Expert: Matt Dick - 5/3/2008

Question
what is pot still method of beer distilling?

Answer
Well I think your question requires some clarification.  A beer is not distilled, it's brewed.  "Brew" means, specifically, to boil.  In beer brewing it refers generally to boiling a mash of grains and hops and various adjuncts into a mash called "wort".  Yeast is then pitched into the wort and that yeast goes about making beer which is then bottled or kegged and that's all.

Distilling is a process by which an alcoholic liquid is concentrated.  Beer is not distilled.  A "still" is specifically a piece of equipment for distilling a fermented liquid into a spirit, like whiskey, vodka, run, tequila, etc.

A pot still is the most common type of still for making whiskeys.  Often a whiskey mash and a beer wort can be similar, but you would not put your beer through a distilling process.

Thanks for the question!

Matt