I have read in many books that if a person could get some out dated beer that it definitely is a source of
alcohol... A bad batch of wine falls into the same category.


I would use a fractioning still rather than a pot still for this.

I've done it a few times and it turns out good. But Scotty's right about useing a reflux instead of pot for processing you'll get a better product.
I ran my first batch thru the pot still and it came out OK, well pretty good actually, but it was brewed with 3 Lb malted barley and 6 Lb of dry dark malt, 9%ABV.
Also ran a batch of amber ale, 10.5% ABV, and it turned out pretty good, but i ended up puting it thru the reflux as it was'nt as good as the dark beer product.
The hops flavor did'nt create a problem for my taste buds, but then I happen to like the flavor of hops.
I'd say run it thru the pot and see if you like it, if not then run it thru the reflux.

Have Fun.

Beer is basically a low alcohol wash, so it'll work. Most beer is, what, 4-5% alcohol, so you'll end up with 1/2 to 1/3 of what you'd get from a 10-12% wash. Wine works pretty well. It's how I tested my still while I was waiting for my first wash to be done. It made brandy that had pretty ok flavor, considering I drank it right up without aging it at all.

Interesting info about the hops oils making extra cleaning necessary.

"just adding a tidbit.....a buddy of mine has access to used kegs --like returned empties. He was aloud to take em home and ---reflux--the remaining beer out of em and put that in his airboat. He would add 2-3 gallons of water back to the keg and then cook. He said it would burn great since it was virtually devoid of water, but to add he said that it needed what little water was left in it for the compression in the motor!!!! I'm not a mechanic or a motor head but thats what was passed on to me by someone who is.
Of course we all know you can remove the spout from the keg add a tower cook out the etoh and then replace the spout for returning it back to the store."

That is an interesting point, all the excess beer returned to breweries, dumped by them, even pubs could theoretically set up a collection apparatus at the taps...

Sounds like free alcohol to me, and depending on the beer, shouldn't be too bad on the hops. Most American lagers are a joke, 10 IBUs or so. Darker and weaker beers would be the best after that, they would have roasted instead of hop bitterness, guiness anyone? But if you distill an IPA, you might have some hop oils to deal with.

Interesting application, i wonder if this could be a legal side project for a craft brewery to reuse their returned or dumped beer....

Thought ya all might like to see this, it is a 4ml vial that has about 3ml of hops oil in it which is how much oil I extracted from 1 1/2Lb of hops.
Click on the picture to see a larger size.

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What in the hell does chili have to do with distilling beer??????

Dang..I had some vibes there was tricksters in the general vicinity. Is this some kinda Halloween deal maybe? Hope it aint another one of them crazy IQ tests again. Actually think I did get the point..you was trying to warn folks not to worry about how much stinky hops oil they would have to deal with in their hooch makers. It seems sorta Elementary Dear Watson..lol. You and your pals break me plumb up.