My first Rum need help already

[Tinkster]

I put on a batch of half and half sugar/molasses ( 5g water, 4 kg sugar about 8 cups molasses with turbo from Mile Hi) first week went great lots of yeast action now it subsided I racked it into a secondary carboy decided to test for sugar and alcohol, to my surprise sugar reads 1.03 or (1/30) but alcohol shows nothing at all. I can smell it however smells pretty strong already, I dare not taste it though.
I guess my questions are what stage am I in with these readings and how long should it take to clear this wash?

Thanks for any response , advise.

[MitchyBourbon]

Can you tell us what the ph is currently? Fermentation temp? Starting gravity? I wouldn't be afraid to take a small taste if you know what you are looking for.

[Tinkster]

Shoot You know I did take a reading in the beginning but didn't write it down I know it was pretty sweet and thick
, PH I do not know, fermentation temp was pretty consistently 30 at start -25 thereafter.

[heartcut]

1.03 might be close to done for a rum wash, the starting gravity is important with rum as the unfermentables make the gravity high. You have to go by the starting vs final gravity for abv. Taste it and see if it's still sweet. pH paper is cheap- see if the pH got too low for the yeast and raise it if it's 4 or lower. I'd suggest baker's yeast for rum.
Good luck.

[still_stirrin]

Shoot You know I did take a reading in the beginning but didn't write it down I know it was pretty sweet and thick
, PH I do not know, fermentation temp was pretty consistently 30 at start -25 thereafter.

Shoot...now you're gonna' hafta' dump it out!

Just kidding.

Getcha' some pH papers and check it. Check the temperature in your ferment room (and I hope that -25*C is not true). Your yeast probably likes it around 80-85*F, the warmer temps will boost some of the "rummy" flavors too.

How long....'till it's done. Simple as that. If you need something to do in the meantime...READ the forum! And get your equipment ready for the strip. And I assume you've already done the mandatory cleaning runs. Another thing you can do is to get your aging process in place. Get the woods rounded up. Get your aging vessel(s) cleaned and ready.

You anxiousness is indicative of a new distiller. My recommendation is to settle down, read, and get prepared for what is to come.....because it's coming!

Be safe, be responsible, and be discrete.
ss

edit - posted same time as heartcut.

[still_stirrin]

And...next ferment, ditch the Turbo yeast. Plain old bread yeast works great...highly recommended in a rum ferment.

[still_stirrin]

... I racked it into a secondary carboy decided to test for sugar and alcohol, to my surprise sugar reads 1.03 or (1/30) but alcohol shows nothing at all...

What tool are you using to measure these?

The ferment hydrometer measures specific gravity, even though the paper has a metric for "potential alcohol". The actual alcohol is the difference in gravity readings (there's a thread link in my signature for how you read it). The hydrometer measures densities relative to water, ie - gravities greater than 1.000.

A refractometer measure the sugar content in the liquid by its refraction angle in light. This works like a prism (in fact, the refractometer has a prism in the optics). But the refractometer does not measure the water/sugar/alcohol combination. Its better suited for pre-ferment use.

And when you start your distillations, you'll need an alcohol hydrometer...It looks similar to your ferment hydrometer, but it's callibrated differently. It reads alcohol in solution with water...ie - gravities are less than water because the alcohol is less dense than water. Again, there is a link to a thread how to read it in my signature.

Read...read...read.
ss

[Tinkster]

My room is pretty much 25C always. I use basic hydrometer and glass alcoholometer .

The wash tastes sweet but boozy.
I will definitely try other yeasts in the future.
I have not yet done any runs yet, cleaning runs I have not done and I do not know how.
I was advised by a friend to soak my copper in the separate jar of wash to "season " it but the still itself I have not touched yet.
How do I run a cleaning wash?

And yes, I am an absolute newb at this but you gotta start somewhere.

[MitchyBourbon]

How long till its done... If you have an air lock and see no bubbling for a day its done or.Tue yeast is dormant or.dead. if you don't have an air lock, check the gravity if it doesn't change after 24 hours its done or.the yeast is dormant or.dead. lose the turbo, try bakers yeast.

