St. George Spirits Made A Whiskey For Sierra Nevada Beer Lovers

Whiskey is a distilled spirit made from grain, so in effect, whiskey is distilled beer. Most whiskey distillers make a beer specifically for distillation that bears little resemblance to the cold, refreshing beverage millions of people enjoy every day—beer made for whiskey is beer in name only. But it stands to reason that good beer would make good whiskey. And while some modern whiskey makers are taking a craft-beer-makers approach to whiskey-making, perhaps none have explored the concept more than St. George Spirits.

A new, limited-edition whiskey being released by St. George in collaboration with Sierra Nevada Brewing supports that assertion.

The Spirit Of Alameda

St. George Spirits was founded in Alameda, California 43 years ago. “We were the first craft distillery in the country,” asserted Lance Winters, master distiller, during a video interview. St. George started by focussing on eau de vie over four decades ago, but even its whiskey program is now 30 years old.

“When we started our whiskey program, we could not afford brewing equipment,” said Winters, who was a brewer before joining St. George. “So we reached out to Sierra Nevada who agreed to make wash for us.” St. George and Sierra Nevada were both pioneers in craft beverages and their collaborative relationship is now decades old.

Along with eau de vie and whiskey, St. George Spirits makes gins, vodkas, brandies, liqueurs and niche spirits such shochu and absinthe. Its spirits are available in over 40 states and in about a dozen select international markets.

How Sierra Nevada Brewed Up A Business

Sierra Nevada Brewing, founded in Chico, California and with a second brewery in Mills River, North Carolina, is one of craft beer’s most-admired breweries. Founded almost 45 years ago, Sierra Nevada has grown to be the third-largest craft brewing company in America, largely on the strength of its iconic 5.6% ABV Pale Ale and its category-defining 6.7% ABV hazy IPA, Hazy Little Thing, which spawned an entire line of hazy beers under the “Little Thing” brand.

While Sierra Nevada Brewing enjoys national and international distribution of its best-selling beers, it also enjoys a cult following for its seasonal and rare beers, including Ruthless Rye IPA, a 6.6% ABV heavily-hopped beer made with almost equal parts rye in addition to the usual barley.

Ruthless Rye IPA has been a fan favorite since it was first released in 2012, with the spiciness of the rye grain complimenting, enhancing and amplifying the hops the define west coast IPA, including Chinook, Citra, Ekuanot, Nugget.

A Unique Whiskey

St. George Spirits distilled a batch of Sierra Nevada Ruthless Rye IPA in 2012 and another batch in 2016, putting the spirit away in oak barrels as is required to make whiskey.

“We were always kind of in love with this beer,” said St. George head distiller and blender Dave Smith in a video interview. “We jumped at the opportunity to capture that beer and really focus it through distillation.”

While a portion of that distilled Ruthless Rye IPA was used in a whiskey released by St. George in 2021, that release included a portion of St. George Single Malt Whiskey (the wash for which was made at Sierra Nevada Brewing). The current release of St. George Ruthless is almost all distilled Ruthless Rye IPA, a blend of the 2012 and 2016 distillations, aged in a combination of new American oak barrels and used oak barrels. A very small amount of that original St. George whiskey was included in the current blend, to pay homage to the long-standing partnership between the California makers, so Ruthless is not technically all distilled Ruthless Rye IPA, but the amount that is not Ruthless Rye IPA is de minimus.

“As a whiskey, it leads with beautiful hop notes,” says Winters, describing the soon-to-be released Ruthless. “Big time floral. Intense tropical fruit. Nicely malty. Spice from the rye, bumped up by barrel aging.”

And what does Sierra Nevada think? Ken Grossman, who founded Sierra Nevada Brewing and trusted St. George to honor his beer in whiskey form, says he has tasted the whiskey from barrels throughout the years of aging. “I can tell it is my beer. Some of the original flavors of the beer come through,” he said in a video interview. “Ruthless Rye IPA has a high percentage of rye—not quite 50%—and that spiciness, and how it is balanced with the hops really tastes great in the whiskey.”

“Our heritage is eau de vie. The point of eau de vie is to showcase the ingredients used to make it,” said Smith. “Ruthless is a sort of eau de vie of barley, rye and hops. You can taste the elements of the beer in the whiskey.”

The Event

Only 750 bottles of Ruthless are available for sale—the result of distilling about 1,200 gallons of Ruthless Rye IPA—and are only available at the distillery for $85 per bottle. Given that the whiskey is made from finished beer and enjoyed over eight years of aging—with a portion having enjoyed over 11 years of aging—that price is a bargain, even more so considering that 50% of all Ruthless bottle sales will be split evenly between two charities: the Alameda Food Bank and the Community Action Agency of Butte County.

On September 13, 2025, St. George Spirits is hosting a release party and tasting. For $100, ticketholders will taste St. George Ruthless, Sierra Nevada Ruthless Rye IPA and other whiskeys from St. George. The ticket price includes one bottle of Ruthless, with additional bottles of Ruthless available for $85 each. Tickets to the event and the pre-purchase of bottles are available on the distillery’s website.

“In the nearly 30 years that I’ve had the pleasure to work with Ken and the team at Sierra Nevada, my respect and admiration have only grown,” said Winters. “This release of Ruthless, like all that we’ve done together over the years, drinks like a celebration of that relationship.”

“This is one of my favorite things I’ve ever produced,” said Smith.