Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

OK, so I kind of have a habit of making washes with Potato in it. Its kind of my thing.

I have had some raging successes as well as some horrible WTH just happened moments.

I guess the reason for this thread is does anyone else use potatoes or is that just me? I am not saying I use nothing but potatoes, but a variety of things with the humble spud. I find it creates a very smooooooooth spirit.


So, have you used potatoes in a wash and how did it turn out?

What's the recipe? I've not strayed far from the tried and proven as yet, but will one day.

I suppose my favourite is

1 part Potato : 1 Brown sugar : 1 Malted Barley : 1 Corn : 4 Water

All parts per Kg.

Not the highest alcohol % after fermenting, but I like the taste.

The trick is making sure you get the potato cooked properly (dont drain the water, thats part of the 4 Parts water) and mashed into a watery consistency and holding at temp for the enzymes in the barley to do there trick. I get best results letting the mash sit overnight, wrapped in a blanket and adding the rest of the water, yeast and sugar the next day.

I have had various levels of success adding the corn at various times (at the start, during potato mash, the next day).

I have always liked the idea of a potato mash, the germans used it for rocket fuel for their V2's. 30,000lbs of spuds for one fuel load.

Anyway do you strain the wash prior to boiling or just whack it all in?

I strain it, just not a too fine strain. I use a collandar to remove most of the bigger stuff then Chuck it through a seive

What are you trying to get from using the potatoes? :think:

Neutral spirits. Mostly my obession started as we live near potato farms so really cheap and readily available. Wouldn't suggest in a pot still

shortybronx88 wrote:Neutral spirits.

Why mix it with corn and barley?

Seems a bit odd to add molasses, malt barley, corn and potatoes to a wash and then try to strip all of the flavour back out?

Maybe the T500 doesn't strip all the flavour/characteristics out?

I mean i know what it is designed to do however nothing is going to work 100%

If a reflux still truly does strip out all flavour then why the big push towards TPW and other "better tasting" or cleaner washes? Why the propensity of distillers to second or third distill their product? One distillation at 95% should be enough to clean it up but we all know that isn't the case otherwise the likes of Absolute would only run their Vodka through once and they have better equipment than all or most all on this forum.

Just my 2 bob.

I found stripping and then spirit with enough packing to hit azeo makes best vodka. grain cerial washes were best for me against TPW. Im yet to try all grain vodka but i will one day and compare it to TPW and WB wash

shortybronx88 wrote:Neutral spirits. Mostly my obession started as we live near potato farms so really cheap and readily available. Wouldn't suggest in a pot still

Neutral? Why the corn and barley? Doesn't make sense mate?

In my limited experience I've found it beneficial to give your sugar washes more than just table sugar and some form of basic nutrient. Adding some additional types of sugar extracted for grain or indeed potatoes could well enhance the more subtle character of the spirit. Even if most of the flavor is stripped out mouth feel and body remain adding to the experience. :think:

I always thought that the Ruskies made their vodka from potatoes...

res wrote:In my limited experience I've found it beneficial to give your sugar washes more than just table sugar and some form of basic nutrient. Adding some additional types of sugar extracted for grain or indeed potatoes could well enhance the more subtle character of the spirit. Even if most of the flavor is stripped out mouth feel and body remain adding to the experience. :think:

:text-+1:

Do you like vodka made from whey? TPW? DAP? kale? CFW? WBABW? Grain? or Dont Care? If base ingredients didn't matter why dont distilleries just make vodka from the 'wineos plan ol simple sugar wash' ? which is basically DAP or from what i have been reading googes Kale wash or many things for a nice clean neutral ;
If base ingredients dont matter :whistle:

Me i think base ingredients matter, even if you strip flavour out the mouth feel remains. This can be seen with just the TPW and the WBABW. I dont know bugger all about vodka/neutral but i know i prefer WBABW over TPW and this is just base ingredients that differ the two.

Cuts are also a major factor but i still think base ingredients play a part and starting ABV in the wash

Again what do i know but thats my :twocents-mytwocents:

res wrote:In my limited experience I've found it beneficial to give your sugar washes more than just table sugar and some form of basic nutrient. Adding some additional types of sugar extracted for grain or indeed potatoes could well enhance the more subtle character of the spirit. Even if most of the flavor is stripped out mouth feel and body remain adding to the experience. :think:

:text-+1:

Whilst running through a reflux column does strip out flavour I've found that all washes are not created equal in the context of production of neutral spirit. I'm with WTDist on his TPW and WBAB opinion. Both make excellent neutral but for me, the WBAB wins out on body and mouth feel. This could all get down to personal preference though.

Cheers,
Prof. Green

Im not a big neutral spirit drinker myself, but other vodka "conneiseurs" that have tried my TPW said that whilst very nice and not harsh did have some "tang" to it that is not there in my cereal based vodkas. I can only put that down to the acidic tomato paste?

cheers Phil

haha this thread is hilarious! i love how a bunch of amateurs have a discussion among themselves and everyone ignores the moderator and the commercial distiller :laughing-rolling:
they do have a point. It seems a bit of an oxymoron to make a typically flavored wash to then distill it as neutral....
but hey, i'm an amateur myself and craft distilleries don't exist because people thought inside the square, you might be onto something potato boy ;)

It's not ignoring mate it's just having a discussion.

A lot of people, myself included have to learn things in a hands on fashion. Call me slow i don't give a rats, it's the best way for me to learn!

I shouldn't have chewed on so many lead sinkers when i was a kid. :-p

Toddles wrote:It's not ignoring mate it's just having a discussion.

A lot of people, myself included have to learn things in a hands on fashion. Call me slow i don't give a rats, it's the best way for me to learn!

I shouldn't have chewed on so many lead sinkers when i was a kid. :-p

my old pappy taught me an old proverb...
Listen to advice and accept discipline and at the end you will be counted among the wise.
Distilling spirits is a bloody old art form. Especially while your starting out, I'd say it's pretty good practice to stick to what's tried and proven rather than trying to re-invent an already well refined wheel!
And if i were going to start my own distillery, and i was doing something a little different and outside the square, i wouldn't be publishing it on an internet forum. I'd be keeping it secrete squirrels ;-) But again, that's just me :handgestures-thumbupleft: