Talking with a friend... distilling beer?

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OpenSights

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Obviously scorching would be a concern, but has anyone tried it? If possible, what would be a good/bad style? Or possible at all?
 
Yeah, I meant your typical commercial whiskey

I could be wrong but I am pretty sure most whiskeys, just like Scotch (which is a style of whisky) are hop less, due to there being no need for the bittering or preserving nature of them, and because the oils can both potentially "contaminate" the condenser and leave a off flavour to the finished product, at least in comparison to if it had been hopless
 
I would love to be wrong but I've heard that any hops at all will cause a nasty flavor in the distillate.

Slightly OT, but I wonder what something darker with roast and crystal malts with a super malty flavor like an Octoberfest (without the hops) would taste like compared to the standard super pale single-malt?
 
I would love to be wrong but I've heard that any hops at all will cause a nasty flavor in the distillate.

lol, it's your lucky day! try it for yourself, brew a 10 gal batch of IPA, distill 5 gals of it, then add the distillate back to the other 5 gals.....'SIPA' (Super IPA!) :tank::mug:
 
I would love to be wrong but I've heard that any hops at all will cause a nasty flavor in the distillate.

Slightly OT, but I wonder what something darker with roast and crystal malts with a super malty flavor like an Octoberfest (without the hops) would taste like compared to the standard super pale single-malt?

You can do hopped beer, but you have to go slow to keep the hop oils from going into your column from what I've read.

And I saw a thread on homedistiller that listed the taste effects of different specialty grain.
 
A friend of mine mashed and fermented 30lbs of chocolate malt. Needles to say, it failed to ferment. Instead of tossing, he added sugar and re-pitched with much greater success. The distillate tasted like... Chocolate!! Quite pleasant.

LOL, reminds me of when i was 17-18 and first getting into homebrewing.....tried mashing raw rye berries thinking it would work!
 
I had a small distillery's hop whiskey once. They called it Hopsky. Actually was pretty good. I was at a Brews and Blues in Hermann Mo and don't remember who made it. There was a stout cask whiskey that was excellent there too. Good time.
 
A friend of mine mashed and fermented 30lbs of chocolate malt. Needles to say, it failed to ferment. Instead of tossing, he added sugar and re-pitched with much greater success. The distillate tasted like... Chocolate!! Quite pleasant.

Did they add or use any enzymes? Without a good helping of them added there wouldn't have been any usable sugars extracted from the grain.

Though I could easily see that being a delicious sugarhead. Honey malt is also a great addition like that too.
 
Charbay does a hopped whiskey using Racer 5 IPA as a base. It has a night “green” note to it but not what you’d call a traditional hop flavor.
 
Did they add or use any enzymes? Without a good helping of them added there wouldn't have been any usable sugars extracted from the grain.

I don't know, but I'll try to find out.
 
I going to try this sometime this year. I have heard plenty of stories about more complex worts getting distilled. Stout whisky for example. My initial idea is to brew up 10 gallons of my Brown ale which is not terribly hoppy, ferment 1/2 for beer and 1/2 for distillation. Might do a stout, might do a rye beer.
 
I going to try this sometime this year. I have heard plenty of stories about more complex worts getting distilled. Stout whisky for example. My initial idea is to brew up 10 gallons of my Brown ale which is not terribly hoppy, ferment 1/2 for beer and 1/2 for distillation. Might do a stout, might do a rye beer.

Hope it works out well for you. One of my favourite whiskeys was a second running from a dark roasted braggot that was abv bumped with sugar (so a sugarhead whisky).

The roasted notes worked amazingly with the slight sweetness from the sugar ferment, and when oaked was easily one of the better whiskeys I have drank.
 
WTF even is "two roll"? Toilet tissue?



Edit: just wanted to add, the Original Gangster is likely the one doing time and brewing said toilet paper moonshine. And getting shanked with a toothbrush shiv. Or is that shived with a shank?
 
Sorry, but single malt scotch is made from 100% mRted barley. Irish whiskey is made from unmalted barley plus other grains (sometimes).
 
WTF even is "two roll"? Toilet tissue?



Edit: just wanted to add, the Original Gangster is likely the one doing time and brewing said toilet paper moonshine. And getting shanked with a toothbrush shiv. Or is that shived with a shank?

Alright Ahole, I shouldn' trust my phone. Two row. Happy now?
 
Sorry, but single malt scotch is made from 100% mRted barley. Irish whiskey is made from unmalted barley plus other grains (sometimes).

Irish is also usually triple distilled where Scotch is usually double distilled. And Scotch is usually older. With exceptions.
 
(it was a joke, but as it's more delicate than other options, and I'm partial to the Laphroaig and Lagavulin end, ie the polar opposite of delicate, there's some personal truth to it)
 
Yes and that is what gives Scotch it's stronger flavor. It took me years to aquire a taste for Scotch. I love it now.
That and peat. Scotch is peated. I’d imagine if you made a beer without hops and distilled that, what you’d end up with would be more like Irish Whiskey.

Scotch is usually aged in used barrels, where bourbon by law must be aged in new American charred oak barrels. Bourbon by law must also be at least 51% corn - most mash bills are more like 85% or more.
 
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Single malt refers to being from a single distillery. The alternative is blended from multiple distilleries.

All whisk(e)y is grain based, not just Scotch. Scotch and Irish Whisky are both malted barley based.
This is correct. The terms “single” and “malt” are not modifiers of each other. Single means juice from one distillery. The opposite of single is blended. Some whiskies incorporate juice from 3 dozen distilleries. Malt just means malted barley. The terms are not connected and do not relate to each other.

Blended whiskies are not bad. Johnnie Walker is a prime example. I’ve also enjoyed Chivas since my earliest days of tasting scotch.
 
Scotch must be made at least partially wIt’s Barley and be 3 years old minimum.

Generally all Scotch is blended from several distilleries.
Single Malt means it is made only from Barley.
Blended Scotch has Grain Alcohol added to the blend.
A Single Single is a Scotch from a Single barrel. They are $$$$$ and are hit or miss.

There. Is a Master Blender who blends the Scotch from year to year to get the same taste year after year. Each distillery Makes the main part of the blend and adds different Scotch to get the taste.

This is true for Single Ma


If you buy a 10 year old Scotch, the youngest Scotch in that blend is 10 years old. Other added Scotch may be much older. It is up to the Master Blender.
Not all Scotch is peaty. Generally, only those from Islay are peaty. It comes from malting the Barley using peat for the fire. You can get peat smoked barley to use in brewing beer.

in the old days, each distillery had it’s own malting floor, but now it is done elsewhere.


Scotch is aged in Used bourbon barrels. They may be used 3 times for Scotch. They are stored inn where houses and turned over on a set schedule. The floor is below grade and gravel. Some of the tastes come from the environment (like iodine if stored near the sea)

Some are finished in Sherry,wine or Port barrels.

Unless Cask Strenght, water is added to cut to desired proof .
 
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