Buccaneer Bob's Silver, Gold, and Black Rum Recipe

[Buccaneer Bob]

Sounding good, guys.

When I added the sugar and transferred it to a carboy the flavour was quite a lot like toffee and buttery; the wife was impressed. Probably a good thing I didn't show her the dunder pail before I added it to the initial molasses ferment.

Yeah, I like to do a lot of tasting along the way, myself. That's one of the many reasons I started boiling my funky dunder before I used it in a rum ferment. No reason to get myself sick, just because I can't wait to taste things.

What is your preferred method of storing dunder for a prolonger period?

I've always just left it in an HDPE bucket until I needed it. I guess if it was going to be a long time, you might want to put on an airtight lid to keep it from drying out.

I got a 5 gallon bucket of "Golden Barrel: Supreme Baking Molasses", I'm assuming a higher grade than feed.

One thing I was thinking is that you probably want to check out either the F.G. or the sweetness of the wash at the end of the ferment and adjust your sugar on the next batch accordingly.

Fancy molasses is liable to have twice the sugar of feed grade molasses, so you won't need nearly as much granulated sugar as I've been using with feed grade, I don't think.

At best, extra sugar will be wasted, but at worst, it will put extra stress on the yeast. I'm sure it'll taste awesome, but no reason to waste sugar, you know.

[Davel]

......I tried flavoring some of my rum with dunder and didn't like the flavor so I am going to run it through the still again.

Hey Nerdy I have some stupid questions........did you use fresh dunder/backset from the boiler or aged dunder?
Have you tried separate dunders from consecutive run?
How long did you age the blended rum before drinking it?
What about the flavour didn't you like?

I ask because in my haste and need for a shot or 2 of rum from time to time, in the past 3 - 4 weeks, I have gone through about 2 litres (40%abv) of my first run which was blended with fresh dunder. During this time I have noticed a softening and easing of the dunder flavour. At first I was not too impressed but now am getting more and more impressed with how it is maturing. I can only imagine what the quality of this drink will be with the dunder that has come off the progressively richer runs I've done since then............. if I'm able to squirrel some away for a year or 2 I suspect it will be entirely amazing.

[nerdybrewer]

I used boiled backset.
No, this was a first try of dunder as flavoring.
I did the nuclear aging process, the 60% part really came out - well outstanding is the word I'm thinking of.
I used toasted french oak, sherried. I also used toasted white oak. Got a good seal on the jars as it cooled and ran about 3 cycles and wow it came out really good.
Not as impressed with the flavored as I was with the white rum, which is a deep reddish color after the Nuke.
What I didn't like about the dunder flavored product?
Maybe it was just the comparison of that and the nuked higher proof stuff.

[Davel]

By the sounds of your results I think I need to try the nuclear aging process if for no other reason than to see how it compares. I'm currently just moving the ones I have on wood from my cold crawl space to my warm kitchen every few day.

This whole process of doing multiple runs of the same BBSG&B recipe has taught me a lesson in exponential flavour increase. I really am looking forward to the tasting the fourth and final batch that is currently in the molasses ferment stage.

Tonight I just blended 3ea 750ml bottle of my second run that I had aged 1/2 on apple and 1/2 on cherry with essence from the same run. I think it is going to be very good if I can leave it alone for a year or 2 but i think that may be wishful thinking.

[Fidget]

Hey bob...I wondered if you (or anyone else on this thread) had tried doing one long slow run, instead of strip+spirit?

If so, how did it turn out?

I know this may sounds lazy, but interested all the same.

Fwiw I prefer flavourful over more neutral rum!

[nerdybrewer]

Fidget, that is how I do it.
The hearts are very flavorful, hard to leave alone!

[MichiganCornhusker]

Hey bob...I wondered if you (or anyone else on this thread) had tried doing one long slow run, instead of strip+spirit?
If so, how did it turn out?

When I stripped my first batch of this it tasted so good, even with heads and tails included, that I had a hard time not wanting to just drink it.
On my next batches, I ran once, separating out the heads and tails, and it is very good, and beyond flavorful. In fact, almost too much flavor. So I did a second distillation on the feints and added the hearts of that run back into the once distilled spirit and it makes a really nice happy medium. And it's a great way to recycle the feints. But I kept a few jars as pure once-distilled rum and they might still be my favorite.

[Buccaneer Bob]

Hey bob...I wondered if you (or anyone else on this thread) had tried doing one long slow run, instead of strip+spirit?

I tried it, because, yeah, it would be a real time-saver.

But for my tastebuds, it was a little twangy with all the rum oils.

However, it would probably depend a lot on the molasses.

