Before co-owners Steven Han and Cody Burns opened their Korean steak house, Girin, on the corner of South King Street and Stadium Place South at the feet of CenturyLink Field, they went on a culinary research expedition of sorts to Korea. “It was there that I encountered real, alive makgeolli,” says Burns, “and it blew my mind.”

Just outside of a fish market in a dome-tented restaurant in Korea, Burns had his first taste of homemade makgeolli (pronounced mahk-oh-lee), a fermented rice liquor which originated over a thousand years ago. Unlike bottled versions, which are pasteurized for export, Burns fell for this fresh and livelier makgeolli, so he decided to brew it for Girin...5,000 miles away in Seattle.

Thus began an arduous deep dive into makgeolli brewing. Oh, and a year-and-a-half-long licensing process.

After a second trip to Korea for some much-needed brewing guidance and several months of trial and error, Burns had a legit batch of makgeolli he wanted to drink. He uses a fermentation starter called nuruk from Korea—“where the magic is,” he says. That, plus beneficial lactobacilli, fiber, and minerals; all the makings of healthy booze.

Now, above Girin’s bar, Burns brews batches of makgeolli in clay fermentation crocks, mixing filtered Seattle water with Californian sweet rice and the nuruk made of aged Korean wheat and natural yeast. And you can try two different versions at Girin, alongside cuts of grilled meats, various banchan, and bright red kimchis.

Served in traditional brass pots and cups, the Lunar Brew is lighter in alcohol, has a semisweet rice flavor, but its subtle tang and fizz cuts through spice, which is especially helpful after consuming plate upon plate of Adrienne Rogers’s—Girin’s resident kimchi queen—seasonal iterations: fennel, persimmon, purple carrot kimchis to name a few. The cask-strength makgeolli, Samjoko, is of the same rice-y ilk, but twice as potent.

Besides a Chicago-area rice wine brewery that bottles a version, Girin is likely the only other place in the U.S. making house-brewed makgeolli. As such, you may want to call ahead to check the night’s makgeolli supply hasn’t run dry.

As for growler fills, look out for that come early spring of next year.