According to Einstein the most important thing is to never stop questioning things. So to make your life a little easier we put together a couple of questions (per spirit or category) accompanied by their answers. If for some reason you still have some left, feel free to drop us a line at [email protected]
The Stillery’s First is an organic premium craft vodka. This “sipping” vodka is the first spirit made by The Stillery back in 2015. The use of spelt grain makes the vodka very different from others. Prominent bartenders have told us this vodka was made for a more sophisticated European palette. The Stillery’s First distances itself from more traditional Russian and Polish vodka’s.
The Stillery’s First was named “The Stillery’s First” because it is the first spirit ever produced by The Stillery back in 2015. It reflects the ambitious spirit of The Stillery. The Stillery has delivered on that promise and has released The Stillery’s Most floral Gin and a Genever by the name Of The Stillery’s Ouwe.
The Stillery’s First has a taste of sweet almond and whitecocolate. The mildly sweet profile can be contributed to the use of the organic malted spelt grain. Our advice is to enjoy this vodka neat, at room temperature.
What is The Stillery’s First Target Audience? The Stillery claims to have made a vodka for the “non-vodka drinker”. Many people who do not find vodka very interesting will enjoy The Stillery's First. The Genever or Jenever drinker is also pleased by recommending this spirit. The whiskey drinker is also up for this spirit, given the “sipping” character of the drink. The target audience of The Stillery's First is aged between 27 and 40 years old.
The Mokum Mule is the Amsterdam version of the popular Moscow Mule. The Mokum mule is made with 40ml The Stillery's First dinklewheat vodka, 140ml gingerale, one drop of “Feebrothers black walnut bitter” and a garnish of fresh mint.
The Stillery is from Amsterdam. The Stillery is an Amsterdam company and an Amsterdam brand. The drink is made in The Stillery’s distillery in the Amsterdam Harbor District under The Stillery's own management. Here the gentlemen of The Stillery have all the equipment for mashing, fermenting and distilling their spirits form “grain to glass”.
Yes. All ingredients (water, wheat and spelled grain) are non-GMO and of organic origin. The yeasts used by The Stillery during the fermentation process are all Non GMO certified. The distillery is certified organic according to Skal. Skal certifies all organic production in the Netherlands.
Dinklewheat is the old English name for Spelt grain. In addition to spelt grain, organic wheat alcohol is also used to make The Stillery’s First. The organic alcohol is produced in house from grain to glass.
Spelt grain has a characteristic almond flavor which is reflected in the distillate. The grain provides sweet notes and a full bodied character.
Technically yes. Gluten are very complex proteins, which means that they are very large molecules. During the distillation process, there is virtually no possibility of transferring these gluten to the drink. However, The Stillery’s First is produced in an environment where grain is processed. This means that there may be a very, very low concentration of gluten in The Stillery’s First. The concentration of gluten are so low that we can say with some caution that The Stillery’s vodka is virtually gluten free.
The Stillery uses certified organic grain from the German/Dutch and Dutch/Belgium border. The grain arrives malted at the distillery where The Stillery then processes it into vodka.
Because 60% of The Stillery’s vodka consists of water, this ingredient is very important. The water comes from the North Holland dunes where it is filtered deep into the dune sand. This way of filtering produces one of the cleanest and softest waters in the world.
Our creative director and Co-Owner of The Stillery, Robin Karels.
The Stillery’s Ouwe is distilled in two parts. First we distill the malt wine from fermented organic spelt grain. We do a strip run (low wines). The Strip run is later refined in the Spirit run. Next we take part of the malt wine that we have now created, which we then redistill with the botanicals. At last the redistilled malt wine is blended with the original malt wine and is now ready to be barrel-aged.
We add no sugar to our products which means this jenever contains less calories than your typical vodka.
The Stillery’s Ouwe was judged best Dutch Genever in the 2021 World Drinks Awards. So people agree when we say The Stillery’s Ouwe is one of the best Genevers out there.
The Stillery’s Ouwe contains 38% alcohol.
We captured the taste of a non-alcoholic gin as best as we could. We managed to create something as floral as The Stillery’s most floral gin without the alcohol. Although both distillates have many ingredients in common, they do not taste the same.
The Martinez is our favorite Ouwe cocktail. It’s a very old drink made with one part maraschino liqueur one part The Stillery’s Ouwe, and one part Willems wermouth
The Stillery’s Ouwe is best served with bitter lemon in Dutch this called a “straaljager”. But one of our favorites might just be the cola tic, or as we like to call it, The Juniper libre. A refreshing coke with a splash of lime and 35ml of The Stillery’s Ouwe.
