WHICH DO YOU PREFER, ARTISANAL OR LABORATORY MADE?: QUANTIFICATION IN TRADITIONAL JAPANESE SAKE BREWING

Abstract

How does scientific quantification come into areas where uncodified knowledge and craftsmanship are recognized as a mission-critical factor? Exploring the sake brewing process, this study examines how quantification based on science has been implemented and utilized in the traditional brewing process from the 2000s. Scientific quantification in the sake brewing process grew not from the fallen trust in experts and the need to ensure accountability, but from the expected shortage of expert supply. Substituting seasonal migrant experts with in-house workers, introducing scientific quantification into the brewing criteria, and relying on rigorous measurement obtained from award-winners presented a reasonable solution to the decreasing seasonal migrant master brewer supply. The introduction of rigorous quantification aimed to eliminate variation in sake quality and to control brewing quality at a high level that is supposed to be equivalent to the quality that can be achieved by the guidance of a top master brewer. Quantification has advanced in brewing, even though consumers still highly appreciate the uncodified knowledge that craftsmanship holds.