Buckets O' Mollasses

strangebrew · Post by **strangebrew** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 8:00 pm

Well I went looking to buy some mollasses today and low and behold almost everyone was sold out. They said that since it's not deer season any more they don't sell much through out the entire year so only keep it in stock during the fall/winter. Well I found another feed & seed store even closer to my house i might add, that carries mollasses all year round. They have dairy farms all around and mix their own feed so I can get what ever I want. The only problem is that they keep it in a huge tank & don't sell any less than a 5 gallon bucket (18$) at a time. I'm sure it's going to be a PITA to measure & dip out this stuff but i guess it's better than not being able to get it at all and what the hell I get a free bucket out of the deal.

Being the novice distiller that I am i have a couple of questions in light of this new found fact. Since I now have to buy in quantity should I brew a mollasses only rum or should I still add sugar to things. I want a very rich & flavorful rum. I know that a whole lot of the flavor comes from the heads & tails. I guess I just am wondering if the flavour will be any better or richer if I use 2 gallons mollasses + 5lbs white cane sugar for a 5 1/2 gallon wash. I had orignally just planned on using 10lb sugar & 1 gal mollasses. Does more mollasses mean more intense flavor or am I going to get no more than if I used just one gallon?

What's the general consensus of the senior rumologist round here for maximum flavor production & extraction?

Post by **Tater** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 10:02 pm

That type molasses will work out to 1 gallon molasses.=5 lbs sugar itswhat kind I use.

Uncle Remus · Post by **Uncle Remus** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 7:03 am

I go with a ratio close to Tater's. I put 10 litres of molassis (that's about 2.5 US gallons) in about 5 gallons of good hot water, add about a half bag of sugar -10lbs stir well and then top up to about 50-55 litres with cold water. Then toss the yeast.

The next time I do rum I'm gonna use a couple gallons of back-set that I saved from last time and see how that goes.

pothead · Post by **pothead** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 12:46 pm

Uncle Remus wrote:I go with a ratio close to Tater's. I put 10 litres of molassis (that's about 2.5 US gallons) in about 5 gallons of good hot water, add about a half bag of sugar -10lbs stir well and then top up to about 50-55 litres with cold water. Then toss the yeast.

The next time I do rum I'm gonna use a couple gallons of back-set that I saved from last time and see how that goes.

I like using dunder. When I have used it, it seems to ferment out stronger and faster. And I prefer the flavor.(as long as the cuts are correct)

strangebrew · Post by **strangebrew** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 7:15 pm

Well I have really hit a wall this time. I have been waiting and waiting for this stuff to ferment and am getting nothing at all!!! I have a bad feeling that there is something in the mollasses to prevent fermentation. Here's the recipe:

1 3/4 gallon feed store mollasses(came from tanker truck - i know cause I helped the guy fill the bucket)
4 lbs sugar
5 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons distillers yeast re-hydrated in about 1 cup water
Enough water to bring total volume to about 5 1/2 gallons.

The last time I checked it had what looked like it had a yeasty head but the air lock hasn't even bubbled once! I took a hydrometer reading yesterday and it had maybe dropped by 2 points?? It's some damn dark and sticky it's really hard to get an accurate reading. Either way 2 points in 1 week sux! Not sure if the mixture is too rich in mollasses or what. Has anyone else run into this same problem? I am really thinking about tossing the whole bucket out. When I do, should I even waste my time with it using only about 1 gallon or maybe even 1/2 gal mollasses and then more cane sugar?? This is really going to be a pisser if I have to toss the rest of the bucket and find a new (and probaly more expensive) source of mollasses.

One the lighter side since my rum attempt has been such an utter flop I broke down and made a whiskey wash. This started kicking like a headless chicken only after about 1 hour of pitching the yeast. Seems rather ironic that i can brew all grain no problem but can't get a damn bucket of basically sugar to ferment.

Here's the recipe for the whiskey wash:

15 lb Marris Otter 2-row barley
5 lb cane sugar
6 gallons water
2 tbs distillers yeast

I've read that "thin mash" whiskey is really just like a half batch of all grain whiskey having the other half of the fermentables comming from either corn or cane sugar. In this case I have an all grain batch kicked up with the sugar. It should finish at about 14% or so. Do this qualify as thin mash, or just plain ol' whiskey?

BTW- I did like a photo journal type thing of my whiskey brew day. I might post if anyone is interested.

stillman · Post by **stillman** » Tue Apr 04, 2006 2:07 am

Hi Strangebrew,

The rum I made took a long time to ferment as well. Did you try stirring it up every once in a while? I used E-1118 yeast and it took a little more than a month. Just be patient. Even after you distill it you have to be patient some more. I ran it through my potstill and still can't believe the flavour that came out of the wash and it's getting better and better the more it sits.

I think it was either possum or tater that had posted a recipe. I followed along those lines. One thing to remember, and I learned the hard way, make a good head cut. At least 200 to 300ml.

Right now I have a maple syrup wash going. The maple syrup had about 64% sugar in it so it should ferment up well. Just giving it a try for shits and giggles.

Swag · Post by **Swag** » Tue Apr 04, 2006 8:44 am

strangebrew wrote:
BTW- I did like a photo journal type thing of my whiskey brew day. I might post if anyone is interested.

Post it!

possum · Post by **possum** » Tue Apr 04, 2006 10:20 am

Strangebrew, I think you have too many sugar products in your small wash. If you add your sugars in stages, then the yeast don't get stressed as easily. If you have another fermenter,split your wash in 1/2, and fill the 2 fermenters nearly full of h2o. Then if you desire more sugar products in the wash, wait till it is closer to finnished fermenting, and add a second feeder after some of the sugar is already done fermenting out.The staged feeding of sugars helps get the %abv up closer to the max in less time, and with less trouble to your yeasts. Also, molassis is thick, be sure there is some aeration to help your yeasts multiply.

Also, molassis leaves stuff in the wash, it wont digest compleatly, but the sweet taste will go away eventually as the yeast takes care of buisness.

I'm fermenting blakstrap on dunder right now, and thought about doubbling up my molassis and leaving out the sugar, but I will wait a little while to try that. My last rum was good, but I would like to try for a heavier jamacian style rum.

Post by **Tater** » Tue Apr 04, 2006 1:36 pm

strangebrew 1 3/4 gallon feed store mollasses(came from tanker truck - i know cause I helped the guy fill the bucket)
4 lbs sugar
5 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons distillers yeast re-hydrated in about 1 cup water
Enough water to bring total volume to about 5 1/2 gallon. Might try adding more water to wash seems a bit to much sugar for amount of water. Id add about gallon to gallon and a half
.