Cheap Bundaberg Molasses

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Yummyrum
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Re: Cheap Bundaberg Molasses

Post by Yummyrum »

I wouldn’t be so sure . From what I’ve heard from someone that worked at a refinery , only difference between food grade black strap and animal grade is the Packing process hygiene in the factory.One gets put into nice clean Plastic containers , the other goes into a dirty old tanker that never gets cleaned out . Seeing as I’m not consuming it directly , I’ll go dirty old truck :ewink:
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Re: Cheap Bundaberg Molasses

Post by StriaghtJakket »

very interesting indeed. I'm very keen now to see the difference - if any. If not, I will not be disappointed as the feed stuff in cheap and round the corner.
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Re: Cheap Bundaberg Molasses

Post by RC Al »

nice, 80/200l

Where aboutish are you , couldnt bring deet up on a search, how far do i have to drive? :lol:
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Saltbush Bill
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Re: Cheap Bundaberg Molasses

Post by Saltbush Bill »

From what I've been told, all food grade / "Human Consuption" here is what is extracted from the raw sugar at the plant where they refine raw sugar to white sugar.
This is the stuff in the photos that Yummy put up on page one of the thread.

As I know it there is only one other grade of molasses in AU ....that's the stock feed or blackstrap as some call it, they are both one and the same as far as I am aware. That stuff comes straight from the Mill into huge storage tanks.
It is then sold to contractors who transport it and on sell to Live Stock Feed Suppliers....Horse breeders / trainers, pet food factories, cattle feedlots , or anyone else who will buy it in bulk.
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Re: Cheap Bundaberg Molasses

Post by kimbodious »

Saltbush Bill wrote: Thu Jan 14, 2021 2:28 am From what I've been told, all food grade / "Human Consuption" here is what is extracted from the raw sugar at the plant where they refine raw sugar to white sugar.
This is the stuff in the photos that Yummy put up on page one of the thread.

As I know it there is only one other grade of molasses in AU ....that's the stock feed or blackstrap as some call it, they are both one and the same as far as I am aware. That stuff comes straight from the Mill into huge storage tanks.
It is then sold to contractors who transport it and on sell to Live Stock Feed Suppliers....Horse breeders / trainers, pet food factories, cattle feedlots , or anyone else who will buy it in bulk.
Spot on SBB! The other name for it is Final Molasses when there is no longer any commercially recoverable sucrose. The Mill where I worked would produce about 4,500 tonnes of the stuff. It keeps forever unless it gets diluted with water. Plenty of sheds up this way with ancient barrels of F. Mol. They also use it for stripping rust off carbon steel, and making rum. Definitely not food grade, full of undissolved impurities such as iron flakes. Makes the best caramel slice ever.

See if you can find the Hamish and Andy “Human Lamington” video for jaw-dropping footage of an undercover man made lake of molasses.
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Re: Cheap Bundaberg Molasses

Post by Saltbush Bill »

Thank you Kimbo , I was hoping you might turn up to give first hand information as I remember that you have worked in the Industry.
Would I be correct in saying that this stuff is not made and does not exist in this country?
https://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtop ... 01&t=81791
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Re: Cheap Bundaberg Molasses

Post by StriaghtJakket »

That is good to know! SBB/Kimbo - what is your take on the sulphured /un sulphured? this part of the world at the feed lots would be unsulphuerd correct?
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Re: Cheap Bundaberg Molasses

Post by Saltbush Bill »

I know there are people who claim to have bought Molasses with sulfur added. Personally Ive never seen the stuff and have never had a problem getting the molasses I buy locally to ferment.
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Re: Cheap Bundaberg Molasses

Post by Yummyrum »

Saltbush Bill wrote: Sun Jan 17, 2021 1:09 am Personally Ive never seen the stuff and have never had a problem getting the molasses I buy locally to ferment.
Agree Salty , remember that stuff a few years ago that was fermenting before we got it home .Buckets were bulging.
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Re: Cheap Bundaberg Molasses

Post by Dathhu »

Well I don't have any experience run feed grade stuff to compare it to, but I'm loving the Bundaberg molasses so far.

Ferments like it's boiling, never seen anything go off like it. Done in a couple days, a couple more to settle and then bang it in the still.

One 10L drum in 50L seems to go pretty well for my liking. Makes it easy to mix up a batch too. Couple 20L strips then a spirit run with the bit left over for a 1.5 distillation.

Awesome smells off it, some nice fruitiness, some dried apricot, peach, pear maybe? Even had a cheeky nip from the strip run and it was bloody nice :ebiggrin:

I'll have to see how it ages up though, damn hard to keep my hands off it even white. Guess I'll just have to keep making more... :P
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Re: Cheap Bundaberg Molasses

Post by Dathhu »

Second generation is going a bit slower and has a different smell about it as well. Added about 10L of dunder in 50L from the first strip runs and I think I might have underpitched it a little. Still seems to have finished pretty well in a week, will get to stilling it in the next couple days.

