9% Polishing Ratio: Niizawa Brewery's Limited-Edition Sake Made with a Video Game

A Bottle Devoted to the Number 9

Tokyo-based game company Yostar is running a food-themed project called “Azu-meshi” for Azur Lane, a smartphone shooter that launched in 2017 and portrays historical warships as girl characters. The second instalment is a sake made with Niizawa Brewery in Miyagi Prefecture: the “Super Premium Junmai Daiginjo 灰霊 -Phantom 9-”. Its motif is the aircraft carrier Enterprise, who appears in the game. The ship is said to have been sunk nine times and yet returned, and with the game’s ninth anniversary also in mind, the polishing ratio was set at 9%. The bottle holds 720 ml, the alcohol content is 15%, and only 99 bottles are on sale, priced at 109,999 yen including tax.

What a 9% Polishing Ratio Means

The polishing ratio is the proportion of the grain that remains after brown rice has been milled. Fats and proteins in the outer layers of the rice are a source of off-flavours, so the more is milled away, the cleaner and more fragrant the sake tends to be. The polishing ratio of ordinary sake is around 70%, and rice milled to 50% or less qualifies for the top grade, daiginjo. A ratio of 9% means more than 90% of each grain is removed and only the core is used. The sake is made solely from domestic rice and rice koji, with no added brewer’s alcohol, which makes it a junmai. Storage is specified as refrigerated, at -5 to 5°C.

A Brewery Known for Its Skill and Its Recovery from the Earthquake

Niizawa Brewery was founded in 1873. In the Great East Japan Earthquake the brewery was judged a total loss, yet it moved its brewing operations and resumed production within the same year. Today it uses subterranean water from the Zao mountain range and aims to make the “ultimate food sake”, one that brings out the best in a meal. It is also known for the skill to brew sake with a polishing ratio below 1%, and its flagship brands are Hakurakusei and Atago no Matsu. According to the announcement, it has also won international acclaim, including five consecutive IWC “Sake Brewer of the Year” awards.

Entries for the lottery were taken through the Japanese-language app YoStation from 3 to 18 October and have now closed. Winners are due to be announced around 23 October, with shipping planned from mid-November. Getting hold of this particular bottle in Europe is not realistic, but the brewery’s skill in milling rice to the extreme is worth noting. If you spot Hakurakusei at a sake specialist or restaurant in Europe, try it with a meal and see for yourself the “food sake” the brewery is aiming for. A highly polished daiginjo is best served well chilled and sipped slowly from a wine glass, which lets the aroma open up.