Cleaning runs
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 9#p6835986

[Tinkster]

ok read about cleaning runs, makes good sense. Will do a vinegar run first as I do not have anything I can waste yet, I have peach cider on the go and the Rum wash we discussed above. My still is SS. Thanks for the input I will read for a week or so, wait for the wash to clear, set up and clean still.

Now when I am ready to run Rum wash, is stripping run a preferred method or slow potstill run for rum? And does the pot still run require second run and if so Do I dilute it with water or dunder?

[still_stirrin]

...My room is pretty much 25C always...

Can you raise the temperature a couple of degrees...to 28-29*C? I think it will ferment a bit more.

Plus, you need to do your vineger and sacrificial alcohol runs before you try to strip this rum. The extra time (and temp) will help it finish.
ss

[still_stirrin]

....Now when I am ready to run Rum wash, is stripping run a preferred method or slow potstill run for rum? And does the pot still run require second run and if so, do I dilute it with water or dunder?

Rum has flavors in the tails that you'll want, so doing your strip run a little slower will help you dig them out.

Then, it is good to dilute the low wines back to 35-40%ABV using the dunder in lieu of water. It will accentuate the rum flavors in your spirit run. Again, run it slow and collect in enough (smaller) jars so you can do good heart cuts (with a touch of the tails, if you'd like).
ss

[rad14701]

Tinkster, it sounds like you've fallen into the novice trap of putting the cart before the horse... There is so much that you need to know before you need to know it in this hobby that you really can't be jumping the gun like you have... All you know right now is that you threw together a mess of a wash and are hoping things turn out alright - and it isn't...

Now it's time for you to get serious about this hobby, or give it up... The only way to proceed from here is to do what we consider mandatory research... Perhaps not what you want to hear, but what you need to hear... Slow down... Do your research... Not just what you think you need to know - everything...!!! You're not prepared to proceed further at this point so get your ducks in a row and figure out what you did wrong, through research, and absorb enough of the theories and fundamentals to the point where you feel that you can be successful... You thought you were there before you started out, right...??? Now you know that you weren't... All is not lost and you can go nowhere but up from here...

We want you to be both safe and successful... This hobby isn't as simple as most folks initially perceive...

[Tinkster]

Well who hasn't fallen into a novice trap before... it's all part of the process I guess. I am reading....

[rad14701]

Well who hasn't fallen into a novice trap before... it's all part of the process I guess. I am reading....

We actually go well out of our way to convince new members to NOT go that route... Some take it in stride and others become defiant or whine that we're being too harsh... Well, we've seen it too many times and try to spare as many as we can from making the same mistakes... You've taken it all in stride and will see vast improvements once you've done ample research and give things another go with new-found knowledge and confidence...

[Tinkster]

I totally get it, lots to learn. I will not touch another batch without PH strips and hydrometer. I am also setting up a spot in my furnace room for primary since it is a constant 26C. Doing a Cleaning Run and testing my setup to make sure all is smooth and ready to do a first batch in a week or so.

[Tinkster]

Another week went by the wash is stuck , not clearing very well I guess it has lots of unfermentables. I am wondering if there is anything I can do at this point to clear it further. Or will it clear anymore???

[still_stirrin]

Another week went by the wash is stuck , not clearing very well I guess it has lots of unfermentables. I am wondering if there is anything I can do at this point to clear it further...

Yes. What have you read? Did you learn anything?

...Or will it clear anymore???

Time will clear it somewhat. Stick the fermenter in a refrigerator and see if that doesn't help. Rack it to another fermenter and see if that doesn't help. Use finings and see if that doesn't help. So many options...it really depends on what you are willing to do. If nothing...then that's what you get.

Read...this question has been asked and answered multiple times.
ss

[Mr98398]

Don't worry about your wash being stuck, 1.03 is not that bad and I'm sure you'll do better next time. Make sure your pH doesn't go too low (I usually add a heaping tbsp of egg shells to my rum wash) and make sure your yeast has enough nutrients.

