BEARZ rum

[bear74]

BEARZ RUM
5 Generation method with 150l washes
First generation is less of what 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th to allow enough dunder to be formed for subsequent generations and I didn't have the 150L fermentation vessels at that stage.
1st gen;
1/1/2013 lay down wash fermentation ceased 5/01/2013
13/01/2013 stripped washes.
3 x 30L fermentation vats
2.5L black-strap molasses
4kg raw sugar
topped up to 30L
Rum yeast from still spirits
not going to reuse the lee's will reuse from second generation forward as I used a rum turbo yeast from still spirits.

2nd Generation wash
Mixed 13/01/2013 let rest and cool
no sign of further fermentation 17/01/2012
added yeast 14/01/2013 @ 30deg
did ABV test and did not register.
150L fermentation
50L dunder
20L black-strap molasses
20kg raw sugar
top up with tap water to 150L and mix/aerate with electric drill paint mixer for 10-15min.
Let sit with airlock in place until temp of 30deg or lower is reached.
Add 2 x 280g pack lowans bakers yeast once temp is reach and mix in and replace airlock.
Start SG- 1.112
finish SG- 1.032
4 x strip runs with EVERYTHING from start to finish put into 220l plastic drum. Plan to complete full generation cycle and see how much I end up with in the 220l drum before starting spirit runs.

3rd Generation wash
Mixed 8.00am 28/01/2013
did ABV test and did not register.
150L fermentation;
60L dunder from 2nd generation
25L black-strap molasses ( my molasses drums are 25l so the whole lot goes in)
20kg raw sugar
¼ cup of bi-card of soda.( no pH tester yet but add bicarb to try and keep stable pH just hope it's enough)
top up with tap water to 150L and mix/aerate with electric drill paint mixer for 10-15min.
Let sit with airlock in place until temp of 30deg reached.
then add lees from 2nd generation (failed to start so added 280gr lowans yeast).
cover loosely with towel until fermentation starts then seal with glad wrap.
Start SG- 1.102

[Rumdrinker]

Hey Bearz,
Lookin good mate, only thing I would reconsider is the plastic drum for low wine storage.
I use kegs myself but as you know they only hold 50 litres.
Keep us posted on your results.
Cheers

[bear74]

i know what you mean about plastic but until i manage to acquire a few more kegs they will have to do :angry-banghead: i have one keg ready to put the spirit cuts into for ageing with medium char french oak spirals. i figure if i do the spirit cuts with 220l of low wines i should nearly have enough top rum to fill the keg.

[kelbygreen]

holly shit I thought I was obsessed with rum :laughing-rolling: thats a decent amount of drinking stock :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[bear74]

holly shit I thought I was obsessed with rum :laughing-rolling: thats a decent amount of drinking stock :handgestures-thumbupleft:

thats the plan mate ;-) after completing a couple of generation runs i should be able to scale back :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[bear74]

1st generation strip 17L @ 47.5%
2nd generation strip 31.5L @ 45%

this is what has been stripped so far I go down 20-30% then pull the plug, doing the maths I should end up with around 145L of low wines at the end of the 5 generations :music-deathmetal: if this is the case I will add 20L of un-distilled mash or dunder to reduce to 40% then proceed to do the cuts. now I am thinking of throwing all feints from cuts back into the mix and re-cut with subsequent spirit runs until I am done. all good drinking spirit will be blended in a 50L keg and aged on oak. once I have 2 kegs ageing I will start on a bulk UJSM doing similar process.
sounds good in theory 8-}

[bear74]

ok the third generation has finished final sg equates to around 5% alc/v? now should i add more yeast to finish the fermentation?

[Kimbo]

ok the third generation has finished final sg equates to around 5% alc/v? now should i add more yeast to finish the fermentation?

What did your hydrometer show mate?
If it's around 990 then it has finished, if its higher, then it still has fermentables in it :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[Lowndsey]

I wouldn't even bother with a hydrometer with mollasses washes. Never gives a correct reading.

[bear74]

i did 1 stripping run as i know the general consensus is the molasses wash sg readings are inaccurate but from a 40l run i ended up with 6.5@45% running it down to 20%. should I pitch more yeast or just run the rest of it?

[MacStill]

I wouldn't even bother with a hydrometer with mollasses washes. Never gives a correct reading.

:text-imwithstupid:

Never seen one get down to 990 either ;-)

[bear74]

cheers fellas,
start SG 1.120
finish SG 1.068

[bear74]

just finished stripping 3rd gen and have mixed 4th gen tested ph and it was 4.3? my tap water is 7.4 so should I adjust it using bicarb of soda to slightly lower than my tap water? the last ferment stalled so I am guessing it was due to the PH? using 40L dunder in each new ferment. any recommendations appreciated.

[Linno]

i used bi carb to up the ph on my Knock off bourbon wash as I have the sam prob - big ferment lots backset low ph... i put in a fair bit of bi carb got it from 3.5 to 4 on the ph strips and it fairly foamed up for a bit just watch out for that.. i still need to add more but i think i will do it slowly over a few days

[bear74]

cheers linno will try it out :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[bear74]

just added 500g of bicarb to my wash and its now at 6.3. do I need to add nutrient at this stage of my generations or will the molasses and lees provide enough?

[Kimbo]

i used bi carb to up the ph on my Knock off bourbon wash as I have the sam prob - big ferment lots backset low ph... i put in a fair bit of bi carb got it from 3.5 to 4 on the ph strips and it fairly foamed up for a bit just watch out for that.. i still need to add more but i think i will do it slowly over a few days

:text-+1:
That's exactly what i use and as Linno said do it a bit at a time coz it foams up and spews out of the fermenter :angry-banghead:

[bear74]

couldnt help myself and drew enough out of the keg to fill 3 bottles @ 40%. its been ageing on 2 x french oak medium toast and 2 x heavy char french oak spirals. i thought my cuts may have been wrong but it has rounded out bloody nicely already. since i have a full 50L keg @ 70% it will keep in supply for quite some time and give a chance to get 3 or 4 more kegs ageing with rum and corn whiskey :handgestures-thumbupleft: never gunna buy spirits again, eat that mr tax man :teasing-tease:

[bear74]

nicely coloured and flavoured :handgestures-thumbupleft: :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[Sam.]

Good work mate, happy that you are satisfied with it. Thats a lot of grog to turn out average :laughing-rolling: