How to Create Artisanal Spirits Through Distillation

Distillation Methods for Craft Spirit Production

When people think of spirits, most commonly they envision vodka, rum, whiskey and liqueurs. But what sets these beverages apart from beers or wines fermented with yeast (nondistilled alcohols)? Distillation.

Spirit distilling involves extracting alcohol from water through evaporation and condensation – a crucial step that sets spirits apart from non-distilled drinks like beer and wine. When distilling spirits, undesirable vapors known as “heads” often evaporate first – these include lethal amounts of methanol alcohol along with volatile compounds that disrupt flavor profiles. Disstillers typically discard these heads before running the liquid through another distillation called “heart,” which captures most of its desirable flavors.

At this stage, the distillate has reached approximately 80% to 90% alcohol content and requires additional distillations steps in order to reach its desired proof level.

Once their product has been made, many distillers choose to age it further before bottling and selling it. At this stage of distilling production lies the real art of craft distilling: this is when important decisions about aging should be made; including how long, type of barrel/bottle to use etc. However, unlike in beer or wine production there are no set regulations as such on what defines an “artisanal spirits producer,” so most will make independent choices regarding aging to achieve desired results.