What Happens When You Distill Hoppy Beer?

What happens when you distil hoppy beer? Can it be distilled into a tasty whiskey? Does the bitterness carry over? Will the hop oils get stuck in the still.
These are all questions I have asked myself and seen other people ask in the forums. I decided the best way to find out for sure would be to distil some myself and find out!
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#homebrew #spirits #distilling
Just in case you didn’t realize I often include affiliate links in my videos and descriptions.
This will not change the price for you at all, But the seller will buy my a cup of coffee if you purchase from one of the links. Choice eh?

[@mx_nana_banana]

Call this whiskey “rabbit whiskey” because it came from a hoppy beer.

[@johnrice1943]

Nice

[@tysevere2822]

Trade mark that!!! Lol

[@Pressplay_Media_EU]

nice

[@csskates]

Can you please make a peated and hopped all grain just so you can call it HopScotch?

[@pepealasquid6005]

C.S. Skates goddamn it.... that’s beautiful and a great pun

[@pdubzpyro]

That’s a wonderful idea

[@pdubzpyro]

Ah, it’s kind of been done, but it’s not distilled whiskey, it’s an aged beer. So it is still doable. kzbin.info/www/bejne/b6K6f2eNfcmIiMk

[@StillIt]

Hahaha gold!

[@siasmouton2135]

@@pdubzpyro fnb NJ

[@markwells9875]

I distilled an old pilsner my son in law left in my garage fridge. I just ran it once through an air still as an experiment. The hoppy flavor did come through and it was at about 90 proof. My beer brewing buddies really liked it since they had never had anything like it before. Gonna try again with a little hoppier product and oak it next time. Thanks Jesse for the video, I always enjoy them.

[@mnkybndit]

Had a failed chocolate stout a few weeks ago. Ran it through the still and the distillate smelled like chocolate vodka

[@StillIt]

Yum! Yeah I need to play with some specialty malts for sure.

[@IAnolastname]

As a homebrewer, this has been immensely interesting to me.

[@BeardedBored]

So glad you did this! Answering one of the questions that has been kicking around on the forums for years. Glad the Mrs was able to nail down the flavor. That makes a lot more sense than hop soup, LoL:-)

[@StillIt]

Cheers mate :) Yeah I have wanted to try this for a while.

[@Donavin1976]

Can't be that bad... "Sweaty gym socks" was never used as a descriptor. Lol Before putting it on wood... Maybe mix a sample with a peat smoked whiskey sample, and see how they play on each others character. If it works, you could blend them.

[@fishingtampabay2426]

Filter it through some activated charcoal and that funkiness/kinda-hops smell and taste goes away. Whenever I can get a hold of a keg that wasn't finished for whatever reason, I run it through the still, filter it through activated charcoal, and it makes a great vodka.

[@donkee011]

I have some 600 liters of a nicely oak aged distilled beer. I did it back in 1995. You can say it is pretty good by now :)

[@dzincster]

600 LITERS!? That's an insane amount of spirit!

[@donkee011]

@@dzincster It is diluted down to 43% abv. Was done on a classic alembic still, double distilled. First run was for low wines, and the second run was done with separating heads and tails from the hearts. Distilled spirits were always treated like money in the bank in my country (Serbia). I also have some 800 liters of aged pear, and the same amount of oak aged plum brandy. And to top it all of, some 2000 liters of quince brandy. Leftovers from my distillery business I recently closed.

[@danieldanielson2650]

@@donkee011 yugos be crazy! 😅

[@brendanrandle]

if nothing else you could use it to fortify a home brew

[@StillIt]

I interesting idea....

[@bracconiere2868]

i've done, that... i liked it...

[@andy1982222]

I like this idea

[@adiefender]

I made a rhubarb wheat for a friend. after a year he brought back what was left, not going to get into why he wasn't drinking it. ran it through on a single slow run and got a rather interesting product. Came out as grainy, barnyard with hints of mint. This stuff was great!

[@Toxxyc]

I've actually distilled several batches of beer into whiskies. You doing this and highlighting the taste I immediately picked up that that's the same flavour I got from ALL my white spirits distilled from beer. YES. It was never "tails" for me, but "tailsy". It has made me cut my whiskies a lot narrower and I lost a lot of good booze because of that, now that I think about it. It'll also explain why my all feints runs always ended up nicer than the regular low wines runs. I won't be distilling beer again in my new still, and if I do, I'll clean it PROPERLY after each run. Thanks for this.