The wash smells more chocolatey? Kind of like chocolate malt in beer brewing? Dark chocolate nose, not the sweet chocolate smell. Still have the the underlying fruit smells. Surprising as the dunder had a more molasses/liquorice smell to it.

Got some of the first sitting in glass on a couple different woods, some French, American and JD. Got another sample left as is to compare it to later. All about 60%. All smelling different, but nice.

Gave some samples of the white to some friends and they were amazed at the flavour in a white spirit, looks like Bacardi but it tastes like a full bodied rum.

I think I'm going to have to invest in a barrel or two for some long term aging...
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Re: Cheap Bundaberg Molasses

Post by hellbilly007 »

kimbodious wrote: Sun Dec 20, 2020 2:59 am There is such a thing as beet molasses, has anyone tried using it?
https://www.feedipedia.org/node/711
Yes, and it is nasty. Made a rum and couldn't find one drop that was tolerable.
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Re: Cheap Bundaberg Molasses

Post by Saltbush Bill »

Everything Ive ever read says beet mollases makes aweful rum.
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Re: Cheap Bundaberg Molasses

Post by Coonass »

Man, here in South Louisiana I just bought 700 lbs (61 gallons) of blackstrap molasses for $71. The feed store wanted $50 for 5 gallons, so I just bypassed them and went straight to the source! Then the forklift operator that loaded it there told me that if I told the office I was using it to bait and hunt wild hogs with they would've given me all I wanted for free! Looks like next time I'm going get "wild hog bait"!
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Saltbush Bill
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Re: Cheap Bundaberg Molasses

Post by Saltbush Bill »

61 gal for $71 sounds cheap enough to me. Got enough molasses there to keep you busy for a fair while.
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Re: Cheap Bundaberg Molasses

Post by montanan_hippie_man »

curious about dried flaked molasses. has anyone tried it or know anything about it from doing some googling i cant find much info on it besides it saying "dried molasses"...
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Re: Cheap Bundaberg Molasses

Post by Yummyrum »

Typed dry molasses into forum google search . Scroll down a few to the HD Forum ones.

https://homedistiller.org/forum/app.php ... mit=Search
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Re: Cheap Bundaberg Molasses

Post by montanan_hippie_man »

Yummyrum wrote: Thu Apr 15, 2021 2:30 pm Typed dry molasses into forum google search . Scroll down a few to the HD Forum ones.

https://homedistiller.org/forum/app.php ... mit=Search
yea i think ill skip the dried molasses after reading a few posts haha
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Re: Cheap Bundaberg Molasses

Post by Wozza »

Dathhu wrote: Fri Dec 11, 2020 7:05 am Hi All,

For anyone after cheap food grade molasses in Australia, hit up Bidfood (formally Bidvest).

Just picked up a 14kg cube for just shy of $25, much better than the $50 the home brew shop wanted to charge.

Don't know if all of them will stock it, but to my mind for an unsulphered, food grade product, 55% sugar, it seems like a bloody good deal to me 🙂

Dan
I tried the local Bidfood store in Botany and they don't do the 14kg any more. Just 500ml jars. I was going to get some from Sydney Equestrian Supplies and paid for 2 x16L containers for delivery but they cancelled the order saying they were worried about spillage. Curses...

It's a good 3 hour return trip (out past Windsor) plus we're in lockdown so I bought 2 x Bundaberg cubes from the local Hop and Grain brewstore. More expensive than the equestrian centre even allowing for the delivery charge, but...I'm ready to start my first moly rum.
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Re: Cheap Bundaberg Molasses

Post by Wozza »

Yummyrum wrote: Tue Dec 15, 2020 2:53 pm
Dathhu wrote: Tue Dec 15, 2020 5:57 am Just want to up the sugar slightly because I don't know how much of the molasses is actually fermentable.
Entirely up to you but that is exactly why I wouldn’t .

Having said that , you will find that Aussie molasses is around 40% -50%. That Bundy Molasses s supposedly at the high end , so you can expect the equivalent of 7kg of sugar from that 14kg cube .Use that to work out your final volume .

When I use my 14kg cube , I’ll be making it up to 33-34 litres .
Just checked the label on my Bundaberg cube and it says sugars are 55.6%. I'll be doing 15L so your equivalent would be 6kg. So I might use half the cube and go 7kg/15L. That'll equal 3.9kg of sugar - and I normally use 3.7kg sugar in a Birdwatcher's for an SG of 1.060 so it's in the ballpark. How I go getting that 7kg from cube into bucket should be interesting. Might do it in the shower I reckon so I can wash everything down when I'm done. Including me.