Some molasses probably has better quality or better balanced rum oils than other molasses.

[nerdybrewer]

I just yesterday placed an order for more gallons of Grade A fancy blackstrap.
I am sure this stuff produces a nicer flavor than animal feed grade molasses, it costs more but it's very pure.

[wtfdskin]

When you guys are double running what type of still are you using? Pots with or without thumpers, refluxes? Just curious. Would double runnin with a thumper strip too much flavor? Strip w/o thumper and spirit run with?
Decisions decisions.

[Buccaneer Bob]

When you guys are double running what type of still are you using? Pots with or without thumpers, refluxes? Just curious. Would double runnin with a thumper strip too much flavor? Strip w/o thumper and spirit run with?
Decisions decisions.

I'm running a straight pot still / unpacked riser / Liebig condenser through stripping and spirit runs.

Some guys believe in thumpers, and they could theoretically do everything in one run with a thumper that has 5 liters of water in it, starting off.

The trouble is: it will take just as long to heat up a thumper and pass 4 liters of rum through 5 liters of water in a thumper as it takes to do a normal spirit run.

So there's not really any advantage to it, by my math. It might actually take longer because thumpers can take more time to set up than a normal still run.

Plus, a thumper can be a lot more finicky.

I don't know, for my time and energy, just running a straight pot still through stripping and spirit runs seems to be the best game in town.

Other people like the thumper deal, and if that works for them, cheers to 'em, you know.

[wtfdskin]

Thanks Bob. Im running a pot also, 24" open column, no thumper to a worm. Have a thumper built and ready to go in but am unsure about using it for rum. Im a kracken and coke guy and cant wait to run some of the dark from your recipe

[nerdybrewer]

Pot still, single run.

[Davel]

Now that I've finished off my pail of feed molasses and run the 5 batch through the still I'm thinking that I would pour off the yeast and keep it in the fridge for the next time I'm ready to do rum ferments. This is the same yeast used in the last 2 batches.

If it is viable when I want to use it to to start my next rum run I'm hoping that it will have "evolved" and adapted to the molasses wort and my particular brewhouse conditions.

Had anyone tried this or does it sound like a hair brained idea??

[Buccaneer Bob]

Now that I've finished off my pail of feed molasses and run the 5 batch through the still I'm thinking that I would pour off the yeast and keep it in the fridge for the next time I'm ready to do rum ferments. This is the same yeast used in the last 2 batches.

If it is viable when I want to use it to to start my next rum run I'm hoping that it will have "evolved" and adapted to the molasses wort and my particular brewhouse conditions.

Had anyone tried this or does it sound like a hair brained idea??

I'd say it sounds like a pretty solid plan. Yeah, long before mankind could purchase vacuum-packed dried yeast, they either reused yeast with a proven track record or they rolled the dice with wild yeast and crossed their fingers.

[Davel]

With about 16 litres of drinking proof on hand it will be a few months before I get back in to another run on rum.

Although I already have a 25 kg pail of Crosby food grade black strap molasses & several gallons of dunder gnawing on my brain so it might be sooner rather than later ....I do intend to age some out for at least a year or 2 so I can't be drinkin' all I've got on hand.

I do really like the results of this last run Bob.....again, excellent job on the recipe.

If this yeast experiment works out well I'll post the results.

[freezen2001]

Anybody tried brown sugar instead of granulated sugar? Would it make difference in taste/flavor?

Also just wondering why not add sugar in the beginning with blackstrap molasses instead of 2-3 days later?

Sorry for all the noob questions! got 2 gallons of blackstrap they other day and plan on doing this recipe! Thanks for the ideas and recipes guys!

[nerdybrewer]

My first time I didn't use nearly enough blackstrap, but increased brown sugar and cooked it all together.
The rum was good.
My second time I used 3 gallons blackstrap and the dunder from my first run.
The rum was better.
Coming up on my third run, once I get my AG peated scotch run through and barreled.
This time I will use more dunder, I may or may not add brown sugar but the dunder I have will definitely be the star of the show.
Already looking forward to my 4th run, but that's down the road a bit.

[Buccaneer Bob]

Anybody tried brown sugar instead of granulated sugar? Would it make difference in taste/flavor?

Most of the "brown sugar" around is actually white sugar with a few tablespoons of molasses mixed in for flavor. So it really wouldn't effect the flavor of your rum much, either way.

Or you could try muscovado, piloncillo, panela, etc. Those have never been fully refined, and they have some very nice, unique flavors.

However, my belief is that, if a person is using some of those more exotic sugars, they should focus on a pure muscovado rum, a pure piloncillo rum, a pure panela rum, etc., because the subtle flavors of those exotic sugars would surely be overpowered by blackstrap molasses.