[@wldtrky38]

I always enjoy listening to you describe smells and flavors. My smeller and taster just don't get it 😁 Thanks and keep up the great work ! I'm still working on single malt and it's going very nicely 👍

[@C123Martins]

I"m a home brewer and my favorite time is when I add the hops to the boiling wort. The aromas that are released I inhale deeply and savor. Just like a candy store the smell of beer brewing is to me. Maybe bad beer makes bad liquor.

[@JavierMedinaImagery]

Sweet looking shirt bro! And glad you found a way to get some water back in the shed.

[@thewuby1]

I am a home (and recently "professional") brewer, i love your channel, man! Also, that shirt is freakin' awesome!

[@ailkenllib]

I was wondering about that gasket. I passed over some of those jars because they had the red rubber gasket, what do you use to swap them out with?

[@TheBaconWizard]

Had Fleur de Biere before now, and it wasn’t for me either. But this has given me an idea! Gonna try some hops in my gin 😁

[@basevol9646]

He's Back ! I want to hear more after it's aged.

[@StillIt]

I will do a update for sure :)

[@markmaker2488]

@@StillIt just wondering if you’ve done an update, cheers 🍻

[@thedude7726]

@@StillIt update.?

[@TheMullisJ]

I've wondered about this for a long time, so thanks for doing a video. Also, Pan Head is delicious. I was lucky enough to snag a taste at a local homebrew club meeting, where a member had snagged a few bottles while traveling for business.

[@Pressplay_Media_EU]

well MY experience with it in 2013 was brewing my own from a ready-kit, using a kettle with a fixture to distill and I had to run it twice because it was alcohol but watered down so I ran it again and it was stronger.

[@wiseguysoutdoors2954]

This was really interesting and it's neat. You never know if something will be decent or terrible, until you try.

[@StillIt]

This fits into the "potential" category I think haha

[@The7thSonSteve-O]

Well done this is my new favorite video. I made a mistake a while back and bought a lot of a spiced rum I am going to run it through my still the very least I will get some of my garage floor back

[@countMonteTristo]

kia ora bro. I love the way you communicate the tasting process.

[@ryangardner217]

I have always wondered about this. Did the hoppy profile change with the different cuts?

[@vallesustentable]

hey Jesse thank you again. What kind of water you use to get to 55%? Thanks again

[@stevenjennings8347]

Awesome informational educational video experience Y'alls God Bless Ya 🙏

[@lordyhgm9266]

I was thinking about using the distillate to fortify the beer, as is done with port wines. Would margainly proof up the beer and let the similar flavours mix

[@got2kittys]

I distilled a "strange" cider last year. It was wonderful on oak.

[@GGRS]

Great content, chief

[@StillIt]

Cheers mate.

[@jimdent351]

Thumbs up as always!

[@dimash244]

i made 12 gallons of ale, got oxided so i ran it through, made great vodka :) Goog to be home brewer and being able to "save" the bad beer

[@gregcoram6974]

I just made a wicked whiskey from a batch of stout that was under primed(flat) it had smoked paprika in it and that came out in the whiskey. Love it.

[@TheCooperville]

Love the way you simplify the running of plates .. me chuck six on and strip that out

[@saltskeggur]

I just did a double dryhopped milkshake ipa and can relate to so many of the tasting notes, but it came out surprisingly good

[@timquesnel5232]

I'm thinking about getting a Brewtools system for making beer, but would also like to distill my own whisky. Would you know if you could use the Brewtools as a still by attaching a column to the steam hat?

[@richardc6091]

Jesse speaking of the carbonation in beer helping the flavor have you ever thought about using carbonated water to dilute down a whiskey to see if it helps/hurts the flavors?

[@Christian.Lee_]

There's an entire distillery in San Diego, aptly named SD Distillery. Their entire business is distilling beer into whiskey. It's not for everyone but I love it. ETA: the SD Distillery stuff is made out of Russian Imperial Stout.

[@Chevychevy014]

Hi! Thank you so much for all the stuff you made! this helped me so much! May i ask you a video request about water dilution /reduction with spirits? This is not easy to do! Have you a specific methode about it? Slaint!

[@StillIt]

Cheers mate :) I can look at doing that :)

[@Chevychevy014]

@@StillIt You are awesome dude! Thank you very much :)

[@jaggerjaxs8680]

I was asking my uncle a week ago if you could still beer and now i have my awnser hahaha thanks Jesse

[@flannel872]

I like the idea of French oak; it would make a great side by side to do a batch of heavily charred, as you mentioned, and a batch of FO that is toasted and then charred to help evaluate if the toasting accentuates the sweetness versus the beer funk of the distillate. Like "Hopstock" for a moniker.

