Japanese breweries converting unsold beer into gin

Japanese beer breweries are turning unsold beer into gin as local and export sales of beer in Japan dropped 26 percent by volume for the first half of the year.

The beer-based gin initiatives are tapping into a rapidly emerging market.

With few customers in its brewpubs and export orders canceled, breweries are left with stockpiles of unsold beer.

In April, craft beer producer Kiuchi Brewery launched the "Save Beer Spirits" campaign, offering local bars and breweries to send in a minimum of 20 liters of beer to be sent back as gin, which has no expiration date.

The converted gin is sent back either in a standard 750ml bottle or as a sparkling gin cocktail in cans or a keg.

Kiuchi can produce eight liters of gin from every 100 liters of beer.

The beer skips the mash and fermentation process in creating gin, jumping straight to distillation.

The bars only have to shoulder the cost of delivery, with Kiuchi Brewery offering its distillation service free of charge.

The Ethical Spirits & Co, which was founded in February 2020 to help sake distillers turn leftover sake lees into new spirits, began exploring new recipes to make gin from beer when the pandemic hit.

In May, Ethical Spirits received a donation of 20,000 liters of expiring Budweiser from drinks giant AB InBev that the startup used to create 4,500 bottles of gin.