Sugar beet molasses

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hummelfahrer
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Sugar beet molasses

Post by hummelfahrer »

High guys,
Here's a question that I have been pondering over:
I live in good old Krautland and I'm having a hell of a time finding sugar cane molasses.For making rum,CAN I use molasses made from sugar beets?
I mean,will it taste similar to using sugar cane molasses and the whole time you guys are talking about blackstrap molasses.
What is that stuff derived from? Sorry if I may sound ignorant,but I ain't ashamed to ask when not knowing.
Greetings
hummelfahrer
Don Ventura
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Post by Don Ventura »

Can you use Sugar beet sugar to make mollases - Yes.
Will it taste like Mollases Rum - Not exactly, with a few small nueacnes that most unrefined pallates will barely notice.

Will it tase good - Yes, but with a slightly different character, aging will only intensify this non rum like taste. But will be a good rum-like taste.
Thats why plane sugar has that unexplainable "citrus" taste to it when used to make Rum as opposed to using Blackstrap or regular unsulffered Mollases. Not sure right now of the exact %, but I know more then 75% of all generic store bought sugar is beet sugar currently. Unless it says "pure cane sugar" then you can bet you ass it's beet sugar. Why? Cuz beets are cheap, easy to grow in the US (and anywhere for that matter) and are very easy to process to extract the high sugar content. - where Sugar Cane is not.

Heres why: sugar is not always the "same" as every other sugar. Loosely translated as; Dextrose, Maltose, Lactose, and Sucrose are all made up of ROUGHLY the same componds, just rearanged in special forms. The make up and ratio of these chemical bonds, along with other "hitchhiker" elements, minerals, and nutrients are what are the basis for your wash. Once you distill them the ethanol that is produced transfers those chemical compounds with it and thats where you get the flavors from. Just like flavored salts, its the additives that make Fleur de Sel, different from Hawaiin Pink Salt. NaCl is always, and Will always be NaCal (salt) but the way the crystals are formed, the minerals that are bound to the outside of the compound are what flavor it.

Note: This is a laymens generalization based on the findinds and readings from "What Einstien Told his Cook" by Harold McGee and every science, chemestry class I have taken. I am not by any means a Scientist or chemist, just a Chef with a better then average palate. Mind you I will probably read this tomorrow and think WTF was I thinking... but hey! What is alcohol for?

As far as your troble with finding a suitable rum producing molasses; Try here:
Shop Natural: and search for "Molasses" - The Unsulffered is what you are looking for.
Or if you want to use Corn Sugar (Dextrose) Try here.

If you want less then 5G (22.5L) then try looking up "Brear Rabbit" Molasses or one of the other types of unsulffered molasses from the US. I'm sure you can find something from the states that will meet your needs.

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DAMN LONG ASS POSTS!!!
hummelfahrer
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sugar

Post by hummelfahrer »

Thanks Don,
Ya sure made things a lot clearer to me.So if I get it right,the blackstrap molasses is a by-product in the manufacture of sugar and it is made from sugar beets.Or did I get you wrong there?
I'm askin' this 'cause I'm havin' a quabble with a bud of mine.
There is a company in Austria called STROH(straw) and they make a rum
that has 73%alc/vol.If ya drink it straight ya'll gag ,cry and choke,most of all it'll burn a hole in your stomach,I guess that's why ya keep drooling for another 10 min.I know,'cause I was foolish enough to take a swig.
Hey guys,look at this-OUCH!!!
Now to get back to sugar,we all know that there is very little sugar cane growing in Austria or any other Alpine states for that matter.So I figure
that they must use something to make their rum out of,and I figure it's
sugar beets-my bud says no way can ya make a rum outta beets.
That's why I was askin'.
I sure hope I ain't gonna lose out on this one-else I gotta drink another glass of that awful tasting sh**.Makes me salivate just thinkin' about it.
hummelfahrer
pothead
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Post by pothead »

You can make molasess with beets...and it will taste VERY similar to cane molasess. Fermented it will smell and tast about the same as cane molasess. Distilled, you you might notice a slight difference, but if you played around with your wash recipe, you could get it to taste exactly like rum made from fancy molasess, or from blackstrap.
If you think that the distillery may be using beet molasses to produce their rum....Call them, ask for a tour, ask if they use "Cane" molasses.
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Watershed
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Post by Watershed »

I thought Stroh was made by using the imported tails from Carribean rum distilleries ( which are also used to make rum 'essense' for cooking ) and diluting with industrial grain spirit.

