Dunder vs Wash in spirit run

[Mattmmmax]

I’ve seen variously that adding a % of dunder and/or wash into the spirit run goes a long way in adding depth and the ‘rum’ profiles to a distillate. Curios to know what proportion of one/both you use.

Goal: solid over proof aged navy rum sipper.
Equipment: t500 boiler with a copper alembic pot still lid

Recipe: I’m using a 5gal scaled hook rum recipe to start. I only plan to run this puppy for 5 gens.

Planned Stripping run: ferment one 5gal wash, strip, 1gal hot dunder into each of two fermenters, ferment, strip, repeat once more for a goal of ~5gal lows.

Spirit run: ~5gal lows + X ( help me here) of either dunder or new wash.

Age: spent UJSSM charred oak spiral & new medium toast spiral ~3months.

Note: I’m space constrained in a big city, so a live dunder pit isn’t in the cards for me unless someone can suggest a controlled dunder inoculation (lacto, brett, etc) that’ll throw the desired rummy esthers. Dunder above refers to to the hot stillage from a stripping run.

[NZChris]

Fresh dunder and the product of a cultured dunder pit are two different beasts. Don't confuse them. Fresh dunder can be used in the next generation of wash without having to turn your brain on except to watch % volume and pH, but it is not something that should be added back to the low wines for a spirit run because you stopped stripping far too early and their abv is too high.

[Mattmmmax]

Ah, I misread the Hook recipe as dunder (backset) going into the spirit run, but now I see that is says specifically dunder pit.

I lieu of a dunder pit in a small condo with a mostly tolerant wife, I also saw putting fermented wash into the spirit run. To me this seems like it would cause some major smearing, but maybe this is beneficial in a rum run?

Newbie here, big fan of deep sipping runs and don’t discriminate in preference between the funkiest (doctor bird) to the most caramelized. Just on the hunt for a first timer recipe worth sippin in 4-5gens. Pugirum just seems like too many gems before getting what I’m after.

[NZChris]

Don't expect to be making faux 10 year old rum with lots of hogo for next Xmas

[Mattmmmax]

No doubt - not looking to get a 10 year spirit off of the spout. But I’m also willing to put the time into aging.

- looking for some advice on a full bodied, but short gen rum that will age well.
- a live dunder pit isn’t gonna do well on the n-th storey of a high rise in a polluted city. So - either wash into the spirit run, as I’ve read, or some sort of controlled environment funky live dunder.

If the live dunder is the key that unlocks all rums mysteries ( I know it is) is there a non spontaneous inoculation that has worked well for others with more readily available pure strains or should I just leave some raw meat to fester and give em a dunk.

[NZChris]

Read everything that has been posted here, plus what you can trawl out of the net. If you have rats, get a trap. (Yes, I have.)

Only put fresh meat in a pit. I don't know this from experience, but putting rotten meat in a dunder pit just sounds wrong to me.

[Mattmmmax]

Thanks - I was sticking to the tried and true recipes and read through the entire threads of Pugirum, Buccaneers bob’s, and hook and trying to organize them. Obviously I was mistaken on hooks detail on fresh dunder vs live dunder, but I have yet to find a thread on live dunder vs. fermented wash in the spirit run and it’s differing effect on flavor.

[NZChris]

Rum, especially high ester rum, is a huge subject with no simple answers. I've been making rum for over thirty years and am still finding out how little I really know about the subject.