Incidentally, for those mixing weights and volumes: 14kg moly = 10L.
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Re: Cheap Bundaberg Molasses

Post by NZChris »

My quick calculation for 15l with an 8% ABV target uses 4.3kg of that molasses.

Rum wash OG isn't something to be aimed for, but it should be recorded so that you can calculate the ABV near/at the end of the ferment.
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Re: Cheap Bundaberg Molasses

Post by Wozza »

NZChris wrote: Mon Aug 23, 2021 11:00 pm My quick calculation for 15l with an 8% ABV target uses 4.3kg of that molasses.

Rum wash OG isn't something to be aimed for, but it should be recorded so that you can calculate the ABV near/at the end of the ferment.
Yikes...glad you did that calc. I was checking it when I realised that it's 2.7kg of sugar gets me an SG 1.060, not 3.7kg. So I'm going to crank that weight of moly back. I might use 5kg moly (= 2.8kg sugar) so it's close to my normal sugar bill for 15L.

My calculated SG is then 1.068 for 8.9%. I'll do one wash and see how it goes.
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Re: Cheap Bundaberg Molasses

Post by NZChris »

Don't bother trying to aim for an OG until you have experience with using your molasses and dunder. The non-sugars boost the SG, but don't provide any fermentables or alcohol, so are a trap for new rum distillers.
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Re: Cheap Bundaberg Molasses

Post by bluc »

I tried that food grade while back found it made lighter rum. Less funk especially early on in ageing cycle. But more bland once aged.
I tried bidvid ages ago they said they didnt sell it have not tried bidfood.
I decided back then it wasn't worth extra money.
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Re: Cheap Bundaberg Molasses

Post by Saltbush Bill »

Nasty old stock feed grade makes the best Rum imo.
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Re: Cheap Bundaberg Molasses

Post by AlWorms »

I used Bundaberg with Saltys recipe initially, and now use feed grade @NZ$1.15/KG... and I get about 120kg at a time :lol:

My experience was similar to what Bluc said:

The Bundaberg was more drinkable early on, and seemed to improve faster with aging - It didn't last long enough to know how good it got, but I have one small bottle stuck at the back of my hoard somewhere.

The feed grade though! It was fairly nasty early on, but aged beautifully - and my oldest aged stuff was only 6 months on about 15g/l of used JD oak.

I have, however, got 50L aging in a keg on about 10g/l and I'm hoping to leave it there a long time!

Ultimately, get what is cheap, as long as it's proper sugar cane molasses. Then produce enough to age it a while, or do a Solera or similar.

Saltys recipe with feed grade makes some nice all-feints too, I've discovered! I oak it heavily and start consumption from about 1 week afterwards and it's nice enough to stop me touching the "good" stuff. I collect the feints in a 70L stock pot and dilute it to 40% as I add to it, and throw old/used-up oak in there too (I think that was NZChris's suggestion?).
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Re: Cheap Bundaberg Molasses

Post by T-Boon »

AlWorms wrote: Tue Aug 24, 2021 10:42 am I used Bundaberg with Saltys recipe initially, and now use feed grade @NZ$1.15/KG... and I get about 120kg at a time :lol:
Thats a great price, where are you getting that rate? I'm in the market for some rum molasses. cheapest ican find is around $2 a kg at farm shops.
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Re: Cheap Bundaberg Molasses

Post by Wozza »

NZChris wrote: Tue Aug 24, 2021 12:53 am Don't bother trying to aim for an OG until you have experience with using your molasses and dunder. The non-sugars boost the SG, but don't provide any fermentables or alcohol, so are a trap for new rum distillers.
Just finished getting the first 15L ready with 5kg (3.5L) of Bundy molasses. Pouring the molasses wasn't as bad as I feared. I took the SG to use as a comparison later on down the line: 1.084. Ph was around 5.4.
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Re: Cheap Bundaberg Molasses

Post by Wozza »

AlWorms wrote: Tue Aug 24, 2021 10:42 am I used Bundaberg with Saltys recipe initially, and now use feed grade @NZ$1.15/KG... and I get about 120kg at a time :lol:
That's about what I can get it for at Sydney Equestrian Centre. About a dollar a kilo. But it's a decent drive so I bought some in the local brew shop - at $2.40 a kilo...

If the first few batches turn out ok then I'll take the trip and stock up big time.
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Re: Cheap Bundaberg Molasses

Post by Saltbush Bill »

Wozza wrote: Tue Aug 24, 2021 6:22 pm That's about what I can get it for at Sydney Equestrian Centre. About a dollar a kilo. But it's a decent drive so I bought some in the local brew shop - at $2.40 a kilo...
Weight of 1 Liter Molasses is nearly 1.424 Kilogram, That's an awful lot to pay, at that rate your paying $2.40 for less than 1 litre. In a really bad time when molasses was scarce I payed $2 per L, mostly its 1$ per L or a bit less as long as I buy 200L at a time.
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