Pugi's Rum or "Pugirum"

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W.S.C.beachman
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Re: Pugi's Rum or "Pugirum"

Post by W.S.C.beachman »

I first bout a 5 gallon bucket of molasses at the feed store and shire as shit it had preservatives and sulfur. They the feed store swore up and down that it did not, but once my ferment did not do any thing for like a week I started to do some research into the product I bought. Now I am stuck with 2.5 gallons of mol. that I cant use.
So I then sourced another molasses source for food grade molasses and it does not have any preservatives and is not sulfured. BAMMM!! their we go.
I have done two washes so far and I use EC-1118. The first wash SG was 15% and finished at 5%. I swear though it was no way a 10% wash, judging what came out the still. I did a second wash with backset and added more sugar SG was 19% and finished at 8%, this time it felt more like a 10% wash. Now I am working on my 3 rd run and put in a little less sugar...forgot to take SG, but I now it should have ben around 17-18%.
A question I have is what can I use to help convert the un-fermentables in the molasses. Like I know I get about 30% fermentable sugars in the molasses so I have to add a bunch of sugar. Do I add what ever I can use to help convert when I do a cleaning of the molasses?
snideman
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Re: Pugi's Rum or "Pugirum"

Post by snideman »

Ya know,
I didn't "clarify" wondering if I had, would I have been able to purge more of the unfermentables.
My thoughts were to not "clarify" so as to bring over more of the character of the molassess.
Hmmm and should i have boiled the bomb?
Thinking out loud at this point as i've been tole not to use SG for rum.
Does anyone really listen or do we do our own thing relavant to our experience? I'm the latter tend to forgo unnecessary steps in my opinion. What do yall ponder?
violentblue
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Re: Pugi's Rum or "Pugirum"

Post by violentblue »

W.S.C.beachman wrote:I first bout a 5 gallon bucket of molasses at the feed store and shire as shit it had preservatives and sulfur. They the feed store swore up and down that it did not, but once my ferment did not do any thing for like a week I started to do some research into the product I bought. Now I am stuck with 2.5 gallons of mol. that I cant use.
So I then sourced another molasses source for food grade molasses and it does not have any preservatives and is not sulfured. BAMMM!! their we go.
I have done two washes so far and I use EC-1118. The first wash SG was 15% and finished at 5%. I swear though it was no way a 10% wash, judging what came out the still. I did a second wash with backset and added more sugar SG was 19% and finished at 8%, this time it felt more like a 10% wash. Now I am working on my 3 rd run and put in a little less sugar...forgot to take SG, but I now it should have ben around 17-18%.
A question I have is what can I use to help convert the un-fermentables in the molasses. Like I know I get about 30% fermentable sugars in the molasses so I have to add a bunch of sugar. Do I add what ever I can use to help convert when I do a cleaning of the molasses?
preservatives will impede the growth of the yeast, but once your yeast is established you can add a little of your feed molasses with little ill effect.
the sulphur is another story.
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Re: Pugi's Rum or "Pugirum"

Post by RUMination »

I'm doing my first real stripping run today (did a sacrificial run yesterday of Birdwatchers to clean the still) and it happens to be this recipe. I must say, I was not prepared for the wonderful aroma of the distillate! I could drink this stuff as is, right now. I discarded 200 mL of foreshots from my 6 gallon batch then started collecting the low wines. It started at about 64-65% ABV. At about 62% ABV it was smelling strongly of pralines and toffee and toasted coconut so I dipped a shotglass in the stream and took a shot. It's great! Warming but not harsh at all. Great flavor and aroma. Holy crap, if it is even better after the spirit run and then even better than that after several generations, I think I'm sold on this hobby. Anyway I'm still stripping. Think I'll run it down to 10% ABV then stop collecting and use 1.5 gallons of the dunder in a new wash. I'll strip my other batch of molasses wash tomorrow morning then combine them with some dunder and run the spirit run afternoon.
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Re: Pugi's Rum or "Pugirum"

Post by el-zonko »

RUMination wrote:At about 62% ABV it was smelling strongly of pralines and toffee and toasted coconut so I dipped a shotglass in the stream and took a shot. It's great! Warming but not harsh at all. Great flavor and aroma. Holy crap, if it is even better after the spirit run and then even better than that after several generations, I think I'm sold on this hobby.
Wow! That's got me sold! RUMination, please let us know how the rest of the run went!

I am not even that into rum, but I think I could be.

