A flirtation with Rum

[OldPeculier]

Having run several sacrificial sugar washes thru my modified and improved pot still, I seem to have reached a stage where I have a working design and a reasonable idea of how to operate it.

So I thought I'd have a go at some Rum. The wash was 3kg sugar 3l molasses made up to 17l. I used some alcohol tolerent wine yeast and this lot fermented out to 0.99 SG in a week giving an estimated ABV of 14% The pot holds 12l so this gives two 8l runs.

The results were impressive. I discarded the first 200ml then collected the rest in 4 x 400ml cuts. They were 65%, 56%, 40%, and 28% ABV I collected another 200ml tail cut at around 18% which I shall put back into the second 8l run.

The run took about 2 hours with the ABV peaking at 70% after 20 mins.

My only problem with all this is that it is all crystal clear and while it does have some flavour and smell, it is not really rum.

Maybe I was expecting too much but I love that thick, full on Rum flavour and while the wash promised so much, I was left a little dissapointed.

I know that I will have to blend and age the spirit for many months but is there anything I can do to get some flavour and colour into the stuff when I run the second 8l batch this weekend.

[Richard7]

OldPeculier, I have not made much rum but I can tell you the only color you will get is from spices or wood. Your distilled spirits should always be crystal clear. Maybe you will find some of the flavor you are looking for in those places as well.

[OldPeculier]

Thanks Richard,

Maybe I am just being a bit impatient. I guess I was expexting a bit more rum-ness to start with. This first batch has been resting for a few days so its time to start expetimenting with some oak and burnt sugar.

So used to wine and beer making where you get the flavours and colours from the start.

[Hearts_On_Fire]

If you've saved some dunder from your first run, you may want to add a bit of it to your next run. Gives a lot of flavor.

Rum is tricky. a lot of flavor is in the tails, the ferment should be done slow (about 1 week sounds right, like you did), and the type of yeast has a lot bearing on taste. I also found that the quality of molasses is important. I used blackstrap the first time, and I did not clarify it - the rum had a harsh taste to it. Maybe aging will fix that, but I'm still waiting lol. All subsequent runs I used unsulphered blackstrap and clarified it. Much better.

[rtalbigr]

One of the things we see here so often is the impatience of new distillers. Of course, it is quite understandable, we have all been through it.

Rum, whether you leave it white or age it on oak, needs time to develop it's flavor profile. While I typically age my rum with oak I do leave some white. Even with my white I will let it age for at least a year before drinking, and that year makes a big difference in quality.

Heavy rum does benefit by the addition of dunder, both fresh and aged dunder. My experience with aged dunder is that you definitely have to give the distilled spirits a long rest and aging with oak does enhance the flavor profile a lot. The last batch I did with aged dunder was almost undrinkable right off the still; it had a bitterness to it that to me was terrible. However, after aging on oak, and then some more time resting it is developing into a wonderful drink.

Big R

[Hearts_On_Fire]

Thanks for the advise Rtalbigr. I've only been doing this for a year and I haven't anything beyond 6 months. My brandies are awesome, but my rum isn't where I want it to be, prob due to lack of aging. I guess there are no shortcuts when it comes to rum!

[LWTCS]

You can get a better " drink me now" rum if you distill to a higher proof.

[likkerluvver]

Hello OP

I like the handle. What a wonderful brew that is. It is many years since I sat in a pub in Yorkshire sipping that nectar of the gods. It’s not available in my location but I’ve made a decent AG clone, though I’m not claiming it would ace a blind-test comparison.

On to the rum.
If my assumptions are correct (based on my “Crosby” fancy molasses: 1L = 1.35Kg, 60% fermentable)
You have 3Kg of sugar + 2.43Kg molasses fermentables = 5.43kg total fermentables - which would result in a wash of 18.8% if fermented down to 0.990 SG.

..... I used some alcohol tolerent wine yeast and this lot fermented out to 0.99 SG in a week giving an estimated ABV of 14% The pot holds 12l so this gives two 8l runs.

What yeast are you using? I have never known a molasses wash go anywhere near as low as 1.000. Even EC-1118 only claims a max 18%abv. Most here aim for a max of about 10 to 12%abv.

What you have produced would suit most Bacardi drinkers quite well when mixed with coke etc.

For full flavoured rum:
Take half the dunder and start a dunder pit (research dunder). Take the other half of the dunder, add 4L of molasses, make up to 17L and add 2 to 4 T baker’s yeast (I have tried many yeasts and this is my taste-preference, YMMV). Use no sugar. Research rum threads for suitable nutrients, Though not essential they are often used to speed-up and ensure complete fermentation. Initially you might use 75% dunder, but reduce this to 25% if/when your fermentations slow down because of low pH, or correct your pH if using up to 100% of your dunder. I now always use 50% of my dunder and 1L from the dunder pit in the next wash. The rest of the dunder goes in the dunder pit. BTW, dunder also freezes well in 4L milk jugs for future fermentations.

