# Question about potatoes



## BigDaveK (Sep 18, 2022)

I'm planning to start my onion and garlic cooking wines this week.

Onion wine recipes all seem to call for potatoes, even the very old recipes. Haven't found a reason yet but, fine, I'll play along.

My question: waxy, starchy, or general purpose?

Yeast like starch so I'm leaning towards starchy or general purpose.


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## BernardSmith (Sep 18, 2022)

Not so sure it matters what kinds of potatoes you use but the tastier the better. All you do is boil the potatoes until they are soft and strain out the tubers, collect the liquid to which you add your fermentables. Have yet to make a potato wine but parsnip wine is made in the same way as are wines from grains: you are not brewing the carbs that you convert to simpler sugars: you are fermenting ON the tubers or roots or grains for their flavors, not their sugars.


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## vinny (Sep 18, 2022)

BernardSmith said:


> you are fermenting ON the tubers or roots or grains for their flavors, not their sugars.


Definitely want to hear about how this turns out. Very interested to hear how potato flavors play in a wine.


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## Jim Welch (Sep 18, 2022)

That is interesting, the use of potato water must be to give the finished product some body since yeast can not consume starch. 

This why in the brewing world the starch that is extracted from the crushed barley (and adjunct grains) has to go through the mash process where naturally present enzymes in the malted barley “turn on” in the 143-158 degree Fahrenheit range and break the long chain sugars (I.e. starch) down into short chain sugars that the yeast can more or less consume. 

If I surmise correctly that this is for body and these are strictly cooking wines you may be able to forgo the potatoes.


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## BigDaveK (Sep 18, 2022)

Needless to say a dedicated potato wine is in my future.

But as far as the onion wine is concerned, I just found one reference saying starchy potatoes are better. But no explanation and that's what I wanted to know!


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## BernardSmith (Sep 18, 2022)

But anyone can say anything. Unless they explain why they claim what they claim, in my opinion all such claims are empty. What might make starchy potatoes a better tasting wine? Sounds like complete hogwash... but I could be wrong and I am willing to accept evidence, not "because I say so".


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## ratflinger (Sep 18, 2022)

Don't know about wine, but you can make a nice vodka out of potatoes


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## BigDaveK (Sep 19, 2022)

BernardSmith said:


> But anyone can say anything. Unless they explain why they claim what they claim, in my opinion all such claims are empty. What might make starchy potatoes a better tasting wine? Sounds like complete hogwash... but I could be wrong and I am willing to accept evidence, not "because I say so".


The human body will convert starch to glucose using enzymes in our saliva. Potatoes stored in the fridge will become sweeter as the starches break down. I'll probably use starchy potatoes and maybe add some amylase enzyme....or spit into the primary.


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## BigDaveK (Sep 19, 2022)

ratflinger said:


> Don't know about wine, but you can make a nice vodka out of potatoes


And a biodegradable plastic.


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