Love this thread. The great thing, I've been running a similar Rum/Vodka recipe for a while. Very nice to see other's perspectives! The fermenting/distilling isn't too different but my generic bill is below. I've messed with ratio's a bit but not much.Rastus wrote:as i wrote last night i was vexed with a slow starting ferment. nearly 48 hours from when i started it... but this morning by golly, its fired up and has a thick foamy cap and the furnace is starting to roar... kicking into molasses warp drive ... beam me up Mr Scott!!!
1 gallon of baking Molasses (not strapping… massive difference)
6lb of brown sugar (yes, I can taste the difference between white)
Yeast (I've used Generic Red Star Active, Rum Turbo, Vodka Turbo and DADY and believe it or not, the Red Star is my favorite)
Mix it in with 12 gallons of 100 degree F water and by the time everything is stirred up and dissolved, it's at a proper temp. for pitching.
Pitch the yeast at roughly 85 F (dependent on the yeast).
The slowest fermenting I've ever had was just a bit over 4 days. The norm for me has been 3 days. I think I had some dead yeast about a week ago and it took a while for the colony to kick in. Added more and it started immediately.
Yields roughly 6 gallons of finish (didn't do a stripping run, just one spirit), added the following after:
vanilla bean
cinnamon stick
All Spice
Orange Peel
Clove
Peppercorn
a dash of nutmeg
a dash of ginger (This is easy to cut out, in my opinion)
Soak it all with some toasted oak chips for about 2 weeks. I sit it in front of the fireplace, even in the summer, for a day. Heat it up good and then let it cool the rest of the time. If during the winter, I put it in front of the fire during the day, away from the fire during the night. That speeds it up considerably. When the chips all drop to the bottom, you're done. I've let it sit longer and it tastes better but when the oak chips sink to the bottom, that's the minimum. (Obviously please take safety seriously here. It's to warm the likker up, not start a fire! Watch the distance!)
After that filter it all and you have some Rum that slowly melts in your mouth. It's truly a shame to mix it with Coke.