Also just wondering why not add sugar in the beginning with blackstrap molasses instead of 2-3 days later?

The reasoning behind that is to avoid stressing the yeast with the osmotic pressure of a high sugar concentration. Stressed yeast will throw off more undesirable esters than happy yeast do.

[nerdybrewer]

When I did use brown sugar (1st generation) I bought expensive organic brown sugar, it was very different - not at all like the C&H brown sugar at the grocers.
Maybe it was just sugar with molasses added but it sure was not the same stuff, we made cookies with it too - wow what a difference!
I haven't used extra sugar in my washes, using a large amount of dunder and a lot of molasses since then.
I used EC1118 yeast, man that stuff can live through brutal cold even freezing temperatures and is good up to some pretty high temps too.
Bob have you tried the 1118 yeast in rum?

[Buccaneer Bob]

You know, Nerdybrewer, I started using Lallemand's Instaferm "Gold" Bakers Yeast way back when, and I have never seen any reason to quit.

I've fermented rum with it in the 15-25 °C (60-77 °F) wash temperature range with great results, and of course, it will ferment to 14% ABV with no trouble.

It flocculates to a hard layer of goo at the bottom of the fermenter in record time, so my wash is reasonably clear when I distill it and I can harvest gobs of yeast trub for future nutrients, when all is said and done.

Finally, I can buy a half kilo brick of it, locally, for about $4 USD. So why change, right?

But I'm sure the EC1118 is good stuff, too.

[winchside]

Has anyone tried adapting this for an Air Still, or is it not worth trying?? If you've tried it, can you share your experiences please?

thanks

[Power_Man]

Hey!

I'm giving this recipie a try. I love Kraken rum and I'm looking for something similar.

My question is when you are clearing the first time after boiling your water and puting it in with molasses.

Would you not loose all your nutrients after clearing it and racking it off?

[nerdybrewer]

Just got another batch in the fermentation barrel.
Used about 6 gallons 3rd generation dunder this time. This will be it's 4th time through the process, should start getting good.
I could only get 1 gallon blackstrap and the place hiked up the price so I'm looking for a new supplier.
I added:
8 Lbs Sucanut
13 Lbs un-refined cane sugar
The OG was a bit low when I added water to bring up to about 16 gallons total, reading a bit over 1.05
I'll probably get another 8 Lbs Sucanut and add that in once it's bubbling away strong, that stuff is really aromatic and tastes awesome.

Unfortunately right now I'm all out of rum.
These big ferment barrels should solve that problem for me though, with time of course.

[wtfdskin]

Molasses clarification. ..
Is it ok to clarify all my molasses (5 gal) in one session. Doing it in batches of course. Then store it to use as needed? Or is it best to ferment right after clarifying?

[Buccaneer Bob]

My question is when you are clearing the first time after boiling your water and puting it in with molasses.

Would you not loose all your nutrients after clearing it and racking it off?

Welcome aboard, Power_Man. Yeah, you might lose a little bit of nutrients, but I think the majority of them stay in suspension, certainly enough for the yeast to do their thing, anyway.

Molasses clarification. ..
Is it ok to clarify all my molasses (5 gal) in one session. Doing it in batches of course. Then store it to use as needed? Or is it best to ferment right after clarifying?

Bacteria can't do much with straight molasses, and it will last for years without preservatives because of molasses's super high sugar-to-water ratio.

But once you mix molasses with water, it's the perfect environment for yeast AND a multitude of bacteria that will rob your molasses of all its sugars, if given half a chance.

So you definitely want to inoculate with yeast and proceed with your ferment, once you're done clarifying.

[wtfdskin]

Thanks, Bob. Exactly what I was wondering.

[Power_Man]

My question is when you are clearing the first time after boiling your water and puting it in with molasses.

Would you not loose all your nutrients after clearing it and racking it off?

Welcome aboard, Power_Man. Yeah, you might lose a little bit of nutrients, but I think the majority of them stay in suspension, certainly enough for the yeast to do their thing, anyway.

okay, good to know. thank you.

i love rum, but hate the smell of molasses.

[wtfdskin]

Started my first fernent yesterday. Following the recipe to a T. Molasses ferment is bubbling nicely. Will pitch the sugar tomorrow if the bubbling slows. Cant wait to run this. A good sweet dark rum with coke is why I got into this hobby in the first place.

[Buccaneer Bob]

Sounds good, Wtfdskin. If you're after a good dark rum, I think you'll be happy with this one.

Keep me posted and let me know how it goes.