Anyone have experience brewing with potatoes?

[Bernie Brewer]

I have wondered what yams would taste like. Added bonus might be an orange color too!

You could try this recipe from the database for yams. It's partial mash. I never made it, but it looks interesting.

 

[DrunkTrucker]

I bet yams would bring a pretty cool flavor to the brew. I will definately try those in the fall. I made a pumkin beer last fall and it had a big squash flavor. I let one of the guys I work with have some. He didn't quite know what to make of it I think. I don't think he was prepared for something like that.

 

[mrk305]

'Tater beer update. This was bottled on May 31st. I tried a 12 oz sample last night after a week in the bottles and it was a nice clean light colored beer with a very different mouthfeel to it. Even though it was ice cold, it had a warm alchohol taste. Hard to evaluate after only a week, but it seems like it is going to be pretty good.

 

[beerthirty]

no wonder it tasted like vodka! I forgot the grain.

 

[Bernie Brewer]

Bump. Any more updates????

 

[Revvy]

I just heard something interesting on NPR's the splendid table today...It was an interview with the author of the book "How to pick a Peach." He talked about various ways to store and not store produce...(some chemical reactions that happen if the wrong things are referigerated, like peaches).

Anyway, he mentioned that if you put potatoes into the fridge, they spontaneously convert their starch into sugar....he said it was an interesting and pleasant flavor.

It got me thinking about doing that first...sticking them in the fridge to let the starch convert and then mashing them....

Hmmm...I wonder if you soaked the potatoes in water in the fridge, if the sugar would somehow leach off into the water....sort of a cold temp mash...

the book looks cool. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/05...mp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0547053800

 

[BrewBeemer]

can potatoes and beer really be a good thing?

Yes just add some meat then you have a German's main staple.

My grand parents had a potato press they used with a cotton
sack to squeeze the extra starch and liquids out of the grated potatos
in making potato dumplings. The starch was saved and added to their homebrews.
Prohibition didn't stop their brewing at all dad recalled when he was young.

 

[Teacher]

Yes just add some meat then you have a German's main staple.

My grand parents had a potato press they used with a cotton
sack to squeeze the extra starch and liquids out of the grated potatos
in making potato dumplings. The starch was saved and added to their homebrews.
Prohibition didn't stop their brewing at all dad recalled when he was young.

My grandfather is German-American and all I can say is...you're damn right! Grandpa made quick-and-cheap beer up until the 70s. According to him, "It wasn't great, but it got the job done!" I'm proud to announce, however, that about fourteen years ago I inadvertently converted him to Sam Adams dark beers by simply bringing him a sixer to dinner one night. Since that time, Grandpa -- who turned 90 this last February -- has enjoyed Sam Adams honey porter, cream stout, and double bock quite a bit.