Mr. Potato Head - Potato Vodka Recipe

This small-batch potato vodka recipe is designed for home distillers who want to craft a smooth and neutral spirit utilizing our starchy pal, the potato. It’s adapted from my own attempts, as well as what gold medal vodka producers often do, as well as scaled down for easy kitchen or pilot-batch production. By taking the time and focusing on proper potato liquefaction, allowing enzymatic conversion, and then careful distillation, this recipe and instruction will help you make high-quality potato vodka with a clean, authentic flavor.

Spirits Category: 100A. Potato Vodka

Style Description: A clean, smooth, full-bodied spirit with subtle earthy sweetness and silky texture

Batch Size: 5 gallons (volume in fermentor, before distillation)

Estimated Yield: About 1 gallon of 80-proof vodka (after distilaltion and proofing)

Ingredients

• 20 lbs starchy potatoes (try Russet or Yukon Gold preferred for starch yield and texture)

• 3 lbs Distillers Malt (or a high enzyme malt)

• 5 gallons Water 

• 1.5 tsp Yeast Nutrient 

• 10 g Vodka Distiller’s Yeast 

• 1 tsp Glucoamylase Enzyme

Equipment

• Large Kettle 8-gallon minimum capacity - similar if transferring to a secondary lauter or mash vessel.

• Mash paddle or spoon

• Thermometer

• Straining bag or lautering 

• Fermentation vessel with airlock

• Reflux still or pot still with rectifying column

• Hydrometer

• Proof & Tralle Hydrometer

• Carbon filter (optional)

Boiling & Mashing

1. Clean and chop potatoes into 1–2" pieces (no need to peel, it may be helpful to fermentation).

2. Add 4 gallons of water to the mash pot and heat to a boil.

3. Add the potatoes and boil for around 45 minutes, stirring often once softened. You must boil the potatoes until they break down completely.

Notes on Boiling the Potatoes:

The kettle should look like potato soup with no chunks.

You want them fully gelatinized — soft enough that they can be crushed easily with the mash paddle.

During this boil, starch cells swell and burst, making the starch accessible to the malt enzymes later.

Continue boiling and mixing them until they are still chunky. The goal is a thick, porridge-like slurry.

4. Reduce the heat to 149°F (65°C) and add crushed (milled) malted barley. Stir well to avoid dry clumps of grain in the mix.

5. Add glucoamylase enzyme at this stage for complete conversion. It is possible to convert the starch without, but it may not be a complete conversion. Hold between 144–150°F for 90 minutes to allow the barley enzymes and exogenous glucoamylase enzymes to convert starch to sugar. 

6. After 90 minutes, sparge out the mash mixture if going into a stainless steel vessel. If not cool the mash mixture first to at least 90°F (in an ice water bath for the kettle, or allow the temerature to come down slowly at ambient).

7. Strain through a very fine mesh sieve or bag into the fermenter, rinsing the solids of their sugar with up to 1.5 gallons of water trickled or poured over the mixture until you reach 5 gallons total volume in the fermenter. You may re-strain the mixture if needed, some solids will inevitably go through and settle. It is OK to press this mash out as it may start to solidify, allowing you to more easily collect the milky yellow potato wort.

Fermentation

1. Check the original gravity with your hydrometer — it should read around 1.070–1.080. If it reads more, you may not have collected a full five gallons, or your mash was quite efficent and you'll get a higher yield of spirit. If you are below 1.070 you may have a diluted fermentation of more than 5 gallons, or your mash was less efficient and you will get a lower yield. If your gravity is below 1.050, you may want to consider dissolving in 2-4 pounds of sugar (sucrose or dextrose) to increase the gravity, or simply expect much lower returns from your distillation.

2. Add yeast nutrient and pitch yeast at the manufacturer's suggested temperature, or around 80°F (27°C).

3. Be sure to seal and add water to your airlock, and ferment for about 7 days or until your gravity drops below 1.000.

   • Potato mashes tend to foam significantly, so make sure your ferment has ample headspace, or that you're checking your airlock isn't plugged. If it's excessive lower your fermentation temperature to the minimum recommendation.

   • Keep the temperature in the suggested range for a clean and complete fermentation.

4. Once fermentation is complete, and there is no activity in the airlock, allow the wash to settle for 48 hours before distillation.

Distillation

1. First Run (Stripping Run): Run the entire wash through a pot-style still, collecting the low wines, or when the spirit coming out is down to approximately 20% ABV at the output.

   • Volume and ABV collected will vary based on your still's efficiency.

2. Second Run (Spirit Run): Dilute the collected low wines to 40% ABV or below with water and run slowly through a column still.

   • Discard the first 50 mL as foreshots; this contains methanol and other unpleasant-tasting volatiles.

   • Head cut: collect heads until the solvent/acetone aromas fade, approximately 100-200ml.

   • Hearts cut: collect 200ml at a time in jars. When tasted, this should be fairly clean, neutral alcohol with mild creamy sweetness; stop collecting when tails start to develop and the aroma and flavor of wet cardboard or corn and other vegetal notes come through.

3. For ultra-neutral vodka, distill again, removing 20ml as foreshots, 50ml as heads, and hearts until you are no longer happy with the flavor coming through.

Polishing & Proofing

1. Optional Carbon Filtration: Run through activated carbon for a neutral finish (recommended for commercial-style vodka).

2. Proofing: Dilute with pure, filtered water to 80 proof (40% ABV).

3. Let rest in bottles for at least one week to allow flavors to integrate and smooth out, and any haze to settle.

Sensory & Flavor 

• The vodka should be clean, neutral, and bright on the nose with subtle hints of sweet cream and earthiness.

• Velvety mouthfeel with a sweet mid-palate and clean, dry finish.

• Best served chilled- a quality potato vodka is best enjoyed straight and cold, no rocks, to appreciate the character and distillation.

Optional Variations

• Use a particular variety, such as Yukon Gold, Kennebec, or Idaho Russet, for its distinctive flavor nuances. There's no reason not to try a blend either!

• Cold Carbon Filtration: Chill the vodka to near freezing before filtering for enhanced clarity.

• Lactobacillus Fermentation: For a soft tang, add lactobacillus on day one of fermentation and yeast on day two.