Molasses Rum

[ukeman]

Hey all,

Been doing a LOT of reading about rum here...for days now. Wife wants me to make a batch of medium flavored rum. There are so many variations and opinions. Here I what I am proposing after all my reading. PLEASE tell me if it sounds OK or if I'm missing something!

5 gallons water
1 gallon blackstrap molasses
3# dark brown sugar
2 tbsp tomato paste
1/8 cup lemon juice
Active dry bakers yeast - any comment on how many tbsp to use....was thinking 4?

Any guidance/mentoring would be appreciated!

[googe]

Sounds like it should work ok. I started doing 3L molasses, 3kg raw sugar for my firsts. Made a med med/light rum, good flavor and a simple.starting point so I could change it. Always use between 50~80g bakers yeast. I do lighter rums now as I think there cleaner and smoother. Good luck!.

[ukeman]

Thanks Googe!

3L molasses and 3kg sugar.....that's a total of roughly 11 pounds of sugar! How much water do you add to that? I am guessing that it is for more than 5 gallons water like mine? For my 5 gallons water I am putting in approximately 8.5 pounds sugar....that may be a little to much still.....may need to cut that back to 2 pounds dark brown sugar.

You said that based on your split of 1 L molasses / kg sugar you get a med - med/light rum. My recipe is coming out at 2.8 L molasses / kg sugar. I am wondering if mine will be way to dark of a rum?

For total sugar required, I am basing my recipe of that of UJSSM that calls for 1.4# sugar / gallon water. Is this a good number to always use?

As well, do you think the lemon juice and tomato paste are necessary? Did you add them to your wash?

[googe]

Sorry forgot to say how big of a wash!, I use that amount for a 25L total wash size. I've never used brown sugar so can't say what strength yours would be, I'd imagine a med strength, as alot do all molasses and say it's a strong rum but not over powering. I've always based mine on between 4~5kg sugar content per 25L, less gives lower yield but better end product. Our molasses here is between 42~58% sugars. When I do first gen I do a tps citric acid/Tbs bi~carb soda. I've never used a nutrient in my rum as they've always worked well I think many do put a but of tom paste in though, can't hurt to be on the safe side if you live in a colder climate I guess. I've been tweaking my rum for a year and half now and have found what I like, many would say it's to light, that's how I like it though.

[ukeman]

Guys,

The rum is fermenting quite nicely. Has a beautiful smell coming off of it. Is there any benefit in stirring the ferment to re-distribute all of the stuff (flavors) that are sitting on the bottom right now? Was thinking of doing that once the fermentation nearly stopped then letting it settle for a couple days.

Thoughts???

As well, how do you guys measure SG on this stuff? Seems so thick! What should I target as a final SG to ensure it is done fermenting?

[frunobulax]

Leave it alone. You want all that stuff to settle out.
It's impossible to get a correct SG reading with molasses because of the unfermentables in it. When the SG doesn't change for 2-3 days, you can assume it's done.
I find the final gravity to be between 1.020- 1.030.