We had the good fortune of connecting with James Jin and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi James, how do you think about risk?
I’ve once jumped from a balcony into the Mekong river in Laos while backpacking around Asia. The river looked gentle and I knew I was a good swimmer, and I knew the risk of hitting something under the riverbed if I landed in a shallow part. I sat at the balcony hesitating for a while. Knowing the risks, I took a jump and avoided hitting anything, but I was not expecting my jeans to weigh me down and the river current was a lot stronger than I anticipated. I ended up almost drowning and shouting for help thinking I might die. Then a hand grabbed me and realized about seven people made a chain by grabbing each other’s hands and pulled me out of the river. There’s many challenges in starting a craft sake brewery in LA, and I was hesitant at first thinking about risks, but I decided I need to jump and see what happens. I started home-brewing, then went to Japan to work at a couple breweries and visiting several breweries for research, then came back and established the first craft sake brewery in LA since 1940s with my partner. We faced unexpected challenges that came with 2020, but also had support by friends, families and the community who support our mission and efforts. Taking risks may be scary especially when you think you’re on your own, but I realized the world is full of people and some people just want to give a helping hand.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Sake brewing is a dying art, and is an art mostly practiced in Japan. When it comes to beer brewing or winemaking, you can find a lot of information, equipment, supplies in the states, but anything about sake brewing is very scarce and even though it is an old art, there’s still a lot of research to be done about rice, koji and their chemistry with the water and yeast. I am proud to have created a product that locals and industry professionals appreciate with limited equipment and supplies available here in the states with water and rice that’s vastly different from what they use in Japan. I was able to get this far with the incredible training I received at Inaba Brewery in Japan and with the support and assistance from my partner. A lot of lessons I learned from trial and error like all art, but my goal in trying to understand the Californian rice and water became essential to creating sake that defines our style and our identity. We want the world to know that we are not just another sake brewery located in LA, but a sake brewery that is honoring techniques and traditions of sake brewing in Japan while representing the the style and ingredients local to the region.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I would take them on a drive along the pacific coast highway visiting piers for some fresh seafood and ice cream. Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Nobuko Inaba, the brewmaster at Inaba Brewery and the production staff at the brewery welcomed me to their brewery to live there, eat there and work there while they provided me with all the knowledge I need in order to be able to brew sake my self.

Website: www.novabrewingco.com

Instagram: novabrewingco

Facebook: novabrewingco

Yelp: Nova Brewing Co

Image Credits
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