[@GooTimo]

can you do a video on running the deflag, like the theory and how to do it? ive been a little confused by the info out there

[@StillIt]

Yup I will for sure. But I want to get to know the kit a bit better first :)

[@ParadigmUnkn0wn]

What happens if you put some hops in a gin basket along with some other botanicals that would pair well? Could you get some of the citrusy, floral notes out of the hops that way?

[@rickmilkovic]

Hey Jesse, I am glad to see you got some new parts for your still I love seeing how things change with time., It must have been kool as hell using that G-still, but not near as great as seeing the first drips coming out of the old girl you built with your hands eh? Keep it real my friend ✌

[@StillIt]

haha yeah man. Always fun to add to the still.

[@mattzap9298]

Great video. One thing that jumped out at me was the dephleg setup. I found I had trouble getting the water to flow well when I had my outlet on the bottom. The dephleg would not fill correctly. Now I run water in on the bottom and out with valve on the top, no more "funny" flow or air locks.

[@StillIt]

Oh, shot of course! It's the opposite of the shot gun as vapour flow is upside down!

[@Ansis99]

Hi! I always wash my column with dish soap, than rinse with water and dry it with hairdryer. Copper columns start to make oxides inside if not washed and dried after use. It is much better, because I know, the product will be good! Of course we can use citric acid, but it is much harder and longer... OK, thanks Jesse for info!

[@trevorharper5151]

Yep , I know the smell and taste. Beer was the first thing I tried running through the still , it was old stale beer hence why I ran it through the still , just wanted to test the still and how it worked. Did stripping run then 2nd run. It kept the same final taste and smell. Added it to other runs and even when less than a 20% mix it would still leave the same taste as an after taste. Same when wooded and aged. I'm sure some people out there would like the taste but i didn't.

[@arturocm9758]

What happens if you use a blonde ale with no hops? Mashed at low temp, to ferment all the way down, with no caramel malt ?

[@JohnnyBGood-bl9tx]

My sister in-law has one leg and works at a brewery. She’s in charge of the hops.

[@jimdent351]

I see those drinking straws in grocery stores here in Canada.

[@magnushagelberg]

A local place Kvänum mat & malt does an oyster stout that sometimes gets a bit to fermented.. if the batch is "ruined" they distill it. that spirit tasted alongside the stout - brings out an amazing second bloom of the stout.

[@StillIt]

Interesting! I can definitely see that with a stout. We tried this dosed back into beer with some interesting and varied results.

[@victormiranda9163]

is the vegetable smell yeast based? your descriptions are what I have always thought were from yeast.

[@richardharris5083]

I distilled a out of date Lager kit and that turned out quite good . Even better after a while on oak ..

[@thm72]

Same, but I put it back into a faints run from UJSSM, came out like butterscotch and burnt sugar. on oak right now.

[@tysonhager]

Isn't it the same skunkiness that comes from beer that is in clear glass bottles? When hops gets oxidized, heat or sunlight same thing, right?

[@ryanblystone5153]

Thank you

[@vasiliitoumanyan2648]

Jesse what if you continue the fermentation of the beer? Add sugar and pitch again? Let it it stop bubbling and run that? What do you think?

[@M4ST_]

Would love to se what you thought of the Nutrigrain wash. Do you even have Nutrigain in NZ? Great video. Looking forward to more funky distillations.

[@paridecorsetti7022]

a local brewery here in Italy did it years ago with bottles that had to much yeast sediment to be sold. unluckily let it sit in a barrel for 2 years only. it was an awesome distilled anyway.

[@Katierios8]

We triple distilled Freetail’s Ragnar. It was fantastic! Tasted just like the beer minus the carbonation and add in 90 proof liquor.

[@TK-4200]

Have you ever tried the Air Still to distill bird watchers recipe? Just stumbled across your channel so I'm not sure if you have a video on one. Love your videos so far👍

[@jong2359]

Damn I need to put some kind of distillation rig into my future goals. A pot still would be fine and has advantages, but this column setup would be golden. I would love to taste what happens to the rice wine I have been cranking out when ran through the still.

[@SomeTechGuy666]

What taste comes through if the beer is oxidized ?

[@scallywag6768]

I'm a home brewer, and I have been distilling beers that didn't turn out for years. I'm just using a counter top water distiller. Its not a great Whiskey but you can drink it.

