I fancy Making a Potato wash ? Anyone else tried it

by **scrappybill** » Sun Sep 12, 2010 3:27 am

I have been having a look around the net for a potato based wash for distilling?

There are a few recipes about- Good one here :- http://lifestyle.iloveindia.com/lounge/ ... -8189.html
Have any of you people given it a whirl?

Any Ideas

& Where do I get barley or wheat, rye from in the UK for the starch breaking enzymes? (Bookers/makro- not got anything really)

Or can the bottled / powered enzymes be used for good results.

I Would just like a go at making it from scratch if you like.

What yeast to use ? etc.

As always- any help appreciated

by **H2SO4.5** » Sun Sep 12, 2010 4:14 pm

I am having trouble sourcing these ingredients too. The only barley I can find is Pearl and AIUI that is steamed so son\'t do.
I\'m currently looking at animal feed from Mole Valley Farmers. Chicken corn feed may be one that can be used but make sure it hasn\'t got any added preservatives.
Not least of all it is very cheap.

by **alan** » Sun Sep 12, 2010 4:36 pm

Hi scrappybill you need crushed malted barley,I buy mine from leyland home brew you can order on line its about 95p per 500gram

alan

by **scrappybill** » Sun Sep 12, 2010 5:08 pm

Cheers ,

I\'m checking out local farmers, I know one used to grow barley when I was a child.

I assume he still does.

I have found an ethnic type food shop/warehouse near me (Ish) and I know they have all sorts of grain etc there.

I will let you know what I find, and where to get it.

Just picked up a 25kg bag of dextrose so- I\'m off to start a 23% alcotec wash.

and some stout, and a lovley Shiraz wine..

Happy brewing !!

by **Phantom** » Mon Sep 13, 2010 2:57 am

-----%<-----

Just picked up a 25kg bag of dextrose so- I'm off to start a 23% alcotec wash.

-----%<-----

Hum? well I haven't actually bothered to read the suggested recipe on the pack of 23% Alcotech yeast that arrived the other day.
A friend has made this up using just table sugar though and said that it seemed to work fine like that.
There's also the issue of price. Even in 25kg bags, dextrose/glucose still works out over a Â£1 a kilo, whereas it's pretty easy to get table sugar at 75p or less per kilo.
Also, pound for pound (kilo for kilo

), you will use more of the dextrose/glucose as it's however much percentage less sweet than table sugar - last time I tried it, to get the same gravity for a SS triple distilled wash, it took about 7.5 kg of dextrose instead of the 6kg of table sugar. So not only is it more expensive, it needs more of the more expensive product to do the same thing.
If you're worried about having more impurities in the wash because of using table sugar, then just make the wash, distill it all collecting as much, down to as low a % ABV as you want, then just water it down to 30 or 40 % and re-distil it.
When I run a batch of 40% through my smart still, I end up collecting the same quantities of spirit except it usually comes out at about 80 to 85% - the heads/foreshots still get binned, but the tails are collected and go back into the batch for re-distillation again.
So not much wasted there.
As for getting malt or malt already ground to grist, any decent home brew shop that might even be a beer specialist should be able to oblige.
I'm also pondering the possibilities of a potato wash after reading about the 1st prize winning vodka at the event on the west coast of the US last month. It's made in Worcestershire or Herefordshire, from potato.........declared by the contest/judges as "the best vodka in the world"!
Just my 2 pence worth.....
regards
P

by **scrappybill** » Mon Sep 13, 2010 4:27 am

Cheers Phantom for you advice

But I get dextrose for free? (Pretty cheep compared to Sugar)

Sugar costs me around 50p a bag/kg

So yes price is a factor. Hence me using Dextrose Monohydrate
Just incase you\'d like to know if you do have to buy it, it can be bought for 71p a Kilo in bulk

Even in non bulk for 80p a bag (You need to get a cheaper supplier sorry !!)
I only have to pay for the Alcotec yeast/kit.
I found a supplier for Wheat/malt at a good cost also.

The guy works for a brewery, so he owes me a few favours.

So heâ€™s getting me a few bags for Free. So happy cheap brewing!

I will keep an eye out for some special spuds now for the Potato Vodka!! (Hopefully free lol)

by **Phantom** » Sat Sep 18, 2010 2:46 pm

Cheers Phantom for you advice

But I get dextrose for free? (Pretty cheep compared to Sugar)

Sugar costs me around 50p a bag/kg

So yes price is a factor. Hence me using Dextrose Monohydrate

Ah, well if that\'s the case, then brilliant, you can\'t get cheaper than zero can you........

Just incase you\'d like to know if you do have to buy it, it can be bought for 71p a Kilo in bulk

Even in non bulk for 80p a bag (You need to get a cheaper supplier sorry !!)

Where\'d you find those prices

Most of the HBS want between about Â£1.20 and Â£2.00 per kilo.....

I only have to pay for the Alcotec yeast/kit.

Well, again, if you have a good dig around the net, and are prepared to buy in bulk, it does seem that Vodka Star is one of the cheapest yeasts around - you don\'t necessarily have to use liquid carbon, but if you don\'t I\'d suggest that you do carbon filter the finished spirit a couple of times. If you want a copy of Gert Strands carbon filtration e-book, PM me an email address and I\'ll send you a copy...... Nice info about making a home made filter and even about recycling carbon granules to keep the cost down......

I found a supplier for Wheat/malt at a good cost also.

The guy works for a brewery, so he owes me a few favours.

So heâ€™s getting me a few bags for Free. So happy cheap brewing!

I will keep an eye out for some special spuds now for the Potato Vodka!! (Hopefully free lol)

Well done again. Free always seem to taste better than paid for doesn\'t it ;-D
I\'ve also got a copy of the "Making Vodka & Gin" pdf, that I\'m reading through slowly and surely. I\'m of the view that for this kind of "brewing", purity is all and if we can make the highest purity possible, then it\'s only a case of "trial and error" to try the flavourings that we like.
For instance, I\'ve now found a supplier for some of the Essencia flavourings in the UK (up to now, the local HBS only keeps the still spirits range and I have to get prestige/ambrosia stuff a.k.a. Gert Strands ranges online). There does seem to be a good level of flavourings to replace most spirits, but brandy still seems to be an issue - inasfaras, the SS VSOP one seems about the best/nicest so far - but even that only seems to taste like a half decent "supermarket" brandy, so Ok for cooking/mixing, but not too good for drinking straight....
I don\'t know if the vodka/gin pdf explains about using spuds or not, but like using grain, spuds would need to be converted/mashing process for fermentation, so the kit needed to do that would definitely increase the cost.
It\'s got me wondering if anyones done any price comparison about getting to a distillable wash from all the available starches and how they pan out on a cost Vs quantity calculation. The "ease" of use would depend on how much it costs for the materials/kit to mix/convert/ferment to the actual amount of distillable wash obtained (guessing it would give a Â£ per gallon result).
After all, with sugar/dextrose etc, it\'s just ferment, whereas with grain and/or spuds, you\'ve got to pre-process them prior to the ferment haven\'t you so the cost needs factoring in etc etc......
Ha ha!, I\'ll get me coat ;-)