Buccaneer Bob's Silver, Gold, and Black Rum Recipe

[wtfdskin]

Pitched sugar yesterday, bubbling had slowed to less than one a minute. Im sure glad I trickled the sugar in. It boiled rolled and foamed like crazy. It all stayed in the bucket thankfully.

[nerdybrewer]

In my latest batch (nearly 18 gallons) I've used a lot of dunder, maybe too much.
I found the ph had dropped to below 4, added some 5.2 stabilizer because ferment had stopped.
It started back up and has been bubbling more than once per second for the past couple days.
I now own a digital PH meter so I'll make sure my wash is at a good PH before I add yeast, just tired of guessing and finding a stuck ferment.
How much is too much dunder in a batch? At 50% dunder the ph drops significantly, you can add something like calcium carbonate to make it less acidic and keep the yeast happy.
Others use egg shells or oyster shells.
This batch is looking and smelling great, it has blackstrap molasses, Sucanat and raw cane sugar plus as noted above, a lot of dunder that's currently (IIRC) on it's 4th generation. Can't wait to run it when it's done.

[wtfdskin]

I just realized my feed grade molasses is sulphured I sourced another farm store with bulk unsulphured. Time to start over. I cant really smell it but im sure I will when I run. Lesson learned

[Buccaneer Bob]

I just realized my feed grade molasses is sulphured I sourced another farm store with bulk unsulphured. Time to start over. I cant really smell it but im sure I will when I run. Lesson learned

Yeah, I'm not really sure what to tell you on that, other than the fact that I've heard a lot of negative comments about the dreaded "sulfured" molasses.

I get my molasses from a ginormous, rusty tank at the local cattle lot, and I doubt anybody who works there could tell me if there's sulfur in it or not.

If I had to guess, I'd say there's some mixture of sulfured molasses (made from green sugar cane) and unsulfured molasses (made from mature sugar cane) in it, but who knows for sure.

All I can say is that it makes good rum, and ultimately, that's all that really matters to me.

Go ahead an and get some unsulfured molasses for your next ferment, but I'd probably see where this supposedly "sulfured" molasses gets you.

If it's fermenting like you say it is, it might just surprise you and make a decent batch of rum.

[wtfdskin]

Its bubbling nicely. No foam. Slight oil film on top. No rotten egg smell but not very sweet smelling either. I found a gold mune today at an amish health food store 5 miles from me. Golden barrel unsulphured blackstrap in 1 gal containers and they will order me a 5 gal bucket. Also stock turbinado and regular pure cane sugar. Its rum makers heaven there.

[nerdybrewer]

From what I've read the sulphur is mainly a problem with some people who are sensitive to it.
I have no idea if any of it comes over in the distillate, that's a question for a chemist.
Been using the expensive food grade stuff myself, my local feed store does offer 5 gallon pails for about $16 and that is tempting.
No idea what else might be in that feed grade molasses, but that's less than I paid for my last 1 gallon food grade blackstrap.

[wtfdskin]

We shall see when I distill it. This is my first ever run run so if its a flop I will take what I learned and continue on. Me feed store sells it bulk by the pound instead of gallon. Ran me 25 for 5 gallon of unknown contents. Lol. 32 at the amish store in a container with a label and a shorter drive. I will see which is best. I love the experimentation of this hobby

[MichiganCornhusker]

Or you could try muscovado, piloncillo, panela, etc.... if a person is using some of those more exotic sugars, they should focus on a pure muscovado rum, a pure piloncillo rum, a pure panela rum, etc., because the subtle flavors of those exotic sugars would surely be overpowered by blackstrap molasses.

I just want to share my latest experiment. I'm making a double batch of this rum, one with Piloncillo, and one with table sugar, other than that the batches are identical with 1 gallon molasses and 1 quart dunder per 5 gallons.
They are fermenting now, and I will report back post distillation with my impressions.

[wtfdskin]

I'm working on something similar, husker. 3 runs, turbinado, palm, and white cane.

[MichiganCornhusker]

I'm working on something similar, husker. 3 runs, turbinado, palm, and white cane.

Nice, I just saw the palm sugar thread and would like to explore that as well, looking forward to your updates.

[Buccaneer Bob]

I just want to share my latest experiment. I'm making a double batch of this rum, one with Piloncillo, and one with table sugar, other than that the batches are identical with 1 gallon molasses and 1 quart dunder per 5 gallons.
They are fermenting now, and I will report back post distillation with my impressions.

Cool deal, MichiganCornhusker. Yeah, I'd really like to know how it works out. I've been speculating that the subtle flavors of piloncillo, etc., would be lost under the molasses, but so far it's just been speculation. It would be really nice to see how piloncillo compares to table sugar in this rum.

[Jimbo]

Nice recipe! Whats your opinion on 'live dunder' vs not so live dunder? Do ya gotta have the funk, for this to taste right? I have 5 gallons of rum dunder in a bucket from 2+ years ago. I put the cap on after pouring it in the container and left it alone, not open to any microbes. Aside from a small bit of mold on top, there's no liveness, certainly nothing moving, like in Larry or P's dunder pits. Im getting ready to make a rum with some Panela and will use some of this. Debating whether I open it up and invite some bugs in for dinner first for a month or 2 or just let it rip as is?

[MichiganCornhusker]

Don't know how live this was, but it was about 6 month old and it sure looked pretty filthy.
This is the end of the line for my rums. I had 5 gallons of molasses and a large box of Sugar Daddy piloncillo. This will be my last two batches of rum for a while as I got crazy good yield from this recipe.
I will kinda miss going downstairs into the creepy corner of the basement to "fetch the dunder".

[Jimbo]

hmmm, thats pretty microbey lookin. Nice work.

[Buccaneer Bob]

Nice recipe! Whats your opinion on 'live dunder' vs not so live dunder? Do ya gotta have the funk, for this to taste right? I have 5 gallons of rum dunder in a bucket from 2+ years ago. I put the cap on after pouring it in the container and left it alone, not open to any microbes. Aside from a small bit of mold on top, there's no liveness, certainly nothing moving, like in Larry or P's dunder pits. Im getting ready to make a rum with some Panela and will use some of this. Debating whether I open it up and invite some bugs in for dinner first for a month or 2 or just let it rip as is?

Thanks Jimbo.

I would imagine your dunder should be great as it is. Perhaps if you had a microscope you could find out for sure if the bacteria are still alive. But regardless, the dunder should have been left in a good state of funkiness by whatever bacteria had a chance to do their thing.

Or you could open it up and see what else makes it in there. I'm sure it'll be fine, either way.

I will kinda miss going downstairs into the creepy corner of the basement to "fetch the dunder".

[MichiganCornhusker]

I'm making a double batch of this rum, one with Piloncillo, and one with table sugar

That is one creepy ass pic, Bob!
I ran the two batches today. There is definitely a difference in the way they each taste off the still.
The batch with the panela is sweeter, richer, considerable flavors present from the panela.
The batch with the table sugar (from cane) is still sweet, but not as much, a little more boozy, the molasses is more pronounced, esp a sort of metallic taste, but not in a bad way.
The panela edges the spirit off center toward the richness of a liqueor like Kahlua, but not syrupy, and the sugar produces a more traditional rum liquor.
I can detect quite a bit of funk from the dunder in each batch compared to the rums Ive made before. Interesting flavors that I hope and expect will mellow out some with time.
All that being said, the two rums are not dramatically different, I just wanted to try to describe what difference there is between them.
This is just a quick update, day of run. I will come back to them in a few weeks to see how they taste then.

Edit: I'm using panela and piloncillo interchangeably. Not sure if I should be, I think the Sugar Daddy stuff is Piloncillo.

[Buccaneer Bob]

Cool deal, MichiganCornhusker. Yeah, I've been intending to make a batch with piloncillo to see for myself, but I just haven't gotten around to it. Now that I know that you can taste the difference, I'm ready to give it a go myself. Thanks for posting.

