Born in Japan, sake is now brewing in US

New York

AT first glance, Brandon Doughan certainly fits the mold of the professional brewer in Brooklyn: The beareded Portland transplant is a former home-brewer well-versed in advanced fermentation.

Yet Mr Doughan, who opened Brooklyn Kura in January with his business partner Brian Polen, doesn't produce beer or cider. His calling is sake, the fermented rice beverage that is the foundation of drinking culture in Japan.

Sake remains a largely untapped frontier in the American…