A method comprising contacting an alcohol, a feed comprising one or more glycerides and equal to or greater than 2 wt % of one or more free fatty acids, and a solid acid catalyst, a nanostructured polymer catalyst, or a sulfated zirconia catalyst in one or more reactors, and recovering from the one or more reactors an effluent comprising equal to or greater than about 75 wt % alkyl ester and equal to or less than about 5 wt % glyceride.