After 3 generations you will START to get a decent full-flavoured rum . Caramelized sugar will get you into the dark colours you may want, some light to medium toasted oak will enhance flavour, as will other additions (more research). Aging is a major factor too.

The Pugirum thread offers great advice and info for heavier rums. I always save and recycle ALL heads and tails in the spirit run, not just the "rum oils" - definitely prolongs the hearts collection. Food grade black strap molasses is another option for a somewhat different product.

BTW, a country location in your profile helps others give appropriate advice,terminology and measurement units.

Keep us posted

[Edited for typo and clarity]

[OldPeculier]

Thanks for all the advice.

Using the dunder over and again seems to be the most important thing here. I was reading a article on the history of rum making which said that you only start to get the right flavour once it has been round 20-30 times!. I dont know about that but I take the point.

To that end, I've started my next wash and will add the dunder from this run as soon as it is cool.

The yeast is a Youngs High Alcohol wine yeast. I find that it will ferment to around 15% provided you add sugar in stages thru the fermentation. My final SG as stated previously might be suspect as there were a few solids present in the wash but it was somewhere in that area.

I shall caramelize some sugar tonight and I have found some oak to toast so I shall have a play with it.

And Likkerluvver, Yes OP is the drink of the Gods.

[Buccaneer Bob]

Rum is easy to make but difficult to master.

+1 on using dunder. I like the aged, funky, microbe-infected stuff, myself. It gives my rum a certain flavor complexity that my wife and I have come to appreciate.

There are several threads here on the forums about dunder pits so you can get some ideas of the kinds of natural flora that some of us are working with.

You have to think "cheese" with dunder. The fresh stuff is like milk, and the funky stuff is like cheese.

You have to play around with how much dunder you use, though. For me, a little bit of the funky stuff goes a long way.

+1 on a lot of the flavor being in the tails. For me, 75% of the flavor is in the last 25% of the run, but your mileage may vary, depending on about a hundred different variables.

I usually stop collecting my heart-cut at around 15%, which is really low by some guys standards, but I like the flavors way down there.

And then I do a tail-cut down to about 5% that I use for blending purposes. The more I use of this tail-cut to dilute my heart-cut, the more flavor I get in the final rum. But you don't want to go overboard with it either.

I add a little bit at a time and taste until I get the flavor where I want it.

You didn't mention what kinds of nutrients you were using for your yeast. At the very least, molasses-based washes need some nitrogen, but B-vitamins and trace minerals don't hurt, either.

Happy yeasts make the best liquor.

But don't go overboard with the nutrients, either. Too much and the ferment will go too quickly. So basically +1 on the slower ferments, as well.

I've been shooting for 10-14 days for my ferments, but I ferment to 14%, which is different than most guys do their rum. But anyway, my longest ferments were always the ones that made the best rum.

One thing that helped my rum considerably was when I gave up the practice of "airing out" my liquor. From my experience, the very best flavors and aromas are the first things to evaporate when you air out rum.

Airing things out never turned a single head-cut into a heart-cut for me. All it ever did was let some really nice flavors and aromas slip away from my heart-cut.

I don't know, you will really have to keep experimenting with rum until you come up with something you like.

For me, making rum has always been a comedy-of-errors, and I still haven't made my idea of the perfect rum yet, but I will say that I have always figured out a way to enjoy all of the mistakes I have made thus far.

[Hearts_On_Fire]

I'm new at rum like you, OldP. But I've been doing wine and beer for a while, and from research, I see some similarities between how things work there and how things work in distilling.

Good ingredients. You need good quality grapes to make a good wine. The quality of your molasses should be good. If it's lower grade it needs to be clarified (some rum distillaries use blackstrap but have a tank to clarify to remove the "junk"). The distillaries use flocculants, home distiller can do a boil. Or you can just go with a higher grade of molasses.

Reusing. Vinyards will used spent grapes to be put back into the soil for nutrients. Yeast is grown and then maintained. This is true of rum where yeast is reused (most home distillers don't do this, from what I read) and dunder is reused.

Aging. Wines age, and beer to a certain extent, and so must rum (which I'm just learning).

There are all just assumptions I made, so anyone please let me know if I'm off on any of them! I'm still trying to learn.

[Hearts_On_Fire]

Plus a lot of rum distilleries have been around for over 100 years. When it comes to ageing and developping their own yeast, and a consistent process, they have time on their side.

[HookLine]

Rich complex rum needs dunder, in one form or other. But it is not available at any price, you have to make your own, and it takes time.

No way around that.

But well worth it if you want that kind of rum.