​From Homebrew to Home Distiller: A Spirited Exploration

Calling all homebrewers! Looking to expand your repertoire and challenge your skills? With more time spent indoors, why not delve into the exciting world of home distilling? Experiment, create, and produce new and unique beverages to tantalize your taste buds, all from the comfort of your own home. And what better spirit to embark on than the ever-popular whiskey?

Distilling your own craft whiskey shares surprising similarities with brewing beer. Both beverages share a foundation of water, malted barley, and yeast. The key distinction lies in the inclusion of hops in beer, while whiskey undergoes a distillation process followed by aging in barrels. In essence, whiskey is distilled beer minus the hops and specialty malts. For experienced homebrewers, the transition to home grain-to-whiskey distilling presents an exciting and rewarding challenge. With a high-quality copper still, home distilling transforms into an artistic pursuit, yielding a unique spirit to share with friends and savor for months to come.

The parallels between homebrewing and home grain-to-whiskey distilling become readily apparent during the all-grain whiskey-making process. The mashing stage is nearly identical to brewing beer, with the exception of omitting the hops due to their absence in whiskey. Following the cooling of the mash, turbo yeast is introduced, and within a few days, the mash ferments to a high alcohol content, typically ranging from 15-18% ABV. This fermented mash bears a resemblance to a strong, unrefined beer with smoky and malty characteristics.

To embark on your whiskey-making adventure, a trip to your local homebrew store is all it takes. All you need is a bag of malted barley and turbo yeast. The whiskey itself emerges clear after distillation, acquiring its beautiful golden or amber hue during the aging process. Traditionally, whiskey is aged in oak barrels. If your barrel is new or self-made, be sure to properly prepare it before use. Remember, smaller barrels expedite the aging process. The longer the whiskey ages, the smoother its taste will become. In-depth research on this step is highly recommended, as it involves fascinating scientific principles.

An additional advantage of owning a home distillery is the ability to utilize leftover beer. Perhaps a particular batch yielded an unexpected flavor profile, or an overzealous experiment resulted in an abundance of beer. Fear not! This leftover beer can be transformed into whiskey. Beers with lower hop levels, such as stouts, porters, lagers, and wheats, are ideal candidates (although any beer can be distilled). After running the beer through the still a couple of times for purification, simply age it like you would any whiskey. Feeling adventurous? Why not try your hand at transforming wine into brandy? The process is fundamentally the same; the only difference lies in the base ingredient, fruit instead of grain.

For my current whiskey project, I am utilizing a 2.5-gallon charred oak barrel for a six-month aging period. The results so far are tremendously promising! Happy brewing, and happy distilling!