Now trying to find molasses. I thought, this being a sugar producing country, there'd be tonnes of the stuff. Problem is, the stuff I did find was minimum 300kg purchase.

The lower volume stuff doesn't go by the name of molasses. I've found "raw sugar" and "black sugar" (translations), but not exactly molasses.

What do you think of this stuff I have found:
So called "Farm made brown sugar"
So called "Farm made brown sugar"
My life is really taking up too much distilling time!
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Re: Pugi's Rum or "Pugirum"

Post by LWTCS »

What ever works within your budget and the ease that it takes to source is how I would proceed.
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RUMination
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Re: Pugi's Rum or "Pugirum"

Post by RUMination »

el-zonko wrote:
RUMination wrote:At about 62% ABV it was smelling strongly of pralines and toffee and toasted coconut so I dipped a shotglass in the stream and took a shot. It's great! Warming but not harsh at all. Great flavor and aroma. Holy crap, if it is even better after the spirit run and then even better than that after several generations, I think I'm sold on this hobby.
Wow! That's got me sold! RUMination, please let us know how the rest of the run went!

I am not even that into rum, but I think I could be.
The rest of the run went really well. The next day I stripped another brown sugar and molasses wash then combined the two batches of low wines with dunder and ran my spirit run. I'd tossed the first 200 mL of each strip but to be safe I tossed the first 100 mL of the spirit run as foreshots. Then started collecting into pint size mason jars. Collected 12 jars in all, each with 300 mL. Started at 82% and stopped collecting in jars at 50%, which just happened to almost fill up the 12th jar. I collected from 50%-40% and added it to a a feints container, then collected 40%-20% for the "rum oils" for the next batch. So my 12 jars have about 3.6 L. I figure the first and last jar may go into the feints container but I'll determine where to make the cuts tomorrow after they've aired for 2 days. So I'm guessing I'll have about 3L of usable distillate at an average of about 70% which should be good for about 7 750mL bottles of 40%. Not bad. The room the jars are airing out in has an incredibly strong aroma in the air. Something like a mix of nuts and caramel and butterscotch. I had no idea it would be this fragrant. I can't wait to start drinking!

I'm planning on aging this run in two containers. One will have a higher proportion of "outside" jars, will be diluted to 60% and will get a toasted and lightly charred oak stick or two (I don't have any previously used oak since I'm just getting started so I'm just going light with it). I'm going to try to let it age at least 3 months before taking off enough to dilute to 40% and fill one 750 mL bottle and when it's gone I'll go back to the aging container to fill another bottle. The second container made up of more "inside" jars will be left white to age but I'll start filling bottles off of it sooner that I'll dilute to 40% but also add a touch of caramel to it for color and flavor. That may be a decent sipper but will probably be mostly used for mixing. May spice a 750 mL bottle to see how that works. I've had good luck spicing commercial rum, will probably be even better with my homemade!
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LWTCS
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Re: Pugi's Rum or "Pugirum"

Post by LWTCS »

RUMination wrote:I'll determine where to make the cuts tomorrow after they've aired for 2 days.
Excellent restraint in my view.

Sounds like I'd surely like be a member of your evaluation committee.

Dude your on track to make a good product IMO.
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Mutt
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Re: Pugi's Rum or "Pugirum"

Post by Mutt »

I've been wanting to try out Pugi's rum recipe every since I've read it. About two weeks ago I was in one of the local feed stores and I asked if they had any mollasses. They said they did and it would cost .16C/pound if I had a bucket to carry it in. I had a bucket in my truck and went ahead and bought 5 gallons worth. Felt a bit stupid for not asking to see the list of ingredients especially after coming back home and reading more and more on this site. I tasted it and it tasted like all the other feed mollasses I've tasted in my days of growing up on a beef farm, bitter with a wang to it, but I realized that I really didn't know what in the hell I bought. Well today I figured why not charge forward and see what kind of mess I could make.

I followed Pugi's recipe to the letter except I used 10-10-10 because that's what I have, and the afore' mentioned "mystery mollasses". About a half an hour after pitching my yeast it set in to bubbling fast just like others on here have described their Pugi rum washes.

