Pugi's Rum or "Pugirum"

[rgreen2002]

Yeah, a decimal place goes a long ways in ferment accuracy... If you're still at 1.100 you started out way to high...

I couldn't agree more and since I took that reading last night after being up about 24 hours I thought I should check again. In my defense....I'm an Idiot.
Sooo.... lets talk actual numbers. I took a few readings and they averaged out to 1.033 (a shade lower than 1.08... idiot). I had a little action still in there and I stirred it up a bit without adding anything. I'm guessing a little patience here!?

[rad14701]

Yeah, a decimal place goes a long ways in ferment accuracy... If you're still at 1.100 you started out way to high...

I couldn't agree more and since I took that reading last night after being up about 24 hours I thought I should check again. In my defense....I'm an Idiot.
Sooo.... lets talk actual numbers. I took a few readings and they averaged out to 1.033 (a shade lower than 1.08... idiot). I had a little action still in there and I stirred it up a bit without adding anything. I'm guessing a little patience here!?

What is your wash temperature...??? Keep it consistent in the 75F - 85F range... Yeast don't like temperature swings... Might also be of benefit to check for excessively low pH... Those two issues are the main causes of slow or stalled ferments...

[rgreen2002]

I have not recently checked the temp but to guess it might be a tad low...about 70 (ambient room temp in there). I will blanket it up. No way to check ph at this time sadly...thats my next trick. BTW thanks for all the help gentlemen. rad14701 I feel like you're right here keeping me in line...LOL

[12bolts]

Well Ive read this thread from go to whoa and searched a bunch of other yeast bomb threads and I cnat see this question anywhere else so I'l ask it here.
Why doesnt boiling the ingredients for 15 mins kill the yeast before you've started?

Cheers Phil

[rgreen2002]

So I have recently tried my hand here with Pugi's rum. All went well and I followed it down to the letter including "One slice of pinapple per gallon, 2 cloves per gallon, 1/2 ounce of raisens per gallon, leave for a month shaking every now and then." The aroma is amazing... and I certainly cannot complain about the taste. Soaking the raisins and pineapple have turned the clear liquid yellow and cutting with h2o has made it ever so slightly "cloudy" (for lack of a better term...so minimally though). I tried using caramel color I made but I cannot really get a great coloring here. Has anyone experienced this issue? Thoughts on how to make what appears to be a ..."sample" more visually appealing?

[carbohydratesn]

rgreen, if you want to make sure your pH isn't too low without any fancy equipment, you can just throw a few eggshells in there Rinse them off, and if you want to be extra careful, rub a little vodka/cleaning alcohol all over 'em. Eggshells are made of calcium carbonate, and will only dissolve when the pH is lower than 5 or so - so they keep acidic washes at the right pH. Some use seashells or oyster shells for this, too.

[rgreen2002]

carbohydratesn... thanks for the reply. We are well past the eggshells point ( i couldn't believe how well the eggshells worked in my recent Wineo's....) This is a color after a strip and spirit run while it sits on the shelf with the pineapple, raisins and clove in it. After a month it has turned a nice light yellow. When I cut it the yellow pales but gets a tiny bit cloudy.

[carbohydratesn]

Hah, I really need to start looking at the dates better on comments I'm replying to...

[wtfdskin]

Hah, I really need to start looking at the dates better on comments I'm replying to...

Thats ok, im gonna bump this back up again with some questions. Lol.

Mixed up the recipe following it to the amounts to the letter but used golden barrel blackstrap, raw cane sugar, and ev1116 (kv1?) Yeast.

Initial gravity was 1.130
I think that converts to 18.3% if it ferments to dry. Holy crap!

My last rum wash (buc bobs) fermented to dry. I didnt expect it to because of the unfermentables. Maybe the golden barrel is a purer blackstrap and I can get away without any sugar?