Edit: I'm using panela and piloncillo interchangeably. Not sure if I should be, I think the Sugar Daddy stuff is Piloncillo.

Yeah, I think it has more to do with the shape of the pieces, more than anything.

"Piloncillo" means "little pylon", so if the pieces are cone-shaped, they'd probably be called piloncillo.

And if they are rectangular blocks of the same sugar, they'd be called "panela", probably because they resemble the panela cheese.

But I believe it depends a lot on regional language preferences, too.

[nerdybrewer]

Where are you guys getting the panela / piloncillo?

[firewater69]

About any Hispanic grocery store will have piloncillo.

[MichiganCornhusker]

I bought some panels on ebay, and also some from sugar daddy.
The sugar daddy stuff was much better. It just seems like a more unrefined product, straight from the cane fields. Very rich and fragrant.
Search for one his posts on here and PM him, I think he is still shipping the good stuff.

[nerdybrewer]

Thanks!
I used blackstrap and Sucanat in my last batch, the Sucanat really smelled and tasted great.
Going out to see if I can run that batch through the still today!

[Sugar Daddy]

The shape does not have any affect or indicate anything except the shape. The typical shape for Mexicans, 80 percent plus of Hispanics in the US, is the cone or pylon shape. It is literally made in at least a dozen shapes, ranging from an ounce to 8 or 10 lb blocks! Quality will vary greatly from manufacturer to manufacturer. Most piloncillo out there is very low quality, highly processed garbage, so be careful comparing your neighborhood piloncillo made rum to molasses or whatever else you can compare it to.

[DriftLord]

Thanks first of all Bob. Excellent information and help all round. I am just finishing my first use if your amazing recipe and very pleased with the results.

I was wandering on my next run through, can I save all the spirit runs up ( maybe 5 or 6) and run them together? Or shall i stick to seperate runs?I have my dunder pit getting funky and some good feints from my first go round. so the flavour and depth is already built. Sorry If this has been answered before.

[Buccaneer Bob]

Thanks so much Driftlord! I'm glad you're happy with the rum.

And let me be the first to say: "Welcome aboard!"

When you get a chance, pop over over to the Welcome Center, say hello, and tell us all a little more about yourself. I'm sure others here will like to meet you too.

And you can definitely save up a few stripping runs and put them together into one spirit run. My only recommendation would be to think about starting with two stripping runs per spirit run and then try three stripping runs per spirit run, four stripping runs per spirit run, etc.

That way you can see how the cuts change as you aggregate more and more stripping runs without over-committing with five or six stripping runs. Does that make sense?

[DriftLord]

Cheers Bob. Makes perfect sense. Many thanks for the welcome.
I am very much a dark rum drinker. So I am currently aging my first runs on oak. I managed to get pieces of an old Scottish Distillery barrel so ive got 6 different 1/2 gallons going on. Will let you how they turn out. Caramel and dunder essence being made this weekend along with the final spirit run from this batch.

[cuzquena]

Hi all,

I just finished a nice large batch of Odin's Rye whisky and wanted to try the Buccaneer Bob's rum now. So I started of by mixing a good amount of molasses in the dunder of my last whisky striprun and let it ferment (with the help of a little kefir) for about three weeks. Two days ago I started a batch, following exactly the recipe (which I read over and over again. The reactions are mouthwatering!). It went bubbling after a few hours. And stopped doing that after a day, unfortunately. I don't have Ph-sticks on hand, so adding lemon juice to it will be "trial and error". Anyone an idea? My yeast was pitched at 28°C, so that can't be the issue. The wash is kept at a constant 22°C. I really don't have a clue.
And I have one more question (newbie, you know ): In the recipe Bob mentions considering everything what exceeds 4 bottles as tails, but doesn't seem to be making a tails cut if the output stays at 4 bottles or less. Is that correct?

Thanks alot for your help!

[still_stirrin]

...I don't have Ph-sticks on hand, so adding lemon juice to it will be "trial and error"....

