The 24th Sake Brewery Festival （酒蔵まつり）| Kuriyama

Kuriyama is a wonderful town, which has several great long-established companies, serving very delicious local food. The other day, "Kuriyama Shinise, or Long-Established Store, Festival （くりやま老舗まつり）" was held in the town, which consists of two festivals on the same days; "Kibidango Festical （きびだんごまつり）" and "Sake Brewery Festival （酒蔵まつり）"!
         
Kibidango is a sweet dumpling made of mochi flour, sugar, and maltose. In a previous post, I introduced "Kibidango Festical （きびだんごまつり）" and if you are interested in the festival, please click here→☆.

After enjoying kibidango, a traditional Japanese sweet, we went to the Sake Brewery Festival↓ The premises of Kobayashi Sake Brewery （小林酒造） was used as a festival site, which was packed with a lot of people like this!

This brewery is one of the famous sake breweries in Hokkaido, and produces several kinds of sake from dry to sweet flavors.

One of the most popular events in the festival is a tasting corner, of course!!!

They served a few kinds of sake free of charge! This is freshly-brewed sake!

Tastes very young!!

I like dry taste, too, and tried "Maruta （まる田）", their famous brand sake.

Yummy x 2!!!

We can enjoy some daiginjyo （大吟醸）--top-quality sake brewed from rice grains milled to 50% of weight or less-- at the price of 500 yen! 

We can also get this ochoko or sake cup as a present! Wow!

Would you like something to eat with sake? Don't worry about it! The festival site has a lot of food stalls, selling something local, or using sake or sake cake! Sounds wonderful, doesn't it?

Look at tofu produced by Tanaka Tofu Shop, a local tofu shop, using local ingredient and delicious water↓

More than perfect!

I love beef gristle stew, but it was already sold out when we came here!

This booth smells very good. What are they cooking??

Voila! Jingisukan or lamb BBQ is our local cuisine! But it is not normal jingisukan, but jingisukan with sake cake! Yummy x 2!! Of course I ate it!

We also enjoyed grilled clams! They goes will with sake!!!

Kuriyama is an agriculture town. How about potato croquette?

I chose a potato and beef croquette! Yummy x 2!!!

 In front of the brewery, we were able to enjoy some local events such as a Japanese drum show! How cute the local kids are!!

In the same premises, there is a recommendable soba restaurant, named Kinsuian （錦水庵）.

We can enjoy delicious soba and sake at the same time in this restaurant! I really recommend it!　(See the details→★）

 After enjoying sake and local food, we went to a sake museum↓

Look at the traditional sake cups and containers!

Their history is also very interesting!

I really want these pottery sake containers!!! How cool they are!

*Just for reference, we can taste almost all their sake in this museum except the festival period.

And then we went to their sake brewery! Kobayashi Sake Brewery was established in 1891.

While we felt their history,

we learned how to make sake!

At the end of the brewery tour, we tasted water used for sake.

Wow! They serve amazake （甘酒）, sweet drink made of sake cake!

Actually I don't like amazake very much, but really love this amazake! It's very tasty and not too sweet!! Thank you, Kobayashi Sake Brewery!!!

Do you like sweets? If so, let's get something local here!
How about sake puddings?

I bought a pudding set; chestnut pudding and sake pudding! Let's compare them each other!!!

When I opened the lid, I felt sake flavor from it!

I really recommend this one! Sake cake goes well with pudding!!! As this pudding is sold only in the festival site, we have to go to the festival next year, too!!!

How about sake rice crackers, which is also sold only in the festival site?

Crunchy x 2!!!

We really enjoyed their sake and sake desserts here!

I'm sure we'll be back this festival site next year!!

■Where is "Kobayashi Sake Brewery （小林酒造）"?

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■Tour guide information■

Do you need a nationally-licensed English-speaking tour guide when you travel to Hokkaido?

I'll guide you! Plz click here!