Rum Recipe Discussion

[RuddyCrazy]

Well just got back from over east and found the ferment is still on 1080 :angry-banghead: So this would confirm Sodium Metabisulphide has been added to stop fermentation which is a normal practice for the feed lots.

Now talking with my sister as she did mention black strap :scared-eek: so I asked about Sodium Metabisulpide and how to remove from the molasses so asked chatGP for the answer :think:

Well it did say by heating the molasses will separate the molasses and Sodium Metabusulphide from the solution.

So time to put my molasses bucket in my mash tun with a seat so the bucket isn't on the bottom to get scorched and just use my 2 ring crab burner to heat the water around the drum so the molasses is heated up. Then try a small ferment in my swapped 5 litre demi and see if it ferments. Well if it does time for my glass still to become a pot still so it can be stripped and a spirit run done which should make one nice bottle of rum.

Cheers Bryan

[TheRealMrMessy]

Bryan - it's something like 150c before the metabisulphite will decompose, not sure how you can get molasses to that temp without cooking it to a solid...? And it doesn't so much separate it as turn the sulphur component to gas - if you give it a go, be mindful of the fumes (and smell) being bad for you.

Probably better off looking into an oxidisation step, generally using hydrogen peroxide (I've never done it, just read about it).

[RuddyCrazy]

Well I had a bit of read going with the hydrogen peroxide and picked a 100ml bottle of 6% so gave the ferment 2 doses of 25ml over a few hours and just put some bread yeast in with a good mix and lets how it goes.

Now on reading 80C is the temp and a 3:1 ratio with water is needed so going to get my other fermenter going with the treated batch and see if works.

[RuddyCrazy]

G'Day Guy's,
Well that treatment yesterday with the hydrogen peroxide did the trick :handgestures-thumbupleft: Checked the gravity and has dropped 3 points over night and the wash clearly shows the ferment has started. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

So I'm going to setup my pot still and strip each generation until I have enough for a spirit run

[RobMichelle]

How many generations you upto Bryan glad to hear it’s coming along

[TheRealMrMessy]

Good stuff mate, didn't even think about metabisulphite being the challenge from your earlier comments - figured all the way it was just the challenge of all molasses wash 8-}

[RuddyCrazy]

Rob this is the first generation mate :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Just setting up my mash tun now as I'm going to heat the next wash to 80C and see if this new laser temp probe I bought with the winnings off the pokies reads the same as my analogue temp gauge :scared-eek: and got my seaflow pump setup to transfer to the fermenter.

Cheers Bryan

[RuddyCrazy]

Ok heated up the wash to 80C and when it was on 40C chucked in 25ml of 6% hydrogen peroxide to help get rid of the Sodium metabisulpite , noticed the gravity of the molasses was 1070 so just went with 4kg's of brown sugar and inverted the sugar when the wash was 80C :handgestures-thumbupleft:

After topping up the fermenter got a starting gravity of 1067 so another 2kg's of sugar should of went in :angry-banghead:

Added some bread yeast and DAP and gave the wash a good mixing then sealed it up and I'll see if the ferment has started in the morning.

Cheers Bryan

Edit: came in after the cleanup and me thinks the lid can come off as the airlock is going nuts 8-} so yes this process does work by the looks. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[RobMichelle]

So the hydrogen peroxide is helping drop the final gravity ?
Will be interesting to see what it finishes at. Would it be something you would use going forward with generations in rum you think?

[RuddyCrazy]

So the hydrogen peroxide is helping drop the final gravity ?
Will be interesting to see what it finishes at. Would it be something you would use going forward with generations in rum you think?

Rob I had about 45 litres in the mashtun and my fermenters are 60 litre so with the addition of rainwater dropped the gravity, with the 4kg added the gravity was 1095 so thought that would do, anyway having the lower starting gravity will help the yeasties and the yield may be a tad lower on the strip run.

Now if molasses does have that metabisulpite this process will be needed and I only have one for ferment with the molasses then time to get more and with luck this problem will be gone. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[TheRealMrMessy]

Definitely sounds easier than trying to heat it to 150c. Glad the tip seems to be working out Bryan, and is one I'll keep in mind if I'm limited to stockfeed molasses in future!