I'm thinking you went the wrong way. Typically ferments go acidic with time and regeneration (successive runs). So, adding lemon juice further drove the pH down.

Try adding a handful of oyster shells...the local feed store / livestock supply has chicken feed and oyster shells are fed to improve the eggshells. You can't add too much because it will only use the amount needed to react with the acids in your ferment.
ss

[cuzquena]

Thanks for the help.
I didn't actually threw more lemon juice in yet, it was just an idea I had (picked it up somewhere in the comments on the recipe). Maybe I've explained it wrong (English is not my native tongue)
I've put some sugar in last night and it went off after an hour or two, so I gues my molasses might have a very poor sugar content (first time I use this stuff, it was very hard to find where I live). I hope it gives me a lot of flavor instead. Fingers crossed !

[Buccaneer Bob]

Hi all,

I just finished a nice large batch of Odin's Rye whisky and wanted to try the Buccaneer Bob's rum now. So I started of by mixing a good amount of molasses in the dunder of my last whisky striprun and let it ferment (with the help of a little kefir) for about three weeks. Two days ago I started a batch, following exactly the recipe (which I read over and over again. The reactions are mouthwatering!). It went bubbling after a few hours. And stopped doing that after a day, unfortunately. I don't have Ph-sticks on hand, so adding lemon juice to it will be "trial and error". Anyone an idea? My yeast was pitched at 28°C, so that can't be the issue. The wash is kept at a constant 22°C. I really don't have a clue.

Hey, Cuzquena, how's it going?

I had to research kefir, as it's new to me.

Did you use any other yeast, besides the yeast in your kefir? If not, that particular yeast may not be up to the task of fermenting to 14% ABV. It may have been fine fermenting to, say, 7% in a whiskey, but it may not make it to 14%.

And Still_Stirrin might be onto something about the pH. Most yeast will thrive in fairly acidic wash, but maybe the yeast in kefir may not like such a strong acid?

Just guessing, but let me know if you're using any other yeasts besides that in the kefir, and we'll take it from there.

And I have one more question (newbie, you know ): In the recipe Bob mentions considering everything what exceeds 4 bottles as tails, but doesn't seem to be making a tails cut if the output stays at 4 bottles or less. Is that correct?

Something like that, but your mileage may vary. You should ideally be getting 1 liter of heads, 3 liters of hearts, and 1 liter of tails.

Starting off, though, you might have a little less than 3 liters of hearts, but if you keep recycling your tails, it will pack more and more alcohol into the heart section, and after a few runs, you should be hitting a 3 liter heart-cut pretty regularly.

[cuzquena]

Hi Bob,

Thank you so much for your help! The thing with the kefir is something I found on a Dutch forum (where Odin is very active). The whole idea was to create a "starting" dunder for my first batch of rum from some whisky dunder + some molasses. The kefir uses the sugars in the molasses for a small, alcohol-like fermentation which pushes the PH a little further down, while still letting the natural bacteria do their thing. The small amount of alcohol evaporates as you cook the dunder before using it. You cook it, you kill it, so there's no further interference with the yeast afterwards. For consecutive batches, I'll use rum dunder of course!
I'm sticking very close to your recipe for the rest, and I use simple baker's yeast. For the moment everything seems to be going right, it's bubbling happily. I was especially worried because the molasses fermentation stopped after a day or so, while you mentioned in your recipe that it should take about 2 to 3 days. So I guess that the molasses I've found over here don't contain that much sugar or has instead a lot of unfermentable stuff. Hopefully it will give me some more flavor then. I got it from a very strange, New Age-like shop where they use it as a nutrient for what they call "The Good EM Bacteria", whatever that might be. They pretend it makes a great liquid for desinfecting contaminated soil, a very healthly feed supplement for cattle, and so on. Something like Snake Oil, you know?
But they claim it's good, natural sugarcane molasses, unsulphured.
When my mash stops bubbling, I'll mesure the alcohol content and might ad some more sugar at that point. And if I don't reach 14%, so be it.
I''ll keep you informed on the outcome!