Friday, September 4

INDUSTRY SEMINARS - Presented by Kitano Sake

VIP ticket holders, Fest Vendors, Sponsors, and Volunteers

Sawtelle Sake Production Facility

Address: 760 E 14th Pl Los Angeles, CA 90021

Doors @ 9:40am, Programming at 10:00am

—

Before the festival begins, experts from across the sake industry—rice growers, brewers, equipment manufacturers, researchers, distributors, and educators—will gather for a full day of technical talks and industry conversation.

Each year, the ACSF seminar program pushes the conversation a little further, and this year's program is set to continue that tradition. Planned topics include the role of enzymes in sake brewing, a roadmap toward a North American sake yeast, collaborations that bring sake to new audiences, and a first-of-its-kind sake fermentation pilot lab.

• 10:00 AM — Opening Remarks

• 10:10 AM — Designing a Better Koji Table: A Collaborative Engineering Capstone Project By Justin LeVaughn, The Void Sake Co.

  A collaborative project between The Void Sake and University of Kentucky senior engineering design capstone course. This project is the final result of a year-long project in which a team of students designed and implemented an interactive and automated system for our existing koji table. Here we showcase the final system, Justin’s experiences with the capstone course, and ways for breweries to engage in these types of collaborations.

• 10:40 AM — An Invitation to Brewing Innovation & Opportunity By Justin Potts, Iida Trading Group

  An introduction to Iida Trading's new facility designed to support brewing a new world of possibilities. The session outlines facility opportunities, but also seeks to source ideas and input to help make this a valuable resource that benefits new research and commercial developments for the global sake-brewing community at large.

• 11:25 AM — Hakkaisan X LA Dodgers: A Partnership Primer By Timothy Sullivan, Hakkaisan

  In March 2025, Hakkaisan Brewery became the official sake partner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, a multi-year deal that put custom-cup sake in concession stands, brand messaging on Dodger Vision and Pavilion LED panels, and co-branded Junmai Daiginjo bottles on Southern California retail shelves. This session breaks down how the partnership came together, what a major American sports sponsorship actually involves, and what this type of marketing partnership really looks like behind the scenes.

• 11:55 AM — President’s Remarks By Toyohiko Iida, Iida Trading Group

• 12:00 PM —Lunch Break

• 12:30 PM — This American Rice

  • 12:30PM — The Rice of Isbell Farms By The Jones Family, Isbell Farms and Cypress Creek Milling

    The Jones Family discuss past present and future operations of their storied and world renowned 5th generation rice farm in England, Arkansas.

  • 1:00 PM — California Rice & the Craft of Sake By Kono Mitsuhiro, Adam McCalister, John Hudgens, ISRI & FRC

    California rice has helped shape American sake for generations and it has an important role to play in what comes next.

    Explore the story of California-grown rice, the Sacramento Valley landscape behind it, and how this uniquely American ingredient can help inspire the next generation of U.S. craft sake.

  • 1:30 PM — Roundtable Discussion By John & Adam, Farmers Rice Cooperative

    American-grown rice is playing an increasingly important role in North American sake. Farmers and rice specialists from Isbell Farms and Farmers’ Rice Cooperative discuss climate, costs, breeding, and what the future may hold for sake rice grown in the U.S.

• 2:15 PM — Enzymes: Turning Entropy into Awesome Sauce By Lucas Smolic, Sake Brewers Guild

  This talk explores what enzymes are, why biology depends on them, and how the four core sake enzymes (AA, GA, AP, and ACP) shape starch breakdown, sugar production, protein digestion, and amino acid formation. We’ll also look at the conditions, cofactors, and enzyme ratios that determine how well they actually work in a brew.

• 3:00 PM — Time as an Ingredient: The Science and Art of Sake Maturation By Dr. Chiaki Takahashi, Islander Sake

  What if time were one of the ingredients in sake? Time, temperature, and storage can transform aroma, flavor, and the character of sake. Discover how understanding time can make sake brewing even more exciting.

• 4:00 PM — Development of Unique Yeast Strains for North American Sake Brewing By Prof. Hiroshi Takagi, Nara Institute of Science and Technology

  Yeast is a key player of sake fermentation, shaping its aroma, flavor, and regional identity. This seminar will introduce practical examples of yeast discovery and breeding in Japan and propose the SBANA Yeast Project—a collaborative initiative to discover, develop, and share unique North American yeasts for creating new styles for North American sake.

• 5:00 PM — SBANA Member Meeting (Members Only) By Weston Konishi and Andrew Centafonte, SBANA

  Closed meeting for current SBANA members only. Hear updates and new initiatives from SBANA representatives and share news from your organization with peers.

• 6:00 PM — North American Criterion Tasting & Roundtable (Criterion Only)

  Closed session for participants of the Criterion only. Join the Panelists and your fellow Criterion participant breweries to taste each other's sake and talk shop. The panel will lead an open discussion of their observations from the evaluation in broad trends and highlighting specific sake where permitted. We’ll cover both our successes and opportunities to collectively improve the sake made in North America.