Kiuchi No Shizuku: Hitachino White Ale, Distilled Twice

This is the fourth thing we pour from Kiuchi Brewery, and easily the strangest.

It is made from beer. Specifically, from Hitachino Nest White Ale, the owl bottle that's on beer lists all over New York.

What They Do

First distillation: Hitachino Nest White Ale is distilled down to 30% ABV.

Then: it rests in oak barrels for a month, with coriander, hops and orange peel added — the same botanicals that go into the white ale in the first place, reinforcing what's already there.

Second distillation: more White Ale is added and the whole thing is distilled again, this time to 50%.

Then: six months in oak, filtered, and bottled at 43%.

Why This Isn't Just a Gimmick

Distilling beer is the oldest idea in whisky. Whisky is distilled beer, an unhopped, un-spiced wash of malted barley run through a still.

What Kiuchi does differently is start from a finished, hopped, spiced Belgian-style white ale rather than a neutral wash. The coriander and orange peel that define the beer survive the still, and then get added again during resting.

The result sits closer to genever, the Dutch malt-wine ancestor of gin, than to Scotch. Which makes sense, because genever is also a malty distillate carrying botanicals.

What It Tastes Like

Palate: Malt, tart citrus, spicy coriander, a light herbal quality

Finish: Sweet at first, then drying out into oak and woodsmoke

If you know Hitachino White Ale, you will recognize it immediately. That's the pleasure of it.

The Other Kiuchi Bottle

We also pour Kiuchi Umeshu Whisky Cask, their plum liqueur matured in casks that previously held whisky.

Between them, the brewery covers a lot of ground: sake since 1823, beer since 1996, a ten-year rice shochu from daiginjo lees, a distilled beer, and a cask-aged umeshu.

How to Drink It

Neat to understand it, then in a highball, which is genuinely excellent. It tastes like a very sophisticated version of the beer.

Pair It With

Fried and citrus-friendly. Karaage, tebasaki, takoyaki.

Try It at Juraku

Kiuchi No Shizuku is on the whisky list at Izakaya Juraku, Lower East Side, alongside the Hitachino beers it was made from.