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The 55,000-square-foot brewery opened on Saturday, Sept. 23 in Dutchess County in Hyde Park, according to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul.
“New York’s craft beverage manufacturers are engines for job creation, tourism, and regional economic growth,” Hochul said. “Dassai’s expansion into the Mid-Hudson Region builds on New York’s national and international leadership in agribusiness and will be a welcome addition to this industry.”
The brewery will create 32 new jobs and will receive $588,235 in performance-based tax credits through the Excelsior Jobs Program. Dassai has invested over $80 million in the facility located at 5 St Andrew Road.
A Junmai Daiginjo-only sake, Dassai is considered the highest level of premium sake. Made from 100 percent Yamada Nishiki rice, the gold standard of sake rice, Dassai still utilizes craft sake methods, making sake batch-by-batch, using handmade koji, and fermenting in each small tank.
Sake breweries that only produce such premium sake are rare even in Japan, with Dassai Blue becoming the first of its kind in the US.
The Sakurai named their new creation “Dassai Blue,” which comes from an old Japanese proverb that says, Indigo dye is bluer than the indigo plant from which it is derived.
The property features two buildings, and the interior is designed with beauty and function in mind, welcoming visitors to observe the brewing process through multiple windows looking into various production rooms.
The exterior design mixes modern and traditional, as seen in the tin roof and the burnt cedar walls of the rice mill. The use of wood incorporates Japanese elements while still blending with the natural surroundings of Hyde Park.
Dassai is also collaborating with the Culinary Institute of America, also located in Hyde Park, to further the education and awareness of sake in the US.
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