I think this man just taught me how to make a better Sweet Potato Pie and I can't wait to try it.

Super sir. I'm so engaged with the chemistry lesson. Takes me back 35 years to college. This is my first video that I've watched that really gets down to the nuts and bolts of the hobby. I'm hooked. Great explanations.

George, I have the same "disease." The way I think while shopping has forever changed: "I wonder what that tastes like distilled..."

I started a couple of sweet potatoes that had sprouted in the fridge. Well, they have gotten away from me and spread all over the yard. Now I know why. They wanted to be Vodka. Seriously though. Thanks George, I appreciate the education and I am having a blast.

George: "...because this thing is packed with all your B vitamins..." Me: "...holy shizzle..." George: "...Sweet potatoes have Alpha and Beta Amylase..." Me: "HALELUYAAHHHHH"

Thank you George 😊 From where I come from, we grow a lot of sweet potatoes and as a Food Technology student, your videos are very informative and helpful to me.👍

George you are the man. I am always telling folks about raising temp slowly and holding at a cook temp for an extended period. I always knew it works, But I never did the research to find out why. But my family is from the south. weather its meat or desserts. You can't beat that down home slow cooking. Now I know why! Now I just gotta get my wife to watch this video! 😅 I have several friends that I've turned onto making wine. So I sent all of them this link. This year will be the first time I try distilling. But I've been hooked on your channel for about 3 years. I found you when I was putting together a PID for my maple syrup cooker. Thanks for all the great advise, tips and personality that goes into all you do! Happy Distilling!

My mum keeps giving me sweet potato from her garden that I never really knew what to do with. Thank you so much, God bless you.

I thought we needed some special mystery enzyme to break down the sugars into alcohol... you saved my sanity. We make shine (totally organic shine) so we wanted to make totally organic shine/booze with sweet potatoes. I was under the impression we needed some mystery enzyme that goes beyond what we already do for our shine.

Gorge you surprise me, you helped me with the building of my still with the electrical components to the understanding of the mash, thank you keep on brewing.

This is great information, thanks, George. The best explanation of sugars, starches, and enzymes! I did not fall asleep, I'm going to watch this again while taking notes.

Cool, thanks for the help...I'm making my sweet potato mash tomorrow. Wish me luck!!

Amazing video! I never heard the chemistry of the sugar bonds described like this. I just bought some sweet potatoes at the market and will compare the cost per pound to malted barley. Can’t wait for the follow-up videos. Thanks George!

Awesome video, been deep into brewing for a little while now, never had amylase explained so well! Thank you!!

This is a hard choice but I'm going to say this is your best video series yet. Thank you

Ive been waiting for this video! Thanks George. You are awesome!

Thanks George. Very interesting and informative. Especially the chemistry. You broke that down really simply.

Love your videos, George! I’ve been brewing for a couple years now. And it’s only recently I’ve decided to finally step into distilling. You definitely deserve more likes and subs! I may have to give this sweet potato vodka a try. You’re very informative.

1st I want to say Thank You for making these videos. I've learned a lot And my 1st ever run was a success thanks you your method with cracked corn. keep up the good work. my confidence went through the roof and now my favorite vegetable.

I thoroughly enjoy the science that you communicate behind the process. Thank you!

Dang it, George! If anybody was going to beat me to a good idea, I'm glad it was you:-)

I've been watching your vids since yesterday. You are a very intelligent man and I appreciate that you're sharing your knowledge with us. You da man.

Wow wow Sir, thank you v much. I have learned a lot from watching your video. Great works sir. We pray you get strength to continue doing such great works.

Thank you for the awesome video and details of your Process.

20:55 I like that :) and sweet patato vodka idea is superb. Thank you!

Thanks George, looking forward to the following episodes. Great topic. #happydistilling

Thankyou George. Cant wait for the other videos. Then I am definitely going to give this recipe a whirl. Cheers.

Fantastic video as always George this is something I will definitely try just hope it works out as good as yours Happy Distilling

One of your best videos so far. Suggestion, bake them in the over with the skin on and bake it by steps, when done, pass them under cold water quickly and the skin comes right off

looking forward to this little series!

Love the vid!

George u are the man!!!@ been researching this for thr past 2 weeks! Thanks for everything

So good to see you back, George just got my small distiller license. And around the pID I got from you. And had a pretty flawless first run may have run it a little fast. Came off the still at one eighty six plate Four inch column

Dude you are great....sometimes is over my head.

Recently found this fellow and his is addictive. So knowledgeable!

my great~great grand parents came from County Cork to the USA in 1852. we always joked they did that cause they ran out of potatoes to make shine...lol

“A smorgasbord of fermentable products” love it🤣🤣🤣

Nice work sir.

