Azumaichi, meaning best in the East, is produced by Gochoda Brewery, founded in 1922 in Saga Prefecture on the warm western coast of Kyushu. The brewery grows Yamada Nishiki rice in paddies surrounding the cellars, mills all rice in-house, and relies on the master brewer's accumulated experience rather than instruments such as thermometers to judge fermentation progress. Low-temperature fermentation forms the cornerstone of the house style, producing sake with deep, layered complexity unusual for the warmer Kyushu climate.
