My First Rum

Anything to do with rum

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Old Town
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My First Rum

Post by Old Town »

I'm doing my first attempt at a rum ferment. I have a 30 gallon fermenter so I'm doing a 25 gallon wash. I got this recipe from ShineOn's thread in the sugar section. I put 4 gallons of feed grad molasses and 30lbs of Dark brown sugar in the bottom of my fermenter. I brought about five gallons of water to a slow boil. I dumped the water in the fermenter and mixed the molasses and sugar together until all the sugar was desolved. I then used the empty molasses jugs and filled the fermenter up with cold water. I used the jugs so I could get the rest of the molasses out of them. I gave it another good stir and started up my yeast. The recipe calls for bakers yeast but I have a fair amount of Red Star Dady distillers yeast so I used it instead. I took a pint of wash and a pint of water mixed them together for my yeast starter. I heated the yeast starter up to around 90 and dumped in a cup of yeast. I let that sit for a half an hour to activate,then I pitched in the fermenter. I gave it a gentle stir and put the cap on the fermenter. I did this last night at about 8pm. It's now 10am and no action in the bubbler yet. I don't know if it's warm enough in the house so I'm going to wrap a blanket around it and see if I get any action..
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Re: My First Rum

Post by OtisT »

Hi Old Town. What was the wash temp when you pitched the yeast?
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Re: My First Rum

Post by NZChris »

Know what the temperature is and actively control it. Too cold and you risk a pH stall, too hot and you need to remove insulation or cool it, (I use a fan).

Be very careful using an airlock because a good rum ferment could turn it into a fountain.
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Saltbush Bill
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Re: My First Rum

Post by Saltbush Bill »

Old Town wrote:and no action in the bubbler yet
Never ever rely on a airlock bubbling to tell if something is fermenting, Fermenter lid seals and the seals around the airlocks are renowned for leaking.
Keeping your rum nice and warm is the next most important thing to worry about, try to keep it at 30c at least ....higher wont hurt it.
Old Town
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Re: My First Rum

Post by Old Town »

I will admit I didn't take an exact temp ready of the wash when I pitched the yeast. It may of been too hot when I pitched it but I had my hand in there when I was stirring it up and it wasn't overly hot. I still don't have any activity out of the air lock so I could very well have a leaky seal on my lid. I have it in my bedroom with an electric heater keeping the room at 80. I can't stand to sleep in there any hotter than that. I have a blanket raped around the fermenter to bump the timp up a bit. I'm thinking about pitching some more yeast??
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nerdybrewer
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Re: My First Rum

Post by nerdybrewer »

Saltbush Bill wrote:
Old Town wrote:and no action in the bubbler yet
Never ever rely on a airlock bubbling to tell if something is fermenting, Fermenter lid seals and the seals around the airlocks are renowned for leaking.
Keeping your rum nice and warm is the next most important thing to worry about, try to keep it at 30c at least ....higher wont hurt it.
Within reason ;)
I have heaters and such and have had failures of controller equipment and found my wash at 130F before.
Let it cool down, pitched more yeast and it was fine.
Cranky's spoonfeeding:
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=52975

Time and Oak will sort it out.
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Re: My First Rum

Post by Pesty »

Red star dady is more grain mash specific yeast so chances are the sugar load was to much for them to handle.

Dump a jar of bakers yeast in there and you should be fine.
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Saltbush Bill
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Re: My First Rum

Post by Saltbush Bill »

Old Town wrote: I still don't have any activity out of the air lock so I could very well have a leaky seal on my lid.
Its about time to rip the lid off and have a look ...its not a caged bear you have there ...its ok to take the lid off for a peep.
You should be able to see it frothing or fizzing, if you cant see it you should be able to hear it fizzing if you get your ear close to the surface.
If nothing is happening then it maybe time to look at other options.
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Re: My First Rum

Post by Old Town »

Ok still no action out of the bubbler so I took the lid off. I can hear it fizzing and can see some movement so I think I'm ok. Must just be a leaky seal on the fermenter.
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Saltbush Bill
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Re: My First Rum

Post by Saltbush Bill »

Ok you learned something :thumbup: , don't look for the hard issues like PH to begin with when you have problems with a wash. 99% of the time it is something very simple. Lot of folks around here just seem to want to make it look overly complicated.
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Re: My First Rum

Post by Old Town »

Ok just checked it again f..k the air lock no action there but it's fizzing away. I would love to take a SG reading but I broke another granulated cylinder. Can I just drop my hydrometer in the fermenter and take a reading?
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Re: My First Rum

Post by Saltbush Bill »

Keep it simple , when you cant see or hear it fizzing any more its done.
Leave it settle for a few days or a week and run it. At that stage the wash should taste dry and a little sour. Your eyes, ears and tongue can tell you all you need to know about a rum wash.
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Re: My First Rum

Post by Old Town »

Good to know but I would like to have this one done by next week for thanksgiving. I need to strip it and run it and hope for the best.. I know I shouldn't rush things but I have guests to entertain.. I have my peach brandy that I made this summer but it's not very good.. Maybe lack of aging time or just novices mistakes or both.. Anyhow one way or another I'm passing around some hooch..
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Re: My First Rum

Post by Pesty »

Old Town wrote:
I know I shouldn't rush things but I have guests to entertain..

I have my peach brandy that I made this summer but it's not very good.. Maybe lack of aging.
You can’t force a ferment, It’s done when it’s done. Patience is the key to this hobby.