I expect time will tell if I wasted my money, but learned a valuable lesson on buying mollasses. However; I would like to ask any of you who knows these things, if my wash is bubbling hard, isn't greasy, and doesn't stink, is fair to assume the mollasses I bought is neither sugar beet, soy bean oil added, or sulfured cane mollasses?
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Re: Pugi's Rum or "Pugirum"

Post by Mutt »

Well, I don't know for certain because I never took the time to read the list of ingredients at the feed store before I bought 5 gallons of feed mollasses, but I'm fairly certain this expirament was a dud. Bubbled hard and furious for about 8 hours and then screeched to a halt. Lots of yeast floating on the top. I'm going to give it a couple more days because the temp has dropped down several degrees, but I'm a thinking I have ten gallons of slop to pour out in the weeds. Oh well, back to the lab.
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Re: Pugi's Rum or "Pugirum"

Post by smurf »

ran my first pugi rum thru the pot still. have been doing sweetfeed and bourbon, did not relize the odor coming of the still but my neighber did. tasted the hearts pretty good on their own , prepaired as directions and waitting.
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Re: Pugi's Rum or "Pugirum"

Post by yankeeclear »

Finally located a source of unsulphured feed grade molasses without preservatives - or so they say - in bulk at a reasonable price. AS several have reported, you don't really know what you have til you introduce the yeasties. Started with a 7.5 gal wash for the first run to see how it plays out.

Yeast bomb is as effective as others have reported - ferment was already in high gear after a couple of hours with 4 oz yeast.

I varied from the original instructions as follows:

- clarified the molasses, let settle and racked off liquids and left the sludge in the pot
- inverted the sugar supplement
- aerated the wash overnight before pitching yeast

Thanks to Pugidogs for the detailed recipe and others for sharing their experiences. Fingers crossed!
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Re: Pugi's Rum or "Pugirum"

Post by yankeeclear »

Pugidogs - You were right about the speed! Two and a half days and cap dropped, its dry and one or two bubbles a minute. Looks like the molasses is the good stuff.

Starting the clarification for the 2nd generation. Will rack off then run tomorrow and get the second gen going in the fermenter.
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Re: Pugi's Rum or "Pugirum"

Post by yankeeclear »

Dropped the third round in the fermenter four hours ago. Have not added yeast or bomb since the first round.
20110804213341 (500x375).jpg
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Re: Pugi's Rum or "Pugirum"

Post by Dan Call »

I've read the posts several times and no answer is clear to me, I'm sastisfied with due dilligence here.

I want to try this rum and the yeast bomb is especially attractive as it seems to insure a good ferment.

I just bought a 50 lb bag of 34-0-0. I was told that this was "just more nitrogen" so, I went with it.

So the obvious question is, is this safe to use in the yeast bomb?

Second, has anyone used the yeast bomb on straight sugar or mostly brown sugar mashes?

Thanks.
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Re: Pugi's Rum or "Pugirum"

Post by likkerluvver »

Dan Call wrote:I've read the posts several times and no answer is clear to me, I'm sastisfied with due dilligence here.

I want to try this rum and the yeast bomb is especially attractive as it seems to insure a good ferment.

I just bought a 50 lb bag of 34-0-0. I was told that this was "just more nitrogen" so, I went with it.....
Holy shit! That'll last you a thousand years of rum washes. :?

No doubt you bought that much because you have a large garden. :thumbup:


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Re: Pugi's Rum or "Pugirum"

Post by yankeeclear »

Dan Call wrote:I've read the posts several times and no answer is clear to me, I'm sastisfied with due dilligence here.

I want to try this rum and the yeast bomb is especially attractive as it seems to insure a good ferment.

I just bought a 50 lb bag of 34-0-0. I was told that this was "just more nitrogen" so, I went with it.

So the obvious question is, is this safe to use in the yeast bomb?

Second, has anyone used the yeast bomb on straight sugar or mostly brown sugar mashes?

Thanks.

I would say go for it yeast love nitrogen, just don't overdo it. I just used leftover yeast bomb that I've had in the fridge for a couple of weeks to kick off the Birdwatcher's I just started today. After a few hours between the bomb and tomato paste there is a thick multi-colored krausen already caping the sugar wash!
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Re: Pugi's Rum or "Pugirum"

Post by mondzdolo »

I'm planning to run a batch of this with a Turbo500 still and I have a few questions to ask beforehand:

Does anyone see the benefit in attempting a "pseudo-stripping run" with this still before doing a spirit run? I understand that since the reflux condenser cannot be bypassed, it cannot be placed in true pot-still mode, but I'm wondering if I remove most or all of the packing and run it at full speed, will I be able to push enough flavors over to get some form of pot-still action?

or

Would it be best to just perform a single-spirit run at mid-speed, which would strip out less flavors than a slow run while still maintaining a high abv%?

