Anyone try this?

What would happen if I disstilled my imperial IPA?

You'd end up with as small amount ethanol, with little, if any IPA, flavor and you could go to jail for it.

It depends on your method. The freezing process that brewers are using to create these 20,40,50+ ABV beers is a form of distillation. There's practical limits to how far you can go but these guys are getting big bucks for the stuff so let's give them the benefit of the doubt and say that it's reasonably tasty. I'm not sure what you'd get with steam distilling, but I would side with BB's assessment.

New Holland has Hopquila and their description of the process sounds like just dry hopping tequila.

It would essentially be a whiskey, though your wash would be quite low in alcohol and full of adjuncts that wouldn't normally be there.

When I think of distillation, I think of steam. Ice brewing is a whole different animal and that might yield some good results.

Works great for whiskey, you will not get the IPA flavors but you will get sweet grain flavors, char some oak and let soak for a month and cut with distilled water to the strength you like.

Thats what I was told. And yep its illegal in the US.

Now that we are all green we should be looking forward to some legislation so we can recycle any bad beers.

the main difference is that they ferment the mash. Pretty sure distiller's yeast is let to "run" hot and fast. They are just concerned with making the alcohol which then gets distilled off.

I think you could probably get just as good results by taking your favorite distilled beverage and dry hopping it.

If you are distilling for the purpose of creating fuel it is legal in the US. In fact, at least up to a couple of years ago, there were federal tax incentives for producing ethanol for fuel. You can find some amazing stils on line for a couple hundred bucks. I guess it's a little like growing opium poppies, it's perfectly legal unless you are intending to put them in your body. I don't know if you would get any flavor from the hops. It would be clear in color unless left on oak or something to color it.

Ive tried several beer schnaps. Most dont taste like beer at all. Best one so far was the Aventinus that kept its wheat bock caracter.

"If you are distilling for the purpose of creating fuel it is legal in the US."

Yes, but I think you have to have a license and it has to be denatured immediately after production.

The hop bitterness comes through in the distillation so you would end up with a bitter whisky. I know scotch and irish whiskies are made with a beer yeast and fermented at low temps to avoid fusel alcohol production.

The first run of distilling is call the beer stripping run. It strip the lower alchols out and most of the flavor as well.

Its also about pressure. I did a destilling class and regulating the pressure brought out very different results in flavor. Very interesting.

Dale, the man form the hill doesn't bring bitter whiskey and he uses beer.

edit

AZ, how is he distilling and does he make deep cuts and throw out much of his distillate. I never had good luck with hoppy beer. Poca, many home distillers toss about half of their distillate, irish and scotch distillers do not toss anything because they pay taxes on all alcohol produced. They make cuts, keep the middles and save the rest to add to the next batch, this is for consistancity Good whisky comes from good beer, only no hops. Whether it is fermented on the grain or not is another story.

Dale, i sent you an email.

Isn't their a German "bierliquer" or something along the lines of that?

brewkid:
There are some breweries who let licenced destilleries make their beerschnaps.
Schnaps in Germany has mostly 38+% vol and is clear and not sweat. What we call liquer has ~15-30 % vol and is more or less sweet and not clear.