[@pepealasquid6005]

Scallywag 67 do you know how I could get said water distiller?

[@scallywag6768]

@@pepealasquid6005 they are readily available. Check Amazon. These are intended to purify drinking water that may not be the best quality. They range in price and quality but are affordable. Google countertop water distiller.

[@StillIt]

Yeah this stuff is growing on me more aand more. Some of the sugestions in here sound great too. Next one I need to try is bloody mary!

[@alainkes1]

Newbie question : how do you deal with the foam? Do you degas the beer?

[@philipedwards241]

Just ran the 2nd gallon through my still spirits air still. Came out pretty well. Gonna add it back to the brew to fortify it. By the glass. I brewed the beer a few weeks ago.

[@Zumaray]

So I brewed a Simcoe Smash beer with a bit of smoked manuka malt. Sounded great, but taste it was not. After remembering this video, I poured the whole keg into the boiler and stripped it similar to what you did. Then I put the 2.5 litres of stripped product into the air still. The flavour was so interesting. I actually loved the hearts section. It seemed to go to tails very abruptly. It’s going to be very interesting when it oaks.

[@RobinsonHuso94]

In Germany there is actually something called "Bierbrand" which basically means burned beer since burned is equal to distilled in German. It has to have atleast 38% vol if I'm not mistaken to be called Bierbrand. Its pretty much a unaged whiskey with the addition of hops. Often times its made out of a Wheat beer (Weizenbier) and the Bierbrand has a note of Apple or Citrus. Thought it might be interesting. Anyways, greetings from Germany!

[@StillIt]

Ah interesting. I had no idea. Thanks for mentioning it. Another thing to put on the bucket list and try some day.

[@Elmaxo1989]

Another unusual and surprisingly good German one is "Bärlauchbrand." Although I have no idea how they make it. Bärlauch is a kind of herb that grows in the forest with wide leaves that tastes somewhat like garlic (aka "bear garlic"). Never heard of fermenting something like that so maybe it's an infusion.

[@Elric509]

@@Elmaxo1989 it's called ramson in english, ramson garlic sometimes as well

[@seebass0]

It's 6:24am over here and I'm on my way to Somm classes. Thanks to this video I want to drink some whiskey and down some beers.

[@StillIt]

Ayyyeeeee nice! What kinda somm?

[@seebass0]

@@StillIt wine sommelier 🙌🏼

[@StillIt]

Awesome! Enjoy and luck ass!

[@885wc]

Fantastic! What's some good resources and forums to learn about craft hobby distilling? I'll definitely subscribe and check the other videos out.

[@austereuk]

Have you aged it in any wood at all?

[@Angusmetalrules]

My brother had a saison he made that went south so I ran it through my still and it came out a bit harsh but I toasted some oak chips and let it soak for a couple of months and it came out pretty good

[@ferdinandmagallanesii2891]

I'm interested with the off flavor you are getting from it. If it's somewhat vegetal I'm thinking of DMS or if it was a beer left overnight it's estery something like an unripe banana

[@ytrichardsenior]

In the UK we're not allowed to call it whisky until it's been in the barrel for 3 years. Until then it's called 'plain british spirits'. I've been meaning to do exactly this for years but never got around to it. I imagine it has that weird, 'not been in a barrel yet' flavour. Musky.

[@ronhallard3228]

Great video. I have been thinking about doing this for a while. I have 50 litres of beer ready to go. Plan on running 2 stripping runs. Put a little aside to play with and run the rest through reflux and make Vodka.

[@richmanaust]

I had a dozen bottles of an all grain hoppy home brew which I didn't like. It tasted overly wheaty and a rye aftertaste. They sat in my store room for about 6-8 months. Distilled it and it definitely is a scotch style whisky. I whacked a heap of honey in it and it is delicious.

[@MrHoya2013]

Some of the more successful commercial examples I've seen used vacuum/ambient temperature distillation (down to ~20 torr/28 °C) to prevent temperature related changes in the beer -- might avoid some of the funky homebrew boil characteristics you're getting. Also curious about whether the positive hop characteristics would come through more clearly via fresh hops in a gin basket rather than being in solution in the beer.

[@eugenefarley4528]

Are you referring to the terpine smell?

[@elliebellie1983og]

I’ve been gifted a Belgian dubbel beer that fermented too quickly… curious to see what comes out of it as the malt bill has 4 different malts in it (carafoam, Pilsner, 2 others I forgot) and not a lot of hops. Excited to experiment!