If you need something for next week, go buy a bottle or two of rum and do a spirit run with it.
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Re: My First Rum

Post by Shine0n »

I've pitched at 100f before and it was fine, my yeast says to rehydrate at 109f so you're good my friend :thumbup:

I'm sure with the heat at 80 and wrapped in blankets it will be done in a few days, I can do 2 12 gal stripping runs in a short day, I've even gotten a 24 gal strip run done in less than 6 hours including heatup, you'll be good as long as you have time to do them all.

grab a pint of hearts from the stripping run to sip at 100p, see if the flavors are good, I know it's a stripping run but you'll have some idea of what it will taste like. If it's super strong and you like the flavor I would avoid using dunder until a later run because it needs just a little time to sit before you drink it as it's very bold and needs to have time to mellow.

The original recipe is good by itself and I love it and wouldn't change it at all so I hope you enjoy it and if you have time to do all the runs this weekend (if finished) you'll have some nice white rum for thanksgiving and DON'T try to oak any you plan to drink, this is a very good white rum and I personally keep tha majority of mine white anyway.

Keep us informed and if you have any questions either post or call me or both.

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Saltbush Bill
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Re: My First Rum

Post by Saltbush Bill »

Old Town wrote: I shouldn't rush things
See you already know what the problem is :thumbup: Slow down man.
Old Town wrote:I have my peach brandy that I made this summer but it's not very good.. Maybe lack of aging time
same thing , cant rush stillin stuff or aging.
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Re: My First Rum

Post by Old Town »

Ok so my fermenter is still fizzing away but I don't know how.. I didn't take a original SG reading but I took on today too see how far along it is. Holly shit the reading was at 1.100 no that's not a typo.. That's obviously way too high. Should I siphon half of it out into another fermenter and add some water to lower the sugar content. I though I doubled the recipe for my size of fermenter but I messed something up. I guess it's a good thing I'm using distillers yeast. Somebody help me save this stuff please. Keep in minde this stuff has been fermenting for 4 days now. It's hard too tell high the OG reading was.
Last edited by Old Town on Wed Nov 15, 2017 10:00 am, edited 1 time in total.
NEGaxSEGa
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Re: My First Rum

Post by NEGaxSEGa »

If your wash is still actively fermenting, CO2 in suspension will push up your hydrometer (and thus your gravity reading). What was your original gravity? Did you de-gas your sample?
Old Town
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Re: My First Rum

Post by Old Town »

No I did not de-gas it and like an idiot I didn't take an OG reading.
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Re: My First Rum

Post by Old Town »

I didn't think about the the CO2 messing with the hydrometer.
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Re: My First Rum

Post by NEGaxSEGa »

Old Town wrote:No I did not de-gas it and like an idiot I didn't take an OG reading.
I did some back-of-envelope calculations, and I think your OG should have been around 1.122 (67pts from molasses, 55pts from brown sugar). That's a real rough calculation, and hopefully somebody else can confirm.
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Re: My First Rum

Post by zapata »

Take a sample and degas to get a true gravity reading. Just shaking in a bottle and venting should suffice. I often ferment with a hydrometer in the wash the whole time. The co2 and motion does affect the reading, but its all relative and you can watch it drop from day to day to tell you how fast it is progressing.
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Re: My First Rum

Post by Saltbush Bill »

slooowwwww down...you cant get a proper hydrometer reading on a wash with molasses in it.
There are to many unfermentables in it. They are always going to read high.
Use your god given senses , they will tell you the same thing without all the hassle.
Last edited by Saltbush Bill on Wed Nov 15, 2017 3:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Old Town
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Re: My First Rum

Post by Old Town »

Yeah I know slow down. This rum has just got me all stressed out I don't want to mess it up. I know one thing for sure its stinking up the bedroom. I gave it a little taste and it kid of tastes like soy sauce. Like a dark chocolate soy sauce.
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Re: My First Rum

Post by Shine0n »

It always reads high with molasses, lol

Take the reading and do a simple method that works well enough.
OG-FG×'s 130 should give you a good estimate if it's that important but give it a few days and taste again, just keep the temp on the warmer side of comfortable in the room, keep the blankets on it and it should finish fairly soon.

if you can make it up to tractor supply and get some oyster shells (the ground up kind) just in case of a ph drop, most likely you won't need them but it's better to buffer than to raise the ph.
I've had the larger ferments slow due to ph drop so I just do it to be safe.
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Saltbush Bill
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Re: My First Rum

Post by Saltbush Bill »

Old Town wrote:I gave it a little taste and it kid of tastes like soy sauce. Like a dark chocolate soy sauce.
If your not sure about the taste look and listen for the little bubbles fizzing on the surface, when they stop call it done.
Out of a hundred or more rum ferments , big and small Ive never had to buffer,or interfere in any way with PH.
It only becomes necessary if you use to high a percentage of dunder.
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Re: My First Rum

Post by Shine0n »

I've had the ph drop during the cooler months, maybe because the temp was lower and the ferment took longer but when I added the oyster shells that shit erupted like a volcano.

If steps are taken to maintain an ideal temp the ferment should go dry within 5 days and buffering shouldn't an issue, if the wife make you take it to the barn on the next one you either have to keep the barn warm, build an insulated fermenter box to keep it happy for a fast fermentation or you will have the ph issues.

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Old Town
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Re: My First Rum

Post by Old Town »

I just dropped the hydrometer down into the fermenter. It went from 1.100 down to 1.070 in two days. I know those are not really accurate readings but at least I know it's headed in the right direction.
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Re: My First Rum

Post by hellbilly007 »

Whenever fermentation activity slows down I smack or lightly kick the sides of my fermenter to degas it somewhat. A lot of times my ferments are finished but still bubbling from trapped CO2. It gives me a better idea of when I can run it
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Re: My First Rum

Post by Shine0n »

Thanks for the reminder of trapped c02, alot of new guys think it's still fermenting but in truth it's done.
Good catch!
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