In Amsterdam, “Ey Ouwe” is something uttered in enthusiasm at first sight of an old pall, a buddy, an “ouwe pik ouwe pijp”. Freely translated “Ouwe” is like “you son of a gun”, but an “Ouwe” could also be your dad which would be closer to its true meaning as defined in the Dutch dictionary, of; old man, old skipper, captain or chief. Basically it means “old”, but don’t be offended. Just take it as a reminder and an invitation. A reminder of the briefness of our existence and an invitation to spend the little time we spend on this pale blue dot in good company.
Genever, also known as jenever has different ways of spelling. In the old days Jenever was spelled with a G. Other than a change in spelling there is no difference between Genever and jenever.
Oude jenever or oude genever as opposed to jonge jenever is a distilled juniper spirit which contains at least 15% maltwine. The maltwine used for The Stillery’s Ouwe is made from spelt grain.
We really enjoy Lowlander’s White ale, the one with the polar bear on it. Just pour yourself a Kopstootje. Don’t shoot it just nip it.
We used hops in The Stillery’s Ouwe because of the traditional Dutch Kopstootje. A Kopstootje is a shot of Jenever which you drink next to your beer. With that in mind the Stillery’s Ouwe works really well next to your favorite craft beers.
Spelt malt wine, Juniper, anise, seed of the poppy hops and water.
In 2008 the Dutch and the Belgians reclaimed the beloved heritage by means of an AOC. AOC stands for “Appelation d’Origine Contrôlée” which is French and has surprisingly little to do with apples or oranges. It is a Label of Origin and protects Genever from the big bad outside world. From 2008 Genever may only be called Genever if it was produced in the Netherlands or in Belgium.
Jenever, also known as Hollands, genever, genièvre, or sometimes as Dutch gin, is the juniper-flavored traditional liquor in the Netherlands, Belgium and adjoining areas in northern France and northwestern Germany. Jenever is named after the juniper berry (jeneverbes in Dutch)
Yes, The Stillery’s Ouwe is barrel aged for a total of 6 months. This is why it the spirit has a brown color. We age our genever on a 300L ex-bourbon cask. We age the finished spirit not just the malt wine. This results in a well rounded full bodied integrated flavour experience.
Ouwe is an “old style” Dinklewheat or Spelt Genever, made wit hops and poppie seeds but before we tell you more about this spirit let me first explain its name and the origins of Genever itself.
The Stillery’s Ouwe is an old style genever with a fresh taste of a grassy gin combined with the taste a young single malt whisky with subtle tones of vanilla and anise.
We are not doctors and we can not give out any advices regarding pregnancy. All we can say about The Stillery's Virgin is that it contains absolutely no alcohol.
Robin Karels, co-founder and creative director at The Stillery
Yes, The Stillery’s virgin is a distilled spirit
Absolutly none
Although to make The Stillery’s Virgin we use a lot more bulk ingredients than we do for our gin, we managed to keep the price down. This is because we don’t use any alcohol in our product. When no alcohol is used no expensive methods have to be used to remove the alcohol later on.
The Stillery’s Virgin’s flavors are quite strong to drink neat. We therefor recommend mixing t with either soda or tonic in a more complex cocktail.
The Stillery’s Virgin contains absolutely no alcohol. We can proudly claim our 0.0% distilled beverage contains less alcohol than bread or vinegar or Orange juice. This makes it completely safe to drink when you still need to drive.
The Stillery’s Virgin has the depth of an alcoholic drink without the actual alcohol. Where other non-alcohol drinks will contain trace amounts of alcohol, The Stillery’s Virgin is the only one that can truly claim to be 0.0% ABV.
We captured the taste of a non-alcoholic gin as best as we could. We managed to create something as floral as The Stillery’s most floral gin without the alcohol. Although both distillates have many ingredients in common, they do not taste the same.
The Stillery’s Virgin is a floral complex distilled drink that pairs perfectly with bittersweet tonic. Best garnished with lime like fruits.
The Stillery’s Virgin is best served with tonic/soda or as the base for non-alcoholic cocktails. The Stillery’s virgin contains absolutely no alcohol and no sugar. Both carry flavor very well. When you mix the Stillery’s virgin with tonic or within a cocktail it opens the drink up to all of the wonderfully complex floral notes of our distillate.