[@ThirdLawPair]

What do you do with a big batch of spirits that you don't like?

[@LucasAres]

Hi, love your videos hahahahahah Laugh a lot when you drink it again and couldn't make your mind. i will try to distill beer next week, it will be a distill of Belgian Dubbel with Raisins

[@mariosilva3852]

Hello. I made a whisky from an IPA without dry hopp and for me the smell of the final spirit run has a lot of maltiness, almost caramel or biscuit malts, but the vegetal smell that you are looking for, for me is like boiled artichokes. Regards!!

[@smokinpork]

Glad to see someone do this I wanted to try it lol but now I don’t have to hahaha

[@geoffvandermerwe6220]

Wonder what this would taste like if you turned this batch into an Odin`s Gin! The coriander and pepper spicy flavors from the juniper and some added tonic water would make an interesting complex flavor. Maybe I will try this sometime ! Great video bro !

[@JasonasaurausRex]

Hey! Where did you find that shirt?

[@StillIt]

Its dope aye? A company called "into the AM".

[@DroneRecon]

Great video, You put plates in so we’re you trying to run a neutral Spirit?

[@wayned5872]

Have me thinking, what would hefeweisen/ wheat beer be like distilled?

[@StillIt]

To be honest I think it would be better suited to this. We went for the APA because it was available, and also kinda pushed the concept to the extreem

[@chefprov]

There is a distillery in Tennessee “Corsair” they make a hop infused whisky,,, infusing fresh hops in a gin basket. If you are a IPA FREAK, and whisky lover,,, it’s fantastic! Especially in the heat of summer over ice. I usually have my whisky neat, this is the exception. They don’t start with beer, but infuse the hell out of the hops ,!

[@davecoleman6855]

I did the same with an old keg of beer. I didn't like the result. Force aged with highly burnt white oak which improved the product. Asked my partner's thoughts. She said try adding a piece of cinnamon stick to some. Turned out not bad.

[@mountaintosea2101]

Great vid jesse. Need more still time though...

[@ChrisGearys]

Could it be DMS that you're smelling. It's an off flavor in beer which may be concentrated in the still? Gives a celery or sweetcorn flavour

[@jarverm9148]

Is it 4 loco y?

[@TheMichaellathrop]

Is it a yeast smell?

[@RussellStClair-cy1vu]

Yes 20 liters and age it in a used whiskey barrel . Do a yearly review . With guest KZbinrs .

[@chibsahoyy]

We're can I get that shirt

[@johnbeach2770]

I distilled an expired case of Octoberfest beer. The beer was still good, but I had a still and thought what the heck...the beer is malty and lightly hopped and honestly it made an awesome spirit! Aged a little on oak, I want to make more!

[@philhdmi7837]

Can you distill already age wiskey ?

[@xpy1000]

Pivovice, they have it in some of the special bars in Prague CZ.

[@JesseGowan]

You mentioned something about a cardboard taste in the final product. Where I live home distilling is possible but a hassel to get government permission, so I only homebrew beer. Because of this, cold side oxidation is constantly on my mind for my own beer and it make me wonder if the spirit would not taste as much like cardboard if you stated a siphon to the bottom of your still instead of pouring the beer in and allowing it to splash. I can't imagine it making a difference but it would be a cool experiment to try.

[@bococlacko9380]

Try proofing it up to 55 with THE SAME BEER! Not water, you madman.

[@StillIt]

Yeah that would be a good idea. I actually tried adding this to a few different beers with varying success.

[@bococlacko9380]

@@StillIt In that case, it might even be interesting to dilute it down to somewhere around 20% and treat it like a sake... Thoughts? I can't really imagine what it's like, though, so I could be completely wrong :P

[@jong2359]

@@bococlacko9380 mmm sake...

[@mrastleysghost]

@@StillIt Age it in a barrel previously used for beer?

[@niklasedg]

Somewhat similar to this: have you ever tried or considered distilling a mash made primarily with roasted/chocolate malt? Kind of like distilling a stout but without hops and with a substantially larger amount of roasted grain? Would probably come through pretty strong.

[@paulstrouth1306]

Could it be an oil?

[@troyw.holmfsamaaa3800]

Was beer whisky! Noice! I do this with old or stale beer all the time.

[@nickgraham5855]

Running distilled beer foreshots into a CookieTime milk bottle has gotta be one of the most kiwi things that's ever been done!

[@StillIt]

🤣🤣🤣 too true