What You’ll Learn: Toolkits, Not Recipes

Let’s start with the goal. The goal is to educate you—to make you better prepared to become a craft distiller, and to become a better distiller over time.

Quick summary

The goal

Over the last decade, a lot of investigation and research went into mashing, fermenting, and distilling. The point of sharing those findings is simple: help you make quality drinks more confidently, with less effort, less failure, and more reproducibility.

So if we get started, let's start with the first point. To make you better prepared at becoming a craft distiller. And the reason we can do that is because basically over the last ten years...

Myself and my staff have investigated anything and everything... Related to fermenting, mashing and distilling. And having learned a tremendous amount and having done a tremendous amount of scientific research...

Who it’s for

We felt, and we still feel today, that we are in a very good position... To educate and to share our findings with you. The goal is to educate you so that you can become a better distiller...

In such a way that you can make more confidently and more quality drinks... With less effort, less failure, more reproducibility. That's a question that we get asked a lot.

If you’re brand new

We have students who are starting a distillery and don’t know anything yet. For them, we start at a low level and build knowledge step by step.

It's very difficult to answer that question... Because we have people here that want to start up a distillery and they don't know anything. So they're new to the business and they learn a lot.

We also have people from, for example, Kentucky and from Scotland over... That are master distillers working for big companies... Having been in the distilling industry for two decades, sometimes three decades.

If you’re already experienced

We also get master distillers—people with decades in Kentucky, Scotland, and big companies. Sometimes they arrive a bit grumpy on day one. By the end of that day, they usually see the logic, connect it to their own SOPs, and become the biggest messengers of what they learned.

So yes: the course is built so that almost everyone takes away more than “just something.”.

Because the owners of the companies they work for tell them to come here... Because maybe they're considering purchasing an iStill. Usually on the first day they start a bit grumpy because they're like...

Yes, we know everything about distilling. who do you guys think you are that you're going to tell us how things work? At the end of the first day they're usually our biggest disciples.

Is it iStill biased?

If iStill, you might think: “This is the iStill training, so it must be biased.” My answer is: no, it isn’t—and yes, it is.

The messengers that sort of spread the news of what we have to share. And they're like, hey, we now get what we're actually doing. We understand our standard operator procedures all of a sudden.

You should really listen to what those guys have to say... Because it makes total sense and it's of a really, really high level. So I think everybody takes away something, and a bit more than just something.

Traditional and modern equipment

You’ll learn the basics of traditional approaches (pot stills, copper stills, plated/bubble-cap setups). You’ll also learn about modern designs (packed columns, continuous distillation), and practical comparisons like stainless steel versus copper.

It's a course that is suited for anybody. If you are new, we'll start at a low level. We'll introduce more and more knowledge over the course, over the videos.

If you are already a very experienced distiller... You'll learn how to manipulate your process in such a way... That you can make better whisky, better gin, better liqueurs, better vodka.

Toolkits vs procedures

A lot of trainings are procedure-oriented: “Do A, B, C, and you’ll make this exact whisky.” That approach can get you a result, but it also keeps you stuck copying someone else. The goal here is to help you make your whisky.

So instead of telling you exactly what to do, we teach you why things happen, and how to influence the outcome. That gives you a toolkit you can apply to your market, your sensory system, and your product.

IStill buyers, that's an important question. If about us, if about me, you're probably thinking... Hey, this is the iStill university, the iStill training.

It isn't, because we're basically telling the scientific facts... That our understanding and very deep level of understanding results... In us designing these somewhat modern and different-looking stills...

Theory, then practice

Theory alone is limited by definition. That’s why the course is designed in two parts: first the theory (mashing, fermentation, distilling, different spirit categories), then practical work—because you only build skill by practicing.

If you want a foundation for the “distilling is a process” mindset that ties everything together, jump to the five core steps of the process.

Is a consequence of the knowledge that we gathered over the last years... It's not like we were handed a design... Through our great-great-grandfathers on how a copper traditional still works...

Now we have to invent a theory to explain how it works... We educated ourselves on how distillation works. And from that experience, we started to design stills that actually made sense to us...

The iStill Mini (hands-on)

The hands-on part is built around the iStill Mini—a small still that lets you run different setups (pot, column, packed column, and more) with tools like power management, agitation, and extraction. The point is to train you at your own table—garage, kitchen, or new building—and teach you how to read what’s happening and make sense of it.

Through the theories that we actually found and partially had to invent. Yes, because you'll learn about distilling. The basics, a pot still, a traditional copper still, a plated bubble cap still.

But we'll also tell you about modern designs, like columns with packing... Like continuous distillation equipment, stainless steel versus copper. The goal is not to convince you to purchase an iStill.

Certification, community, and cost

At the end of the theory portion, you can take a theoretical exam. After the practical portion, you make and refine five products (brandy, whisky, vodka, gin, and a liqueur). When you’re happy, you ship bottles to us; we taste, judge, and give feedback. If they meet the standard of what we taught, you get certified.

Good education can save you from expensive mistakes—and even expensive consultants—because you can learn to make your own products. The course also includes a community group where people help each other with practical questions (cuts, pumps, labeling machines, and more).

The goal is, and has always been, to educate you... So that you can make better decisions... And thus become a better, more successful craft distiller in the longer run.

If you make better decisions, you'll be happier down the road. If it turns out that you became a customer... Because you believe that the theories that we share with you are incredibly valuable...