Tinkster, if I were you, I'd run it as it is now. Don't worry about your wash not clearing up. Distilling on lees will enhance the ester profile (just make sure it doesn't scorch). Here's the abstract from "Pear distillates from pear juice concentrate: effect of lees in the aromatic composition":

Pear juice obtained from pear concentrate was fermented at room temperature using Saccharomyces cerevisiae (BDX, ENOFERM, France) as the fermentation microorganism. During the fermentation process, total sugars were measured. High performance liquid chromatography analyses were used to monitor the fermentation process and to characterize the pear wine. The pear wine obtained was distilled with its lees using three different equipments: a glass alembic (a glass pot still coupled to a glass column), a copper alembic, and a glass alembic with the addition of 5 g/L of copper shavings to the pot still. The same distillations were repeated with the wine without its lees (separated by decanting). Several distillation fractions were collected, up to a total of 500 mL of distillate. Gas chromatography was used to identify and quantify the volatile compounds in each fraction, and the methanol and ethanol contents. Based on these results, the heart fraction was defined. ANOVA tests were performed on the heart fractions to determine quantitative differences between some volatile compounds depending on the equipment used and the presence or absence of the wine lees. From this series of ANOVA tests, it can be concluded that the concentrations of the compounds that are considered to have a negative effect on the quality of the distillates (methanol, ethyl acetate, furfural) decrease or do not change when they are distilled in the presence of lees and in the copper alembic. In addition, the concentrations of the positive compounds (ethyl decanoate and ethyl-2-trans-4-cis-decadienoate) increase in the presence of lees for all of the equipment tested. So, it can be assumed that the distillation of pear wine with its lees in copper alembic leads to a better quality product.

I'm sure this applies to rum as well. That's what I did for my last rum and I think it's gonna be my best so far.

[Tinkster]

Stick the fermenter in a refrigerator and see if that doesn't help. Rack it to another fermenter and see if that doesn't help. Use finings and see if that doesn't help. So many options...it really depends on what you are willing to do. If nothing...then that's what you get.

It has been sitting in a cold storage for a week, my other peach mash have cleared a lot sitting next to it. I did read about fining and clearing chemical ways but it does not excite me.

[Tinkster]

Don't worry about your wash being stuck, 1.03 is not that bad and I'm sure you'll do better next time. Make sure your pH doesn't go too low (I usually add a heaping tbsp of egg shells to my rum wash)

/.... So, it can be assumed that the distillation of pear wine with its lees in copper alembic leads to a better quality product./

I'm sure this applies to rum as well. That's what I did for my last rum and I think it's gonna be my best so far.

Great , thanks, I think I am going to run it . Worst case I may have to spend time washing my pot , but yes I will be a lot more careful to prepare wash for next run. Plus I gotta see what happens to really learn.


Speaking of lees, I heard of another technique of adding a specially prepared "flavouring" lees to your cleared fruit mash and YES running it together. I am going to try that one day. It is a pear season rightness to think of it....Hmmm!!!

[NZChris]

You're making rum, not wine or beer. It doesn't need racking, or clearing, to make nice product. You can run it as soon as it's dead, or give it a couple of days extra to develop more flavor.

I don't know how long it would take to clear, or if it would. It's never happened for me. To get it clear, there is a process of pH adjustment, boiling, skimming and another pH adjustment to do before the wash goes into the fermenter. Too much trouble for me.

[Tinkster]

You're making rum, not wine or beer. It doesn't need racking, or clearing, to make nice product. You can run it as soon as it's dead, or give it a couple of days extra to develop more flavor.

I don't know how long it would take to clear, or if it would. It's never happened for me. To get it clear, there is a process of pH adjustment, boiling, skimming and another pH adjustment to do before the wash goes into the fermenter. Too much trouble for me.

Sounds good, its great to hear, being new I am second guessing a bit with every new thing I take on, but soon enough I will taste results.