sweet potato pie porter Suggestions!!??

[fiestygoat]

so im going to start off with

2 lb sweet potato cube and bake at 350F for 20 -30 min

in the boil im looking at using
6.6 lbs amber malt
.5 lb gold syrup (help with body and head retention)

2.5 cascade hops for a 60 min boil
no aroma hops

i would also like a specialty grain like black malt and really try and get a roasty flavor just not sure how much i should

also i want to add ginger and cinnamon just not sure when to add them

any suggestions would be helpful thanks much

 

[gcdowd]

Why use cascade for the bittering hop? It's more of a flavor/aroma hop and is lower in AA. You could save some money using a much higher AA hop and using only 1 ounce.

 

[fiestygoat]

any suggestions on a good hop that would fit the bill

 

[edb23]

an ounce of chinook might do the job, but honestly with this type of beer do you really want much bitterness? i would bitter with an ounce and a half of cascade and that's it.

I'd also add maybe two teaspoons of cinnamon and other spices at 15 or so. are you mashing the sweet potatoes?

 

[fiestygoat]

i dont want a lot of bitterness just a tad at the end but 2.5oz is what i was suggested

the taters im cubing baking and throwing in after the extract for 30 min

 

[gcdowd]

I think I did a porter once with an ounce of northern brewer at 60 min, and an ounce cascade at 5 min (aroma)

 

[billf2112]

Not much of a sweet potato guy myself, but like this idea.

 

[aiptasia]

I'd put the ginger and cinnamon in during the last 15 of the boil. Follow a recipe for a partial mash pumpkin beer and just substitute the sweet potato for pumpkin. Personally, I like sweet potato pie better than pumpkin pie, but the flavor and spices are so similar, you'd want to spice the beer similarly.

 

[onipar]

As for the spices, sweet potato pie usually gets cinnamon and nutmeg. Anywhere from 15 minutes to 2 minutes in the boil is good. For my pumpkin ale, I did half my spice addition at 5 mins, and the other half at 2 mins. Then I added a spice tea after 3 weeks of fermentation.

How much spice do you want? On the lower end around a total of 1-1 1/2 tsp should do it. If you want more, up to 2 1/2 tsp should do it.

The proportions should favor the cinnamon. For instance, I'd do something like 3/4 tsp cinn, 1/4 nutmeg, 1/4 ginger. Scale up as needed.

Other possible additions in terms of spices might be some vanilla bean in primary and either brown sugar or molasses in the boil.

Specialty grains: 8 ounces or less of each chocolate malt, caramel 60, and black patent? Consider a bit of victory or biscuit malt for the "crust" flavor. Maybe roasted barley?

 

[fiestygoat]

I dont want a lot of spice. I think I am going to add the min this batch see how it goes and move up from there.

and i really like that brown sugar sugar/molasses suggestion. I think im going to ride with that. How much would you suggest I go with with?

For sure going to add some biscuit malt.
Thanks a bunch

 

[fiestygoat]

Almost forgot i was suggested that I should puree the taters and add them in with the mash. What do you guys think of that ??

 

[edb23]

a pound of brown sugar to the boil at 15 should do it. I also like the puree/mash idea. Use the search function and look for cereal mashes, if you do this right those sweet potatoes will add a lot of fermentable goodies

 

[onipar]

Agreed that puree and mash is a good way to go. Consider adding most to mash and a little to the boil too for layered flavor.

If you decide to go with molasses, it comes along with its own process so it comes out right. I'd search the forum and read a bit about it (I've never used molasses). Here's one thread: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f164/brewing-molasses-141355/

 

[aiptasia]

+1 for the puree. The more contact surface area, the better the utilization of the sweet potato.