Potato Beer

Classification: potato beer, vegetable beer, all-grain

Source: Mearle Gates (gototem@aol.com), r.c.b., 12/7/95

Here is my tried and true recipe for potato beer.

Ingredients:

9 lb. Gambrinus 2-row malt
1/2 lb. British Munich Malt
8 lb. mashed potatos
2 lb. Vienna Malt
3 lb. Rice Hulls - absolutely necessary (end of mash)
1 tbsp. Irish Moss
1.5 oz. Nugget Hops 1 hr. (Mine were home grown)
1 oz. E. Kent Goldings Hops 1/2 hr.
1 oz. Wild Hops 15 min. (substitute Tettnanger)
2 oz. Ultra Hops 5 min.
.4 oz. Ultra Hops 1 min.
.5 oz. E. Kent Goldings 1 min.
ale yeast

Procedure:

First, boil 8 lb. of well washed peeled potatoes until done. Throw out the boil water to get rid of dirt remnants and green skin flavors. Mash to a fine consistency adding water as necessary. Allow temperature to settle at 140 F. Add 2 oz. amylase enzyme and let sit as long as you have patience and care to monitor the temperature. This time affects to a great extent your conversion. It will become much thinner in consistency and sweeten. When you finally lose your patience (3 hrs for me) add the soup to the main mash and begin your protein rest for 1/2 hr. at 122 F. Raise temperature to 152 F and mash for 2 hrs. Mash out at168 F. Now you can add the Prerinsed rice hulls. Stir them in well, but reserve 1/2 lb. for the bottom of your lauter tun. Sparge with pH 5.7 adjusted water. Adjust pH with either lactic acid or acid blend. Boil the wort 1 1/4 hrs. Chill quickly. Divide wort into 2 carboys and allow to settle for about 2 hrs. or until the cold break is well settled. Rack the wort into clean carboys, aerate well by shaking the carboys, then pitch your yeast. Dry Munton Fison Ale yeast is excellent for this. Ferment at 68 F. When ferment is almost done, rack to secondary adding 1 tsp. of polyclar to each carboy. Allow to settle. This unfortunately is not sufficient to clarify the potato beer. After a week rack again and add 1 packet of dissolved gelatin (do not boil your gelatin) and set the carboy in as cool a place as you can find (not freezing). When clear rack into your cornelius kegs and force carbonate. And/Or bottle. Age 3 months for a very smooth mellow ale with a faint mashed potato flavor. The hops are very nice too.

Specifics:

O.G. 1.042
F.G. 1.015