I missed this episode, George. But I sure am glad to watch it now!

Thank you again. I have learned so much. And definitely saved $$$$ building a PID.

I feel like my grade 8 science teacher taught me to make vodka. Beautiful!

Very informative, as usual. But makes my head hurt, as usual. Maybe if I keep watching, and rewatching some videos, one day it'll be like "click" it all makes sense now! I'll keep trying, you just keep posting these GREAT videos please! Thanks for sharing all of your knowledge so selflessly. Jayman...

Sharing with all my friends!! Thank you!!! 🙌🏼

I'm late, but I'm all ears! Great channel!

Good topic. I have a surplus of breadfruit, I Intend to mix sweet potato and breadfruit using what you have explained and attempt a mash, don't have a still so I will have to make one though Great info

you are a wealth of information. i am sticking around.

I wish my science teacher was as enthusiastic as you about his subject I would have passed O level chemistry if so brilliant content keep up the very good work best wishes

hahahah, I should have known you would include the science. Thank you George. Probably no need to even read the following drivel. This is really informative! Thank you, George for taking the time to explain this. For reading I have done about nutrition all foods with carbohydrates actually, usually, contain more than one “-ose” item. Glucose and fructose are the most common. Glucose has a much less “sweet” taste than fructose. In our bodies glucose is broken down in the mouth and stomach. Fructose, on the other hand, has to be processed by the liver. My question is, in the fermentation process is either glucose or fructose a better “fermenter”? In addition, what about some of the others? Such as maltose, galactose (I think honey has a fair amount of galactose), lactose (milk is its usual source). If you could point me to a source on this I will be happy to read whatever you suggest. Thank you for sharing your genius with us!

This man loves his sweet potatoes... And I absolutely love it!

Curse you George! You got me even curiouser! I looked up the diastatic power of these things and it is huge. Any thoughts on making a whiskey by using this do convert your grains? #happydistilling

I've never cared much for Vodka, especially after 1 particular night back in 1982, lol. But made with sweet taters??? Interesting 😉 #HAPPYDISTILLING George 👍👍

George doesn't seem like much of a drinker which I totally get. I barely drink once a year and I LOVE fermenting and distilling. Just got started and made my first run yesterday. I scorched it by getting small particulates in my wash. My thump keg also failed and my make shift rod fell off mid run. Got one quart of 100 proof and half a cloudy quart of 50 proof 😂😂😂 it's definitely a learning experience.

I certainly miss this chap, glad he hasn't taken his posts down

George, do you know if the sweet potato has enough additional amylase to convert other starches such as corn?

never commented but been watching this dude for a long time he makes me think of my old since teacher Mr Sipple and ya follow him in his directions ta get some sweet stuff

In Japan, sweet potato vodka is called shochu. It got a bad reputation after WWII, but the modern stuff is fairly neutral and makes a good mixer for various fruit flavored cocktails known as chuhai. The sweetness of chuhai can fool you, as it did to me when a bunch of my wife's friends had me teaching them English and kept my glass filled with various chuhai flavors. Next morning, I was begging God to take me now!

George I'm definitely digging the sweet potato idea. Let's say someone did not want a virgin sweet potato vodka what would you recommend for sweet potato to sugar ratio? One more question, do you think your induction cooktop burn will hold a 10 gallon pot?

Can’t wait for Part 2

Yessss we talked about this about 3yrs ago and I now have a successful vodka brand from it #katspraddle sweet potato vodka. Thanks so much George!!!

Just watched this entire series. Great videos. If the mash was run once on a pot still would it hold more sweet potato taste?

Thank you George. Would it be more effective to grate all those sweet potatoes? I think they may come to the desired temperatures faster as well as facilitate the pureeing process.

If you want to speed up the cutting up process I generally use a garden mulcher that I keep for apples pears and sweet potatoes. but a food processor will work for small batches.

respects sir i am writing these comments from Laos and i think like ths is every interesting things to do at Laos because here we can get alot of sweet potato even sugarcan also so sir please help me that any change that i can learn more about making spirits atleast i can help the local farmer to have more income

If you intend to do this regularly, I would suggest investing in a commercial French Fry Cutter. Use the larger cutting grid and cut them into about 1-1/2” to 2” long pieces, since sweet potatoes are harder than white potatoes. But you will get consistent pieces for cooking with a lot less stress on the wrist!

amazing george! THANKS FOR EVERYTHING! i sent you an email about a PID a couple days ago. have you received it ?