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated :D
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Re: Pugi's Rum or "Pugirum"

Post by likkerluvver »

A friend removes all packing from his T500 and runs the water slow - waste temperature 60*C plus. Product will be quite warm.


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Re: Pugi's Rum or "Pugirum"

Post by USACelt »

Just started one Myself, been waiting for the rail car of prduct to come in(a friend runs a feed additive company)got ten gallons in trade for some homebrew beer. got a little worried about the "preserved" feed store molass. but no worry just checked the wash and it has started fizzing away just thirty minutes after the yeast was added. :D
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Re: Pugi's Rum or "Pugirum"

Post by marshrunner757 »

OK, needing some answers.What should the wash turn out looking like and smeeling like??? My recipe was Pugi, it was a gallon feed molasses, 30# cane sugar for a 15 gal wash. This stuff bubbled violently for the first 3 days before beginning to slow. Finally after 12 days it was finished, just a bubble per second at best. I racked 10 gallons this evening. it is EXTREMELY DARK, has a bitter sweet smell to it and a dry taste, with a touch of sweetness. After running corn mashes this stuff just looks awful to me LOL. Does all this sound ok? Need help from the RUM GODS!
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Re: Pugi's Rum or "Pugirum"

Post by LWTCS »

Seems like more sugar than I might have used....

Sounds like its fine.
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Re: Pugi's Rum or "Pugirum"

Post by marshrunner757 »

I have a 15 gallon keg for distilling. Shouldn't be a problem. It's just SO dark. I was just curious if that was normal. It'll sit in my carboys til Friday and I'll rack from there to my keg for distilling. Thanks for the feedback.
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Re: Pugi's Rum or "Pugirum"

Post by likkerluvver »

marshrunner757 wrote:OK, needing some answers.What should the wash turn out looking like and smeeling like??? My recipe was Pugi, it was a gallon feed molasses, 30# cane sugar for a 15 gal wash. This stuff bubbled violently for the first 3 days before beginning to slow. Finally after 12 days it was finished, just a bubble per second at best. I racked 10 gallons this evening. it is EXTREMELY DARK, has a bitter sweet smell to it and a dry taste, with a touch of sweetness. After running corn mashes this stuff just looks awful to me LOL. Does all this sound ok? Need help from the RUM GODS!
NOT a GOD (just a saint-wannabe) but.....

"Fancy" molasses I use contains 12g sugars per 20g (from nutrition label). 1 usg weighs ~5 kg. Sugar content is ~3kg (6.6lbs). My experience with feed molasses is that the fermentables are maybe only 1/3 of "Fancy" molasses grade. So sugar content may be only about 1 kg (2.2lb)

In my calculations, your wash has a potential of over 15%abv, probably resulting in unfermented sugars in wash if anything other than EC-1118 (or similar high %abv tolerant yeast) is used. Fully fermented rum washes are prone to puking - any unfermented sugars will make it much worse.

IMO you need to dilute your wash to at least 20usg, preferably 25usg, and attempt to restart the fermentation - always a hit-or-miss procedure. Search "stuck fermentation" etc. for details. Next fermentation use 15lb sugar. Even 20lb is rather high. Chasing abv higher than 10% will result in inferior product.


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marshrunner757
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Re: Pugi's Rum or "Pugirum"

Post by marshrunner757 »

The Fermenting never stuck. Within an hour it was working and fermented harder an longer than anything I've done. I was just wondering about the bitter sweet smell and taste and also the dark color. I assume the color is ok since the molasses is extremely dark.
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Re: Pugi's Rum or "Pugirum"

Post by yankeeclear »

Color will be dark brown (think brown ale) even after "clearing", but you will still benefit by letting sediment settle. Taste/smell will be dry (think porter). Ferment will be extremely vigorous and rapid - can finish in less than 24 hours!
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marshrunner757
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Re: Pugi's Rum or "Pugirum"

Post by marshrunner757 »

Well, sounds exactly like what I've got. My ferment took 12 days to stop.
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Re: Pugi's Rum or "Pugirum"

Post by LWTCS »

If yer sugar is as high as LL figgers then two weeks aint bad really.

And if it never stalled then you got some good yeast there I'd say some good molasses too.
What kind did you use?
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marshrunner757
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Re: Pugi's Rum or "Pugirum"

Post by marshrunner757 »

Just feed molasses. I use a quart jar with water for an air lock with a tube running outside. It fermented so hard a couple times it was pushing water up and out the vent hose!
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Re: Pugi's Rum or "Pugirum"

Post by LWTCS »

Uh,, Brand(s)?
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