Questions about developing recipes

[Knew2Brew]

What things are critical in a mash and how much do you need?

I know you need sugar, yeast, and water at a minimum. I've also read that there needs to be nutrients for the yeast. Sometimes these are with the yeast and these nutrients may or may not be included with the same source as the sugar.

Say I want to make a simple heavy rum mash. I decide to use brown sugar, molasses, yeast and water. Would my yeast get the necessary nutrients from the ingredients or do I need to add something else? I've read molasses provideds a lot of nutrients.

Now, what if I want to make a light rum. What if I use the same ingredients, but I'm now using a lot less molasses and more brown sugar. Does this change the need to add nutrients?

Also, do I simply find the sugar per cup/quart/gallon of molasses and add this to the amount of brown sugar I would add?

Thanks in advance to anyone who can help me with my basic recipe development questions.

[Durace11]

First thing I would say is if you are doing something that's already got a ton of recipes out there(like rum), start with one of the established recipes as your base and modify it from there. Use what works and tweak it to be your own. TAKE LOTS OF NOTES DURING THE PROCESS! I hear all the time from my brewing friends, man this is great, I just wish I could remember how I did the mash/ferment/boil. That is a "snowflake" brew, so unique you can't remake it.

If you are making a rum I think you need to worry less about nutrients and just concentrate on your ingredient volumes. Don't aim for a really high ABV and you'll be fine without nutrients. The molasses has enough nutrients in it to get you to a moderate ABV on its own. It's when you really start to push the limits of your yeasts ABV tolerance that you need to start controlling temps, using oxygenation, adding nutrients, and taking special care of the yeast so they have the best chance to achieve a high ABV.

Of course, it never hurts to add a small amount of nutrients to boost their ability and ensure a smooth ferment with as few off flavors as possible. Just make sure you don't overdo the nutrients because that will also cause off flavors. Google up "Staggered Nutrient Additions" and do some reading on that process, that will get you a good idea of a nice nutrient regimen. This is taking it to the extreme and most people will not want to take that much time to add nutrients 1-2 times a day for 3-4 days but you need to figure out what works for you and your ferment and go with that process as your own.

Everyone has different tastes and different ideas of what works best for them, that's what I feel is recipe development at its ultimate. Don’t be a snowflake! Don’t think you are going to create a gem on the first try, most likely you are going to need to brew several batches to perfect your own perfect recipe. Experiment, have fun, be safe, that’s what the hobby is all about. Don’t get put off if you create a few bad batches, we have all done it. A good part of recipe development is knowing how to brew, do a ton of reading.

[Prairiepiss]

+1

Also would like to point you to the parent site. There is a lot of useful info on sugar there. Like how much to use, how much sugar is in each type, and calculators to help determine what the outcome SG of an amount of sugar used.

But for a rum I would start with a tried and true recipe and tweek it to your tastes. Much easier then starting from scratch.

[blind drunk]

+3

The tried and true recipes have the basics questions that you are wondering about already worked out. Then tweak. Good luck.