Welcome back.

great video George . I didn't have collander to put the sweet potatoes into , after the heating process I mashed the sweet potato wit a stick blender instead of just crushing them now slurry so thick can't even measure the specific gravity , on to the 2nd half of making the mash thought I would add the water from the mash in separately , SG of the water is only 1.015 though

Nice job... over in Japan, they call this Shochu and it's actually more consumed than Sake. It's supposed to be drank while eating and tastes just as good at room temperature, cold or hot. George, try steaming them. That supposedly makes them break down faster than roasting or boiling.

Organic Chemistry 101 by George Duncan. I love it!

your the best.

I know this adds a step in the beginning but removes one later down the line ,minus the barley. I am diabetic and trying things I can still eat without getting the bad (unhealthy for diabetics) out of it. Been experimenting with potatoes by juicing them in a juicer to remove the starch (which turns to sugar in the body) to make eating potatoes not so negative. You can fry the mash into potato pancakes which still taste like potato's but wanted to come up with something to do with the juice and making potato vodka sounds like a idea. I figure a juicer removes about 95-98% of the starch/juice from the potato's. Have you ever thought about trying this when making potato vodka and do you think it would change the taste a lot good or bad? I suppose if would work also with sweet potato's too.

Can't wait

less is more George,nice one by the way

Happy destilling George! thanks for your Advice WITH the 551 Solution. It worked great. " Question " ever destilled fruits with Cores, like Plums for example? in the stills around here They use copperkatalysators to filter out the Hydrogen Cyanide, wich Comes from the cores. is it a theme to discuss?

Thank you... I had the purpose of Alpha and Beta backwards... I would heat to 160 for an hour or 2 and then rest at 130 overnight.. needless to say, I never had a full conversion

does amylase get "used up"? or is it just a matter of time? -how long it takes,i mean. im so impressed what george knows!

I have learned so much in the past 4 days from watching your videos. I'm creating a catalog of what all I need to get and learn to get into the hobby and your channel is a one stop shop. The only thing I'm still curious on is how to create "good" water from distilled as in how much of each vitamin, mineral, and nutrient I need to add.

Very interesting for certain. Another great, information filled video. What's the best yeast for this?

Darn it George, what a coincidence, I just did sweet potato vodka and I used an Amylase, I didn't know sweet potatoes had them in there already.

LOL - I Have a Kitten Named "SweeTater"! This Sounds Like a Great Brew! Thanks Much & Have Fun!!

Would shredding create a more fuller fermentation or is that a moot point?

I like how you use the White Board and show molecules, like Science Teacher

If I'm trying to avoid a boil and hold a constant tempurature i could bake in a steam injection or sous vide (given a large enough sous vide bath) Is the water necessary for cooking/converting or can water be added afterwards

a smorgesboard of fermentable item.... i love it lol

George. Your there best. Thanks for all the info. Going to pick up some sweet potatoes Friday got to try this out thanks. By the way did you ever see my email I sent you I'm looking for a PID 120 instead of 240. The 240 PID you built me is working perfectly I was just wondering if you do one in 120

What induction cooktop are you using? Is it automatically controlling the heat based on liquid temperature?

LOL George! I do the exact same thing!

What about Sugar Beets can you use. Them to make spirits ?

How come you try to get around 13 percent abv or less is it for flavor my first run of corn meal mash turned out super smooth at 77 % my sugar wash turned out strong at 85%

So does this need pectic enzyme before pitching yeast? Do all wines, even those intended for brandy need pectic enzyme treatment? Is pectic enzyme actually breaking down sugar molecules?

So after you use the amolise and it becomes sugars. Could you invert the sugars after to make the yeast happier?

Fun fact even though both the potato and sweet potato originated from Central and South America, they are actually not related. They come from different families, with the potato coming from the nightshade and the sweet potato from the morning glory family.

I'm looking to do a pumpkin pie run I haven't come up with a recipe to fermt pumpkin pie filling or just caned pumpkin. Any advice??

I'm wondering if the sweet potatoes have enough amylase to break down the starches in quick oats? could you mash them in together?

The preferred spirit in Korea is soju ... sweet potato vodka

Hi George great video. have you ever made Popcorn Suttons recipe

can i make a carrot whisky? i have a lot of leftover dry carrots after juicing.

What is the PPPG for sweet potatoes? I run 12 gallon mashes.

Thanks as always George. If the sweet potato amylase can handle higher temps, would it make sense to cook it in the opposite manner, start at 170 and then go to 155 and finish at 149?

Yes. You could have cut it up differently by saving some time using a french fry cutter. Harbor Freight sells French Fry cutters.