Copied from golden barrel spec sheet.....
Chemical Properties
pH 5.0 - 6.5
Brix, % 79.0 – 80.0
Ash, % 10.0 - 15.0
Invert Sugars, % 6.0 - 22.0
Total Sugars, % 45.0 - 60.0 Sucrose, % 30.0 - 46.0

I wasne expecting such a high abv. Was shooting for 8-10.

Any thoughts or help is appreciated.

Edited to fix double copy paste

[rad14701]

Initial gravity was 1.130
I think that converts to 18.3% if it ferments to dry. Holy crap!

My last rum wash (buc bobs) fermented to dry. I didnt expect it to because of the unfermentables. Maybe the golden barrel is a purer blackstrap and I can get away without any sugar?

Copied from golden barrel spec sheet.....
Chemical Properties
pH 5.0 - 6.5
Brix, % 79.0 – 80.0
Ash, % 10.0 - 15.0
Invert Sugars, % 6.0 - 22.0
Total Sugars, % 45.0 - 60.0 Sucrose, % 30.0 - 46.0

I wasne expecting such a high abv. Was shooting for 8-10.

Any thoughts or help is appreciated.

Edited to fix double copy paste

Most here would recommend splitting that wash into two washes and dilute with more water to get the SG down... You're at double where you want to be...

I made the same mistake a while back by tossing 5 - 4 pound bags of sugar into a 6 gallon wash instead of 2.5 bags... Ended up with 2 - 6 gallon washes...

[wtfdskin]

Thanks rad. Thats what I was thinking. Wasnt sure how accurate the sg readings were. Im still learning the fermentation process. When I do brandy its cider only. No sugar. With the info I posted from the molasses if I were to take a sg reading on the molasses only would it be accurate enough to adjust sugar or even add no sugar for the next go around.

[Jo Diesel]

On my first batch of rum after doing a couple of Sweet Feeds and read this and think it is time for RUM ! Bought 2 5 gal buckets molasses for $21. Clarified 1, Made yeast bomb and pitched in my 20 gal fermenter and filled to 18 gal to leave head space. 1.065 OG.

My question is has any one dropped the wash while it is fermenting, to get it off the trub or just after it is done to clarify it a little more or is it not worth it? And should I add a little sugar to bring alcohol level up more?

Dropping the wash is just siphoning it to a clean fermenter.

[tom sawyer]

M question concerns Pugi's method of catching the rum oils and recycling them into subsequent batches. I'v e done this a couple of times now but the 40-20% (96-98C) stuff I'm collecting doesn't smell like butter, it just has a slight minty aroma. On the other hand, I'm finding that the heads definitely have the butter aroma. I looked up boiliong points on a couple of likely butter flavors. Diactyl boils at 88C, I assume this is what I'm getting in the first few jars of heads. Methyl propanoate boils at 80C. I guess my question is, what am I supposed to be capturing with the technique? And is the fact that the stuff doesn't smell like butter rum, mean I shouldn't bother? If not it'll go in the feints jar next time.

I've been making 20gal batches of wash with a gallon of fancy molasses and 32lb of sugar, and using special rum yeast I found at a homebrew shop. Things are going pretty well with it, I double distill and have been making conservative cuts. MY still is a little 7gal Brewhaus PSII with copper packing. I almost wonder if I'm not getting things a little too clean with the stripping run/spirit run method, the stripping run stuff really smells great when I run it. Same holds for whiskey.

[Tokoroa_Shiner]

Well Ive read this thread from go to whoa and searched a bunch of other yeast bomb threads and I cnat see this question anywhere else so I'l ask it here.
Why doesnt boiling the ingredients for 15 mins kill the yeast before you've started?

Cheers Phil

It does kill the yeast. That's the whole point of boiling it. Make a good nutrient for the love yeast you add to the wash later.

[rumthirsty]

Ok quick question, i use calcium nitrate 15.5-0-0 in my hydroponics system and have tons of it. Would it be safe to use as a substitute for the fertilizer in the yeast bomb portion of the recipe? Thanks in advance.

