“Whiskey is what beer wants to be when it grows up”

“Whiskey is what beer wants to be when it grows up” is a saying that has been printed on many images. The distilling process is similar for both beer and whiskey.
 
The saying has been cited in print since at least 2009.
 
     
Google Books
The Art of Distilling Whiskey and Other Spirits:
An Enthusiast’s Guide to the Artisan Distilling of Potent Potables

Edited by Bill Owens and Alan Dikty
Beverly, MA: Quarry Books
2009
Pg. 19:
One erstwhile brewer framed his transition from beer to liquor with this aphorism: Whiskey is what beer wants to be when it grows up.
 
Twitter
Paul H.‏
@phletko
Whiskey is what beer wants to be when it grows up.
3:19 PM - 17 Jan 2010
   
The Daily Northwesgtern (Evanston, IL)
Evanston considers proposals for microbrewery, distillery
Sarah Freishtat
November 7, 2010
(...)
“Whiskey is what beer wants to be when it grows up,” Hletko said.
 
14 June 2013, Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN), “Dreams of craft beer dont exclude liquor: For Bartley Blume of Shoreview, brewing is cool, but distilling is sexy. His first beer debuts this weekend” by Michael Rietmulder, pg. E1:
While Blume’s Bent Brewstillery might not be a first- (or even second-) wave Minnesota microbrewery, it has an important distinction. As the name suggests, Bent will both brew beer and distill spirits, namely whiskey.
 
”[The] beer definitely came first, but as we all know, whiskey is what beer wants to be when it grows up,” Blume said. “To me, it felt like the next logical progression.”
   
16 April 2014, Star-Phoenix (Saskatoon, Sask.), “Behind the scenes at LB Distillers” by Jenn SHarp, pg. N20:
In fact, the process is very similar to making beer.
 
“Whisky is what beer wants to be when it grows up.”
   
Metro (Philadelphia, PA)
March 24 2016
Who knew? Philly is a whiskey town
A.D. AMOROSI
(...)
The first thing that turned up grain production in Pennsylvania was, in Field’s opinion, the craft beer boom of the ’90s.
 
“People who were making beer found you could translate that knowledge to whiskey distilling,” she says. “It’s a different art, but a lot of old beer guys are new distillers. You do know that whiskey is what beer wants to be when it grows up.”
 
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Hello Joburg Magazine added 2 new photos.
September 20, 2016 ·
Whisky is what beer wants to be when it grows up & on that note we highly recommend you visit WhiskyBrother Hyde Park Corner Cheers chooseday
 
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Omaha World-Herald with Patriarch Distillers/Soldier Valley Spirits.
January 31, 2017 ·
Some say whiskey is what beer wants to be when it grows up 🤷. Find out for yourself now with this 50% off #DailyDeal to Patriarch Distillers/Soldier Valley Spirits!