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Distiller’s Perspective: Making Craft Whiskey from Craft Beer at Berkshire Mountain

William Winn, operations manager at Berkshire Mountain Distillers in Sheffield, Massachusetts, explains how they got into making whiskey out of beer—eventually leading to their Craft Brewers Whiskey Project—and what they’ve learned from the process. As told to Ryan Pachmayer.

William Winn Apr 14, 2024 - 10 min read

Distiller’s Perspective: Making Craft Whiskey from Craft Beer at Berkshire Mountain Primary Image

Photos: Courtesy Berkshire Mountain Distillers

“Our owner, Chris Weld, reached out to Sam Adams about doing a collaboration project—he wanted to combine the worlds of craft whiskey and craft beer. Chris and Sam Adams’ Jim Koch put together the details, and eventually we distilled Boston Lager as well as a bock-style beer.

“The process was similar to what we do here [with] everything in the distillery—we taste every barrel of the product every six months to a year. We aged these for four years and then ended up releasing them a little bit after.

“The project was great. It piqued the interest of a lot of craft-beer drinkers and a lot of people who aren’t too familiar with distilling as a whole. We got the common question of, ‘Oh, I didn’t know you could distill beer?’ Beer is fermented grain, and then whiskey is distilled grain. So, it’s kind of a one-two step.”

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William Winn is the operations manager at Berkshire Mountain Distillers in Sheffield, Massachusetts.

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