[rad14701]

Ok quick question, i use calcium nitrate 15.5-0-0 in my hydroponics system and have tons of it. Would it be safe to use as a substitute for the fertilizer in the yeast bomb portion of the recipe? Thanks in advance.

The short answer is Yes...

[rumthirsty]

Ok quick question, i use calcium nitrate 15.5-0-0 in my hydroponics system and have tons of it. Would it be safe to use as a substitute for the fertilizer in the yeast bomb portion of the recipe? Thanks in advance.

The short answer is Yes...

Thanks, just what I was hoping to hear.

[rgreen2002]

So I have some dunder sitting around for the last..... wow...12 months (I see my old posts above me). I popped the top and took a look and got this...

Even though I read through again... I wanted to get the advice of the rum gods here so I thought I would ask. Happy should be the right reaction here. In other words I should happily scoop off the solids of the bacteria and use this dunder?

[BourbonStreet]

If that's lacto, you're in luck. If it smells OK, it probably is. Bad bacteria like clostridium would stink to high heaven. I just opened a sealed batch of UJSSM from six months ago, and it had that also. I scooped it out, and ran it. Best tasting batch in a long time! The corn flavor really came through.

[rgreen2002]

Thanks BourbonStreet. I didn't take a good whiff but lets say there was no smell that knocked me over. I will take a smell later tonight and see what we got.

[raketemensch]

The only thing I don't get is boiling the yeast. Everything I've read leads me to believe that boiling yeast will kill it, but obviously this is working for lots of people.

How does it survive?

[Monkeyman88]

It doesn't. The first bit of yeast is boiled and killed to create nutrients for the yeast that is pitched later.

[still_stirrin]

Yep...the boiled yeast provides valuable nutrients in the "yeast bomb". Try it...it makes the ferment start fast...I mean fast, like within an hour. And the ferment will drive to termination in 36 to 40 hours just like Pugi claims....clockwork..try it.

Raketemensch, if you read the recipe you'll see this description. Plus, you'll see that Pugi also uses a baker's yeast starter for the ferment. Oh, and I suggest a good areation prior to pitching yeast too. If you do it as listed, you'll get a great ferment.

I just made a Pugirum spirit run (ready for cuts today). I used feed store (83 brix deer lick) molasses only...I didn't add any brown sugar, so my opening OG was a little lower than Pugi predicts but the Molly flavor and aroma is great.

I have some cask strength all-bran white that I can blend with the Pugirum if the taste is too strong. But I don't think it will be necessary...we'll see after the cuts.

The secret to this recipe is the "yeast bomb" that provides the necessary nutrients the yeast need for a fast, healthy ferment. You can't go wrong with this recipe.
ss

[raketemensch]

Yep...the boiled yeast provides valuable nutrients in the "yeast bomb". Try it...it makes the ferment start fast...I mean fast, like within an hour. And the ferment will drive to termination in 36 to 40 hours just like Pugi claims....clockwork..try it.

That makes perfect sense, thanks.

[bmentink]

Hi Guys,

Just new to this thread and am about to start my 1st Rum brew.
I have just one question on the Recipe ... I have some Calcium Nitrate from my Hydroponics days ... can I use that instead of Ammonium Nitrate?

Thanks,

[bmentink]

Anyone Alive in this forum?

[bmentink]

Never mind, go back to sleep .... I see my question has already been asked/answered by someone else ..

[Hillbilly Popstar]

Sorry if this has been asked already, I have not had the time to read the entire thread...

But about how many 5 gal washes/generations of this recipe would be required to start seeing rum oils in the hearts?

And would it be a bad idea to add a small portion of the low abv rum oils into your keeper cuts after a spirit run?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using Tapatalk

[Bootlegger+10]

Hi Pugi,
I've been doing some research on Rum Making, and your information is the best so far.
Thanks Pugi, I will definitely give it a go.
Hang on there
Bootlegger

[Canaanite]

If this is your very first wash and you have no dunder, how is the recipe modified?