Kinoene Okarakuchi Shiboritate Junmai Nama Genshu

Brewery: Iinuma Honke
Location: Chiba Prefecture
Rice: Fusakogane (Kakemai)/ Gohyakumangoku (Kojimai)
Polish: 80%/68%
Yeast: #601
SMV: +9
Acidity: 2
Alcohol: 16%

The activities of the Iinuma Honke (which translates to the main branch of a family) stretch back some 400 years, starting out in the forestry and agriculture industry, and brewing omiki, ceremonial sake for shrines and temples. By the time Chiba was incorporated as a municipality after the Meiji Restoration, the family's influence had grown to the extent that the 12th generation head of the brewing family served a term as mayor of Shisui-machi and was a founder of the town's elementary school.
Making keen investments over the years, like one of the only flat polishing machines in the prefecture, Iinuma streamlined their production to 1,900 koku with only a 5 person brewing team. But mechanization doesn't have to mean soullessness, the small crew of kurabito have relative freedom to experiment with style.

For the benefit of the community, and keenly aware to their proximity to Narita Int.l' Airport, The Iinuma clan has made generous use of their land. The main wing of the old family house has been turned into a restaurant, brewery tours are available, and the land around the brewery boasts a blueberry farm for U-pick, a rice farm where community planting and harvesting events are held, a campground, and a sprawling green space for day use. Iinuma is a community space as much as it is a sake brewery.