development. It reached its annual sales plan of 100,000 bottles in about six months.
https://t.co/YnRt095JTV
#CraftBeer #Zojirushi
Drink responsibly. 18+

[The Sake Wire @TheSakeWire]

Niizawa Brewery in Miyagi made a junmai daiginjo polished to 9% with the game Azur Lane. Only 99 bottles of 720ml exist, priced at 109,999 yen including tax.
https://t.co/TGK78XJ8xL
#Sake #JunmaiDaiginjo
Drink responsibly. 18+

[The Sake Wire @TheSakeWire]

Kura Master 2026 gave its top sake prize to a sparkling sake for the first time in ten years: Yamanashi Meijo's Sanran Sparkling Hoshi no Kagayaki, judged by French sommeliers in Paris.
https://t.co/7d3Y3iAHTb
#Sake #KuraMaster
Drink responsibly. 18+

[The Sake Wire @TheSakeWire]

ORYZAE BREWING in Wakayama has brewed a beer from a novel set in 1850s Japan, using rice, koji and house yeast but no barley malt. Only 300 bottles were made.
https://t.co/VMopzsbPkZ
#CraftBeer #Koji
Drink responsibly. 18+