While I'm no chemist, everything I read said peroxide doesn't boil until around to 150c mark same as the metabisulphite, and that any attempt to distil it would require pressure distillation. Most should be consumed in the oxidising step anyway, provided you are following suggested doses. Not knowing the dose rate, peroxide is GRAS at 5mg/kg. Don't see any risk of that being in the final product, by the time its stripped, spirited, watered down, aged, etc.

[RuddyCrazy]

G'Day Guy's,
Well bringing that wash upto 80C has really made a huge difference compared to the hydrogen peroxide option :handgestures-thumbupleft: Now this new wash has the airlock going constant and I reckon it will ferment out pretty quickly. The other fermenter is down to 1070 with no cap, the new wash has a cap close to the lid.

So for a 45 litre molasses wash 25ml of 6% hydrogen peroxide at 40C and bring the molasses upto 80C if the molasses does have sodium metabisulpite mixed in :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Tried out my cold finger yesterday and when the wash was down to 40C my flojet pump that been going for over 20 years locked up :angry-banghead: well considering I just run the pump at 35% turning it up to 100% did overheat the pump.

Let the pump cool for 15 minutes and turned it back on and it worked :handgestures-thumbupleft:

So I just transferred the 40C wash using the seaflo pump and with the added water got the wash to 30C :handgestures-thumbupleft: put in the bread yeast and DAP and new weekend I may be stripping it.

Cheers Bryan

[TheRealMrMessy]

Yeah diaphragm pumps don't usually like hot liquid haha. Can't beat them for self priming though.

Keen to hear how it ends up.

[RuddyCrazy]

Well next day saw the airlock on this new ferment had molasses in it :scared-eek: so gave the airlock a clean and on checking the gravity 1012 :scared-eek: :scared-eek: the cap has now gone down so it should be done in the next couple of days so I can strip it next weekend :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Added a bit more DAP to the generation yesterday and it's on 1069 and chugging away nicely :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Cheers Bryan

[RobMichelle]

So 15 ltr head room wasn’t enough Bryan lol messy stuff to. So the first ferment has taken how long 2weeks?
And new ferment a few days, my last 3 rum ferments were done in 3 days.

[RuddyCrazy]

Yes Rob I put the generation down before Xmas and me going over east so it will be the last wash with that generation and with only one batch left of this molasses I'll do the 80C method cool it and add some dunder then make a new generation in the second fermenter :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[TheRealMrMessy]

Had another wee dram of the rum. Not thrilled by the fact it’s still leaning into the pine resin, but the profile behind that is getting a bit more complexity. Gonna give it a few more months until the weather cools here and if it’s still holding that piney trash flavour, I’ll redistill and chuck it back in again. Maybe toss 10L of neutral in for a month to dilute the residual profile and carbon filter it afterward, then toss the rum back in? My bad on using virgin USA with rum I guess!

Finally got the ex-bourbon barrel rum started over Christmas, fingers crossed there! Definitely a much milder smell off the barrel.

[RuddyCrazy]

Well got the last strip run done today and got 25 litres around 50% of rum low wines :handgestures-thumbupleft: out of that 25kg drum of tainted molasses, now I found a fix I am tempted to go get another drum of the stuff and keep going making rum :laughing-rolling:

[TheRealMrMessy]

More than I expected Bryan! Got 42kg I'll be following suit with in a couple months.

Decided how this one's getting aged? Think mine is gonna go in a single use usa oak barrel that had port barrel aged whiskey sit in there for a year to oak up a bit more. Timing to pull that will be about right.

I still don't like where my rum in the new US oak barrel is going but the pine flavour has stopped increasing. Suspect I'll redistill and put it back in again after I do the molasses run. Will lose a bit of product and flavour but needs must. Maybe ill do a 30L batch up just to mix in to keep some flavour rolling :think:

[RuddyCrazy]

Well Messy with you saying about a new American oak barrel tasting piney has sort put me off going going for that 10 litre new American oak barrel and I reckon 5 litres can go in a 5 litre demi and the rest can be used for making a spiced rum :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Eh I've always put rum in the gin basket basket where :puke-huge: is usually the taste :laughing-rolling: but after I've now made my own rum I can take the rum off that list :handgestures-thumbupleft: