Anyone used sweet potato in a recipe?

[sallgoodguy]

Today's brewday is (maybe) going to be a sweet potato brulee. Interested in hearing everyones experience using sweet potatoes to find out if what I plan will work.

Malt bill is potluck; Munich, crystal 80, biscuit. Hops are just what's on hand... probably Saaz. I plan to slice thin length wise and roast the sweet potatoes so they get a good caramelization. My thought is that roasting will help pull more sugars and preserve the potato flavor better. Thoughts?

 

[sallgoodguy]

Forgot to mention the "brulee" will(hopefully) come from home made invert sugar. Carmelized deeeep brown and yummy.

 

[DBhomebrew]

Are you going to mash (as in beer mash, not mashed potatoes) the potatoes? Lots of starch in there. Following best practices for pumpkin ale would probably work.

 

[sallgoodguy]

I had planned on bagging them and adding at about the last 1/2 hour of boil or so. There may have to be an addition in secondary. Time will tell I guess.

 

[DBhomebrew]

Think of sweet potatoes as a starch addition, not a sugar addition.

 

[sallgoodguy]

Interesting. Wish I had the ability to turn this into a Brulosophy style comparison. This is really an experiment using things I have on hand so no loss really if it doesn't work out. Maybe there will be two brew days for this beer.....

 

[IslandLizard]

I had planned on bagging them and adding at about the last 1/2 hour of boil or so. There may have to be an addition in secondary. Time will tell I guess.

You're not going to get anything out of them that way, neither from the boil nor secondary.

Similar to using pumpkin in beer, ideally slowly roasted/caramelized in the oven for flavor development, then mashed up and added to your all grain mash for the whole duration. Keep the mash temps on the high side (156-160F), to keep more body.

I used five 14oz cans of pumpkin puree that way, and there was a nice thick mouthfeel, likely due to the dextrins from the pumpkin. Flavorwise, there was no trace of the pumpkin. I made notes to double the amount of pumpkin for the next time.

 

[Somesaymybeerisdrinkable]

Sweet potatoes container beta amylase so they can self convert in the mash. If you want to roast them first I would hold them in a water bath around 149°F to convert the starches before roasting so there is more sugar to caramelize. Basically following this roasted sweet potato recipe without adding any oil or spices.

 

[jerrylotto]

If you cook a brulee ( I would suggest leaving out cream) most of the enzymes will be denatured and some of the starch pre converted. If you temp control the process to maximize conversion - it would be like two parallel mashes. I think the cutting the potatoes up and mashing with the grain is a much better idea.