New rice for a changing climate

I’ve already talked at some length about the negative impacts of climate change on agriculture, including rice farming and of course sake rice farming. One of the main ways that national and prefectural organisations work around the problem is by developing new strains of table and sake rice that flourish in the new, warmer climate.

The two major problems that affect sake rice grown in warmer temperatures are lower quality of harvested brown rice, which reduces the overall quantity of rice that can be used for brewing, and decreased solubility of polished rice in the moromi, which then affects the whole brewing process and especially yield. 

Developing a new rice strain is never easy, and a new sake rice even less so. Even with the combined efforts of the Hiroshima Prefectural Technology Research Institute, Western Japan Agricultural Research Center of the National Agriculture and Food Research Organisation, Hiroshima Prefecture Brewers Association, the Hiroshima branch of JA-Zenno (Japan’s national agricultural cooperative) and the Hiroshima Prefecture Grain Improvement Organisation, it took 10 long years to develop the new variety Moe Ibuki (萌えいぶき). 

The press release lists its four main advantages:

1. Short and resistant to lodging (being blown down by the wind and having its head touch the soil)
2. High yield, even higher than Hattan Nishiki #1 which produces high yields locally
3. Medium-sized shinpaku, large enough for polishing to ginjo level, and
4. Resistant to ripening in high temperatures, which meaning it will be more soluble in the moromi even when grown in a hot summer

So if Moe Ibuki performs as promised, it will neatly avoid the issue of slow breakdown in the moromi that dogs most sake rice varieties, and become another feather in Hiroshima’s cap as a centre for sake brewing research and technology.

The name Moe Ibuki was one of 58 suggested by the organisations that developed the new variety and by Hiroshima Prefecture sake breweries. It was then chosen in a vote by around 40 sake breweries that will use the variety. The name is said to suggest both the fertility of the land and the passion of the farmers and brewers, but also the tenderness of new buds, in other words a combination of strength and softness that also reflects the nature of Hiroshima sake.

The way the new rice became a sake was, like many great Japanese things, the result of a meeting between the old – Morikuni, a venerable sake brewery founded in 1887 in Kure, Hiroshima – acquired by the new – Enoch, a venture company founded in 2022. 

The Morikawa brewery is best known overseas for its Hakuko brand, which has won at IWC and Kura Master. It now plans to develop a new line of sake made only from Moe Ibuki, in collaboration with Enoch. Morikawa will take on the challenge of brewing with a rice they’ve never used before, while Enoch are tasked with its promotion and sales.

The sake was pre-sold through crowdfunding site Makuake in March 2024 and was over-funded to the tune of 976%. (The project is open until 29 March 2024 if you want to get hold of some.) It’s marketed as the supreme sake for pairing, and being extremely easy to drink. Backers receive a 720 ml bottle of the sake, Yuen, for a pledge of JPY 11,000 (including tax).

(PR Times 24 Oct 2023, Japanese)
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Notes
I know the hardness of rice grown in hot summers, which manifests as rice not breaking down in the moromi, has been a serious problem for breweries for years now, so it will be interesting to see if more sake rice varieties that do not harden in the heat are developed – meaning the problem is solved in the field and doesn’t have to be solved at the brewery.