Episode 152 Show Notes

Episode 152. This week, we take Sake Revolution on the road! John and Timothy recently attended the 3rd annual American Craft Sake Festival in Charlottesville, VA. Sake Revolution hosted a live podcast recording of a “brewers roundtable” on stage in front of an enthusiastic crowd of sake lovers at the Festival. We were lucky enough to interview Blake Richardson from Moto-i in Minneapolis MN and Todd Bellomy from Farthest Star Brewery in Boston, MA. It was our first time recording in front of an audience, so you may notice some differences in our audio along with some background noise, but it was worth it to be able to connect with many fantastic U.S. Sake Brewers and sake fans all in one place. Special thanks to SBANA, the Sake Brewers Association of North America, for organizing the festival and to North American Sake Brewery for hosting the event location. In addition to our roundtable with Todd and Blake, we recorded many other interviews at the festival, so look for them in coming weeks!
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Skip to: 00:19 Hosts Welcome and Introduction
Welcome to the show from John and Timothy


Skip to: 01:17 American Craft Sake Fest: Brewers Roundtable

Recording Live at the American Craft Sake Festival


Farthest Star Sake Owner and Brewer Todd Bellomy
About Todd Bellomy
After a stint living abroad in Japan, Todd returned to the States and was unable to find the range of sakes he enjoyed in Japan. This led him on an adventure to brew sake – first as a home brewer and then professionally. Since May 2022, he is the founder and head brewer of Farthest Star Sake, New England’s only sake brewery and Taproom. Todd’s mission is to brew delicious and accessible sake so that people can experience the adventure of discovering freshly brewed, local sake for themselves. The ancient traditions of Japanese brewing have a modern twist at Farthest Star.

Farthest Star Sake Taproom
About Farthest Star Sake Brewery:
Established in May 2022, the Farthest Star Sake Brewery and Taproom is an outpost of delicious sake in New England. Located outside of Boston in Medfield, Massachusetts, you can experience fresh sake on draft, frequent local food popups and the far out space station vibe in a family friendly space where all are welcome. Sakes served on draft range from the classic Junmai and Nigori, to variants on these standard brews (different rice or unpasteurized), to an ever changing rotation of infused sakes. Infusions feature a spectacular range of ingredients such as Ube purple potatoes, cinnamon, chili and honey, just to name a few.

Discover more about Farthest Star Sake:
Farthest Star Sake Website: https://www.fartheststarsake.com/
Farthest Star Sake Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fartheststarsake/
Farthest Star Sake Twitter: https://twitter.com/farthestsake
Farthest Star Sake Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fartheststarsake
Farthest Star Sake Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@farthest.star.sake

Taproom Location and Hours:
120 N Meadows Rd Medfield MA 02052
Taproom – THUR 4-8 / FRI 5-9 / SAT 2-9 / SUN 2-6


Blake Richardson, Moto-i Toji and Owner.
About Blake Richardson
Blake Richardson is the Toji and owner of Moto-i in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Moto-i opened as a sake brewery and brewpub in 2008. Blake has been an industry leader for years and helped sake brewers across America when he founded Minnesota Rice and Milling, which for many years was the only source for polished sake rice in the United States.

Moto-i taproom
About Moto-i Sake Brewery:
moto-i, the premier izakaya restaurant located in the heart of the Lyn-Lake neighborhood in Minneapolis, MN. Our authentic Japanese restaurant is proud to be the first sake brew pub outside of Japan, and we take great pride in our hand-crafted, authentic sake. Moto-i is an izakaya restaurant featuring Tokyo-style ramen noodles, house-made steamed buns, and rotating seasonal specials. Our menu includes a wide selection of sake cocktails, sake flights, and a variety of Japanese whiskeys and beers. Come for the best ramen in Minneapolis, stay for the amazing atmosphere, friendly staff, and truly one-of-a-kind experience our authentic Japanese restaurant offers.

Discover more about Farthest Star Sake:
Moto-i Website: https://www.moto-i.com/
Moto-i Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/motoisake/
Moto-i Twitter: https://twitter.com/motoisake
Moto-i Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/motoisake/

Taproom Location:
2940 Lyndale Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55408


Sake Brewers Association of North America

Sake Brewers Association of North America
Founded by North American sake brewers in early 2019, the Sake Brewers Association of North America (SBANA) is a 501(c)(6) non-profit focused on promoting and protecting North America’s sake brewers, their sake, and the community of sake enthusiasts. The Association has Three Core Areas of Focus:

Consumer Development
The majority of consumers are still unfamiliar with sake as a category. To address this the Association engages in broad external communication initiatives.

Brewery Development
We are the ‘voice’ for the North American sake industry. We focus on a wide spectrum of initiatives

Legislative Reform
At this time the legislative landscape is extremely confusing for the sake industry. At the federal level, under the Internal Revenue Code, for matters relating to production and tax, sake is treated as beer. However, under the Federal Alcohol Administration Act, for labeling and advertising, sake is treated as wine. This confusion only deepens at the state level.

Web: https://sakeassociation.org/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SakeAssociation
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sakeassociation
Twitter: https://twitter.com/sakeassn


About North American Sake Brewery

The North American Sake Brewery was officially founded in 2016 by Jeremy Goldstein and Andrew Centofante, but their story begins many years prior to that. Andrew was working for Semester at Sea, which allowed him to travel all over the world. He had many stops in Japan and discovered an immediate reverence for Japanese culture. Jeremy was a film producer, and while filming a documentary in Asia, he grew very fond of Japanese people, their food, and the country’s incredibly rich history.

But it wasn’t until 2014, while on a trip for a film project in Los Angeles, Jeremy was exposed to truly great Japanese sake. In the past, he had experienced warmed sake at American sushi restaurants, but this was an altogether different and illuminating occasion. A professional Sake Sommelier guided a tasting with several fresh, cold sakes that would forever change his life. When Jeremy returned to Charlottesville, he ran into his friend Andrew and told him about his sake experience. Andrew jumped at the chance to find great sake again and the two began enjoying sake together, finding special bottles of delicious, umami-rich sakes.

One night after a few too many glasses (or bottles, really) of sake, Andrew asked the fateful question: Do you think we could try making a homebrew batch?

It wasn’t long after that night that Andrew fermented his first batch which led to converted his basement into a full-time sake brewing operation. He and Jeremy would travel to Japan and the USA, visiting other sake brewers, learning the craft, becoming certified as Sake Professionals, and bringing their sake to many private parties & tastings around their hometown of Charlottesville, VA.

A few years later on August 25th, 2018, the North American Sake Brewery would have its grand opening at their current space in the IX Art Park. Andrew continues his passion for sake as the Head Brewer, while Jeremy takes the leadership role on the business end. Together, they continue to spread the gospel of great craft sake, and look forward to many years of pushing the boundaries of their industry.


Skip to: 25:19 Show Closing

This is it! Join us next time for another episode of Sake Revolution!


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Episode 152 Transcript