Kilt Lifter Whiskey Trail

Copperworks Kilt Lifter Whiskey is more than a collaboration; it’s a story about the roots of Seattle’s craft beverage scene and the people who helped define it. In 1989, Pike Brewing Company tapped its first keg in Pike Place Market and helped launch a new era of Northwest craft brewing. Jason Parker, now Copperworks Distilling President and Co-founder, poured his passion and curiosity into brewing as Pike’s very first brewer at a time when the microbrew scene in Seattle, and across the country, was just getting started.

Nearly 25 years later, Jason opened Copperworks Distilling Company with co-founder Micah Nutt just down the alley from Pike Brewing on the Seattle Waterfront. Jason and Micah opened Copperworks with a simple but ambitious idea: distilling high-quality unhopped beer can produce world class whiskey.

Five years ago, we took that idea one step further by teaming up with Pike Brewing to craft an American Whiskey distilled from an unhopped version of Pike’s Kilt Lifter scotch-style ale, a recipe that Jason helped develop during his time at Pike Brewing. We brewed the base for this whiskey using the same specifications as Pike does for their beer and we even brewed it at Pike’s iconic gravity-fed brewhouse. After more than five years maturing in new American oak casks, we are proud to present Pike Kilt Lifter Whiskey. By transforming Pike’s Kilt Lifter into whiskey, Copperworks and Pike honor a legacy of innovation, friendship, and craft that spans more than three decades.