potato vodka recipe

[thelegion]

I have not found a detailed potato vodka recipe until now, this is not mine but from another site. There seems to a lot of interest but not a lot of detailed info on the topic, so here is what I found.

http://www.distillique.co.za/documents/potatovodka.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow



To ferment, distill and make Potato vodka is harder than most people think and you need a bit of experience to get them right.

Books make it sound so easy because they tend to simpIify the process and take for granted that you have a full understanding and experience of all the steps involved quite often leaving out some of the elementary steps.


Recipe 1:
What you will do is what is called a Stepped Infusion Mash. This is where you start the saccharification process at a low temperature and then move it up in steps, halting for a certain time period at each step to give each enzyme time to break down as much as they can at each stage.

If you have made beer in the past using an all-grain mash you will understand the process.

Cook your potatoes (12kg) so they are still stiff - about 12- 15 minutes at reasonable heat. Up to 20 minutes at low heat. Note they should still be a bit undercooked, definitely not soft, mushy, or floury. Mash the potatoes and let cool down to room temp.

Add coarsely milled malted barley (2kg with milled particles mostly about 1mm to 2mm in size. Definitely not too fine.).

Cover with sufficient water (topp up mash to 20 litres) and bring to 45 C. Hold 15 minutes stirring regularly.
Bring up to 133 F (56 C). Hold 15 minutes etc.
Bring up to 149 F (65 C). Hold 15 minutes stirring constantly.
Bring up to 158 F (70 C). Hold 15 minutes stirring constantly.

All up this makes 60 minutes which should suffice for the small batch.

Once virtually all the starch is liquified and broken down to simple sugars halt the enzymatic process by raising the temp to 80 C (Mashing Out) and then drop it back as quickly (use coolant if necessary) as possible to between 60 C and 50 C so the sugars dont get scorched or burnt.

Cool down further to 24 C, establish an SG of 1.060 (min) to 1.090 (max = ideal) and begin fermentation.

Ferment until SG < 1.00

Distilling:
For potatoe vodka: Distill to achieve alcohol levels purer than 90% and only trace amounts of potatoe flavours. Cut back with distilled water to 43%. Let air for 24 hours before bottling.

For potatoe mampoer: Distill to between 45% and 75% (according to taste) The lower the alcohol % the more intense the potatoe character will be. Do not double distill as it will result in lower flavour.

For both mampoer and vodka: Aging for 3-12 weeks in glass with corked tops will improve smoothness/mouthfeel.

RECIPE 2:
Ingredients:
20-25kg potatoes
1kg of barley, malted and gristed
50-100g of good Turbo Yeast.
Some fresh water
Equipment needed:
30 litre beer fermenter
A large (30-50litre) kettle (I use a milk can...)
A meat grinder (for mashing the potatoes)
A large scoop or a "wash paddle"
A hotplate with a thermostat

Method:
Clean all the dirt from the potatoes, (don't bother to peel them)
Put the potatoes in to kettle and cover them with water, bring to boil. Cook until the first ones break down -this should take about 1hr. In meanwhile hydrate the yeast and mix 1kg malt and 2litre of water.
Pour the water out from the kettle. Mash the potatoes in the grinder while they are hot. (If done right the mash looks like thick porridge.)
Put the mash to kettle (and adjust the hotplates temperature to 60C). Add 1/3 of the malt to the kettle and stir well. Wait until the temperature has dropt to 55C. Add the rest of the hydrated malt and stir in well. Let sit there for about 2 hours. Stir often. (If done right the wash should have turned flowing.)
Turn the hotplate off. Put the kettle in somewhere cool. When the temperature has dropped down to 25C pour to fermenter and add yeast (no nutrients needed). First carbon dioxide bubbles should rise after couple of hours; main fermenting takes about two days, ready for distilling in four days -if you have done everything as written. Result will be a 7-12vol% mash, depending the starch level of potatoes.
Once the mash has fermented dry, distill as in Recipe 1.