Hashbrowns?

[Joewalla88]

I was thinking about doing a series of lightish adjunct beers, and yesterday I had an idea. What of O put a bag of frozen hash browns through the mills with my grains. Would this work, would it convert? I bought some Idaho 007 hops, and thought a potatoe/Idaho themed beer would be fun. Has anyone used potatoes? Would instant flakes work better?

 

[BrewerBrad82]

You can certainly use potatoes, but you have to conduct a cereal mash with them to make the starches accessible to the enzymes in the main mash.

To do this, take the hashbrowns and boil the snot out of them for a while. This will burst the starch granules in the potatoes and make them available for conversion. Then add them directly to your all-grain mash and away you go.

 

[Joewalla88]

Dang, I thought that would have already been done before packaging. Maybe flakes would work better, or at least be easier. I can see that bring messy though.

 

[JugDog]

A lot of pre-packaged hash browns have oil in them(I think). Which can probably lead to some problems. You might be better just off using potatoes.

 

[Joewalla88]

I didn't even think of the oil and extra garbage that are probably put in there. Potatoes are usually pretty cheap too, so it might be worth a shot.

 

[BrewerBrad82]

A lot of pre-packaged hash browns have oil in them(I think). Which can probably lead to some problems. You might be better just off using potatoes.

Good point. If using store bought pre-sliced hashbrowns, be sure that the only ingredient on the packaging is potatoes. Any oils will adversely affect any foam stability and head retention.

You can certainly use flaked "instant" potatoes, these have been pre-gelatinized (the starches are already available for conversion) just like other flaked adjuncts like corn, rice, oats, etc. Again, be sure to check the ingredients to make sure it is only potatoes.

 

[Joewalla88]

I wonder what kind how much this would contribute to OG on a per lb basis. I think flaked might be the way to go, just because it seems easier.

 

[raysmithtx]

deleted, incorrect figures stated as found on the internet. Imagine that.

 

[balrog]

BYO article in 2004

"5# potatoes gives same potential as 1# of 2-row"

 

[day_trippr]

"5# potatoes gives same potential as 1# of 2-row"

So, a huge waste of effort...and potatoes...

 

[casualbrewer]

I have used flaked instant potatoes with good success. I actually got very good efficiency but that may be due to the potatoes having a higher ppg than other flaked grains. I researched and found people saying it should be the same as flaked corn or rice but I think it is much higher.

 

[balrog]

Interesting.

 

[Joewalla88]

Interesting.

Agreed

 

[casualbrewer]

To me it comes out tasteless just like rice whereas with corn I feel like you get some flavor. I'm actually still drinking my "spudweiser" or potato pils. It has aged in the keg exceptionally well.