Removing Rum Louche

[Johnnywhiskey]

I ran my first batch of rum and love the flavor after aging it on some oak chips and spices. But now my problem is that whenever I cut it down from cask strength (about 150 proof to 90 proof) my rum clouds up after about a day. It is definitly the oils in the rum. It clouds up even when I use distilled water and add the alcohol to the water. Also I put some in the freezer at cask strength and it clouded up.

So the question is, how do I remove the louche? It does not seem to settle out, nor do coffee filters do the trick. Is there some other technique I could use--maybe carbon filtering? I don't want to change the flavor, just clear up my likker.

Thx, JW

[WooTeck]

i read something a while back that said not to use distiled water. not sure if this is still HD's go to advice.

wait for some other folks to chime in im interested on this topic.

[Tokoroa_Shiner]

Distilled water is ok to dilute final product to drinking strength. Some even prefer it. It is not, however, good for making a ferment with. Maybe you ran it a bit fast or cut too far into tails. If all the usual methods have been tried to no avail. It may not clear without being re run. Have you tried diluting down to just 100proof? May just be strong enough to hold oils dissolved. Just need to add less to your drinks lol

[Bohunk]

I had the same problem a while back. Drove me crazy, I posted several questions about it, no one had an answer, and I know some pretty good rum makers. Final answer for me was to let it set, maybe put some oak sticks in it and just let it set, it will clear up very nice. I put mine in a barrel at about 130 proof, let it set for a few months, and when I take it out of the barrel I dilute it down, and have never seen the haze again. If you put some sticks in your product and let it set for say a month, you will see some settling in the bottom of the container, just pour it off, and your good to go.

The Ole Bohunk

[Johnnywhiskey]

BUT I CANNOT WAIT TO DRINK MY RUM!

Just kidding--thanks Bohunk. I have it aging on some oak now, so I'll just hold steady and see what happens if I don't disturb it--as hard as that will be.

Do you think chilling it might help speed the process? Or cutting down the proof now might speed it up?

-JW

[Mikey-moo]

What spices did you use? Could make a difference...

[NZChris]

If the flavor is good now, getting rid of the haze will make little difference to drinkability, so either filter it through your liver, or put down some more then do the cuts to make that drinkable as young white dog while this one ages.

[Johnnywhiskey]

What spices did you use? Could make a difference...

Mostly Vanilla bean, but a little cinnamon, all spice and cloves. I did not check for louching in the white dog, so I'm not sure if its from the rum oils or the spices.

I've been letting it settle in the freezer which reduces the louching, but it still becomes opalescent a day after I cut it.

filter it through your liver

That works--but I don't think I can get my friends to drink it then.

[rager]

What spices did you use? Could make a difference...

Mostly Vanilla bean, but a little cinnamon, all spice and cloves. I did not check for louching in the white dog, so I'm not sure if its from the rum oils or the spices.

I've been letting it settle in the freezer which reduces the louching, but it still becomes opalescent a day after I cut it.

filter it through your liver

That works--but I don't think I can get my friends to drink it then.

good don't get them turned on to the good stuff so early, it will be hard to keep enough for yourself, plus some to age and keep your friends quenched . id say don't worry about , drink it up, and start some new ferments. don't forget every ferment and run is different .

whats your recipe for the rum?

I add a little almond oil and orange to my spiced rum

[NZChris]

That works--but I don't think I can get my friends to drink it then.

If you're not careful, you'll be drinking your cockups and feints jar and your mates will be drinking your good stuff. Tell them to bring their own.

[Johnnywhiskey]

What spices did you use? Could make a difference...

Mostly Vanilla bean, but a little cinnamon, all spice and cloves. I did not check for louching in the white dog, so I'm not sure if its from the rum oils or the spices.

I've been letting it settle in the freezer which reduces the louching, but it still becomes opalescent a day after I cut it.

filter it through your liver

That works--but I don't think I can get my friends to drink it then.

good don't get them turned on to the good stuff so early, it will be hard to keep enough for yourself, plus some to age and keep your friends quenched . id say don't worry about , drink it up, and start some new ferments. don't forget every ferment and run is different .

whats your recipe for the rum?

I add a little almond oil and orange to my spiced rum

I'm not sure I would call it a recipe since it was my first batch, but the wash was (roughly based on recipes I found here):

~10 gal total
2 gal. fancy molasses
5 lbs brown sugar
2 lemons
distillers yeast
Fermented to ~12.5%

Distilled using a CM column detuned a bit to produce ~150 proof hearts

I ended up with about 3/4 gallon 150 proof product. I spiced that with the following for 1 month:

5 vanilla beans
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
5 allspice nuts

50g toasted oak chips
25g charred oak chips

In the future I'll use less molasses (maybe 1 gal molasses and 10lbs brown sugar) and a few gallons of dunder for extra flavor. Despite using a CM column, it had plenty of "rummy" flavor. Maybe even too much.

On the spices I'll use a little more vanilla (6-7 beans) (I like that in my spiced rums (get beans cheap on Amazon)) and less cinnamon. I might also play with adding dunder to the final product. I didn't this time because I was already having a louching problem. Also I wanted a dark rum, so I'll use all charred oak--maybe 50g-60g.

BTW anyone have know of a cheap source of molasses beside feed stores? Amazon nearly doubled the price of the molasses I was buying from them.