I've never managed to find a source of sugar beet molasses here.
possum
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Wine?

Post by possum »

Has anyone used sugarbeets to make wine ?
I have to get busy and put some seeds in the ground.
If they grow, I might try using them for the sugar in my fruit wines,
in addition to rum.
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Big J
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Post by Big J »

Sugar, and therefore molasses, can also be extracted from sorghum. I don't know what areas sugar beets are suited to growing in, but sorghum is another option.
Brett
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Post by Brett »

the recipe i have for sugar beet wine from easymade wine and country drinks by mrs gennery tailor

makes 1 gal

4lb suagr beet
3lb sugar ?? (dont understand this as the sugar should be in the beet?)
1 gal cold water
prepared juice of 1/2lb raisins
1 lemon
campden tablets
pectic enzyme
yeast
yeast nutrients

In this recipe they slice the beets thin bring to the boil then simmer till cooked tender, then they take the beets out add the rest and boil for 30 mins, strain and prepare as any wine..

why they add sugar to a high content sugar crop i dont know, other things that might help extract the sugars are to freeze the beat before u boil it, this helps break the cells open and maybe to leave the beet in the fermentin mash a little longer.
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Aidas
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Post by Aidas »

Sugar beets are generally harvested after frosts have come, thus they've already been frozen after you get them.

As simply slicing the beets isn't going to get all the sugar out of them, that's why maybe she's adding extra sugar. The best way to extract the most sugar would be to grate them as fine as possible and squeeze the hell out of the gratings after you've boiled them.

Aidas
Last edited by Aidas on Thu Apr 06, 2006 5:53 am, edited 1 time in total.
possum
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Post by possum »

Well, I have a wine press, and a wood chipper. With a big enough pot of water, I should be OK. I hope they grow well here in the mid-atlantic states.
Hey guys!!! Watch this.... OUCH!
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Tater
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Post by Tater »

I use a pot still.Sometimes with a thumper
furball
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Post by furball »

If you want to extract the most out of the beets, then run them through a juicer. It is a bit slow and could be a bit tedious dealing with the pulp but it works well. Tater also made mention in one of the tip sections is that you can take a new paint mixer and use that to turn them into a puree( I would imagine that you would have to have boiled them first). Sounds like an interesting project!

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pothead
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Post by pothead »

All you need to do is cut em up,Freeze em, and boil em(don't let them burn). Boil em & Boil em & boil em. Simmer them for a LONG time, then strain the liquid out, top it off with cool water, add nutrients and yeast, and let it go. If you were to keep boiling it after you remove the beets, eventually you would end up with molasses.
This is what I read somewhere (so I am not sure how much truth there is to it). I wish I could remember where. The article had to do with comparisons between fermented beets, fermented beet molasses, and corn. They compared which product produced the highest alcohol content with the least amount of energy(for fuel production). They also went into detail about How they made the molasses from the beets,how they converted the starches in the corn(and what they used). If I can find it I'll post it...If anyone else here finds it....please post it. :D
"Be nice to America, or we'll bring democracy to your country."
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Craftbrewer
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Re: Sugar beet molasses

Post by Craftbrewer »

Hi
Is it your own experience with rum made with beet molasses you guys are referring to in the posts above?

I will attempt to make rum with beet molasses soon, but there are different opinions on the net on if it can be used.

Its said that beet molasses tastes bad and bitter. Also its very alkaline (pH>8) while cane molasses is acidic. Of cause this can be adjusted with some acid.
Craftbrewer
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Re: Sugar beet molasses

Post by Craftbrewer »

Well, now I've tried it. And my recommendation is - 'don't try this at home'.

I bought 15 kg liquid molasses from Nordic Sugar. It had 43% sugar. Mixed it with water to about 40 l.

This molasses is alkaline so I tried to lower the pH with lactic and phosphoric acid, but after adding a bunch with no result I gave up.

Added nutrients and fermented it with Wyeast Eau de Vie. The beer was very salty and did not taste pleasent.

Ran my reflux still as a pot still. The collected spirits from 60%-35%.

The result is a foul smelling and tasting liquor with absolutely no resemblance to rum. The stuff with 60% is less foul than the rest, so its currently being oaked, but my hopes for the outcome very low. The rest is being treated with activated carbon to see how effective a cleaner that is - haven't tried activated carbon before.
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