Ozawa Brewery
Ozawa Brewery is located in Ome, the western city of Tokyo. The access from the center of Tokyo is very good. You can visit the brewery by train in 1.5 hours. And, 3 minute walk from Sawai station.
It is very nice that you would go sightseeing when you visit Ome. There are famous mountains for hiking, especially Mt. Mitake (929m, 3047ft). You can enjoy spectacular views and day hiking in the moss forest. There is also a large and beautiful shrine Musashi Mitake Shrine, which was build more than 2,000 years ago.
Their Japanese Sake brand is “Swanoi”. It is the most famous Japanese Sake in Tokyo. You can easily find it at shops in Tokyo station. The taste of “Sawanoi” is light and clear. You can also feel some richness in it. Why they built the brewery is the quality of water. “Swa” means river in Japanese. The place has been known where people can take good quality of water. They not only brew Japanese Sake, but also make Tofu (soy pudding). Good Tofu must need good water. They also run restaurant where you can enjoy their Japanese Sake and Tofu.
They hold a brewery a tour for free. It is held twice every day. However, the tour is only in Japanese. Some tour companies hold a tour in English. If you are not familiar with Japanese, it is better you will join it.
The details of tour
You gather in the front of the brewery. You can see the ball of Japanese Ceder, Sugi-Dama. It is made every year when they finish brewing new Japanese Sake. The color is originally green. As it passes 1 year, the color changes to brown. They also hold a timber department. They make it by the best quality Japanese Ceder in Ome.
You firstly find the tanks of Japanese Sake. Japanese Sake is reserved in them. Japanese Sake is brewed in winter and it finishes in spring. It is usual that breweries mature Japanese Sake in summer.
You walk through the brewery and find the old age brewing place. It is cold Meiji-Kura. Meji is the name of Japanese Era name. It is around 200 years ago. The brewing place was built at that time and now is used as reservation place.
You will see the facility for Pressing. Pressing machines stand in the room. If you are lucky, you can see the process of pressing. They decide when they press on the day’s atmosphere. They decide when to press by considering the temperature and the moisture, etc. When I visited the brewery, they had finished it in the morning.
In the front of pressing room you can find the sample of rice. It shows the polishing process. You can see how rice will change in the polishing process.
Next you can see the essence of the brewery. The source of water. Water is the most important in Japanese Sake brewing. They have two sources. One is the original source. The other is new. They are mainly using the new one for brewing. It is the top secret. They didn’t tell us where they take it. However, you can see the original source.
This is the end of the tour. After the tour, I recommend you should visit tasing room. Tasting is not for free. But, you can enjoy more than 10 types of Japanese Sake around 500 yen. If you can find your favorite, you can buy it in their shop. I also recommend you should buy Tofu as a partner of your favorite Japanese Sake. It is really tasty.
