By early December each year, the brewing season is in full swing at , makers of Tamagawa sake in the Kumihama township of northern Kyoto Prefecture. But unlike previous years, scaled-back production in 2020 means the brewery is far ahead of schedule.
¡°Because the coronavirus put a big dent in sales, we¡¯re making less this season. We¡¯re taking the pace down to one batch every other day, and then one every three days,¡± British-born master brewer Philip Harper says.
Harper and his team have already begun shipping shiboritate (¡°freshly pressed¡±) sake, which usually debuts later in the winter, and have nearly finished brewing Kinoshita¡¯s signature summer sipper, for 2021.
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