Potato Vodka

Godstilla · Post by **Godstilla** » Mon Nov 10, 2008 6:34 pm

I understand that you must convert the starch to glucose, and this is done by the use of enzymes. I have read that by letting pealed potatoes be open to oxygen allows the enzyme polyphenol oxidase to do its thing, which is turn the potato brown. If you did let the potatoes brown before boiling them would enough enzymes be present for the conversion? I want to do this without sugar. I'm trying to replicate how the POWs at Stalag luft 3 during WW2 might have made it.

Thanks

Post by **Dnderhead** » Tue Nov 11, 2008 7:13 pm

I see on net that they are using a mold that gits better conversions on potatoes ,must be something like they do japanese wine.

Uncle Remus · Post by **Uncle Remus** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 9:54 am

Freezing potatoes also converts some of the starches to fermentable sugars.

Post by **Hawke** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 1:04 pm

Also read somewhere that soft(but not rotton) taters work better.
Would letting them sprout first help?

Post by **rad14701** » Wed Nov 12, 2008 2:49 pm

Hawke wrote:Would letting them sprout first help?

Sprouting in the dark might work but if they receive daylight and start turning green as they sprout they won't work...

Trapperjones · Post by **Trapperjones** » Sun Nov 30, 2008 12:19 pm

I remember when I was young they took big bags of potatoes in burlap and put then in the river for a week or two. They made the mash from the softened potatoes but they added a few gallsons of blackstrap molasses too.

kazanas · Post by **kazanas** » Tue Dec 22, 2009 12:11 pm

Hello lads, new in forum
Once, a Polish guy, gave me a recipy for potato vodka, but never tried it.
Take a 100 lit plastic barrel
Put potatoes to the top and then put them out and weight them.
Put them in again , place the barrel in a dark place and fill it with water
After two weeks, put 1/3 of potatos weight, sugar , and 100 gr yeast
Leave it for another three weeks
After that time, throw away the potatos, and distill the liquid.
He said it was the authentic polish recipy for vodka.

Post by **guittarmaster** » Thu Aug 26, 2010 11:53 am

Currently i'm making a potato Vodka. What i have used is a 5lb bag of old potatoes that had been in a drawer in the kitchen for like... maybe a month. I forgot i even had them.

They had sprouted eyes and were soft. I then used a cheese grater on them... think tater-tot sized chunks and boiled them for about 4 hours until they had completely broken down and i was left with a VERY thick potato soup. Then took that soup, placed 1/2 of it in 2 different 5gallon fermenters, filled half way with water, then added 2.5 lbs of sugar and pitched my yeast when it was cool enough. If you do this make sure you have plenty of head room as originally i used just one 5 gal. fermenter and it foamed through my air-lock and made a HUGE mess. It had to stay in the bath tub over night!

Kentucky shinner · Post by **Kentucky shinner** » Thu Aug 26, 2010 12:31 pm

guitarmaster, how did it taste after you distilled it?

Post by **guittarmaster** » Mon Sep 20, 2010 8:03 pm

Kentucky shinner wrote:Re: Potato Vodka
by Kentucky shinner » Thu Aug 26, 2010 1:31 pm

guitarmaster, how did it taste after you distilled it?

Good... It wasn't as "neutral" as I was going for but it has a unique flavor I sometimes like. Strangely it didn't have much of a "potato" or "baked potato" flavor but a hard-to-describe full-body generic starch flavor. Some days I love it. After I eat beef or pork the taste is AMAZING, slightly savory... otherwise it sits on the shelf.

Either way, after I get this next batch of rum into the still I'll start some more and infuse what I currently have with bacon and age it with a LITTLE bit of oak chips! twice baked vodka. LOL

(and if that sucks i'll just re-distill it

)

CUwithSNSB · Post by **CUwithSNSB** » Mon Sep 27, 2010 4:13 pm

here is a recipe I found for Potato Wine or "Sneaky Pete"

one gallon ( 3.8 liters)

4 lbs potatoes
1 lb raisins
sugar or honey until SG is about 1.100
1/2 tsp pectic enzyme (brewshop -- search web)
1 vitamin B complex tablet --crushed
250 mg vitamin C ( anti oxidant)
water to make 1 gallon

Scrub potatos clean, slice and boil in about 1/2 gallon water until tender. Remove potatos and discard... add sugars/honey. Chop raisins and add to Hot must... add pectic enzyme and crushed vitamin B... pour into fermentor and let cool to 70 *f and 1/2 tsp wine yeast. ferment until SG 1.030-1.050.... rack into secondary fermentor add air lock let settle ...

I also saw a similar recipe that boils the spuds until soft, mash them, reboil then strain into primary fermentor, add all ingredients EXCEPT yeast, after 24 hours and when must has cooled to 68-70*F then add yeast....

I know there are variation of this recipe.. this is one I'll be giving a try in a few weeks.....

cheers

Post by **guittarmaster** » Fri Oct 15, 2010 9:13 pm

update on the potato vodka.
After allowing oak chips to work for about a month and charcoal filtering back to clear, it is amazing! no desire to infuse it with bacon!

Kentucky shinner · Post by **Kentucky shinner** » Sat Oct 16, 2010 3:31 am

sounds interesting. I hay have to give this one a try sometime.
KS