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

[Buccaneer Bob]

Thanks so much, Jafa5.

And yes, you can "can" the dunder or let it go funky, either way.

Most of us are letting our dunder get funky because it lends another layer to the flavor.

But if you don't like that flavor layer, you can just use the non-funky dunder to drive the pH down to where it checks the bacteria.

[Jafa5]

Thanks so much, Jafa5.

And yes, you can "can" the dunder or let it go funky, either way.

Most of us are letting our dunder get funky because it lends another layer to the flavor.

But if you don't like that flavor layer, you can just use the non-funky dunder to drive the pH down to where it checks the bacteria.

Thanks Bob

I'm going to let it get funked up and can it in two batches, 10 days and 20 days then see if I can keep a culture running like I do with kombucha and gingerbeer. They get recharged with fresh and some of the old gets ditched each run, so might work out. Depends how smelly it gets I guess haha. Not quite sure what I'm getting myself into here so hard to tell.

Today I ran the first control batch of a local fruit, so might try the same with that. Worth a try! The fruit is called a feijoa, it's a green shelled guava I think. I was looking to make a local bourbon or gin from it. It's a very strong flavour so might work.

Sent from my SM-T670 using Tapatalk

[Mikey-moo]

Would Ralph like to share his recipe?

[Jafa5]

Would Ralph like to share his recipe?

I'll invite him and let him decide Mikey, I have it but not really mine to give away.
Simple enough though with molasses, brown sugar and honey. Certainly a good drop after oak and spices

Sent from my SM-T670 using Tapatalk

[Jafa5]

He hasn't joined yet but equal parts, honey, molasses and brown sugar. 2kg of each

Sent from my SM-T670 using Tapatalk

[Jafa5]

I ran a 50 litre wash yesterday and pretty good result from my honey, molasses and dextrose but a little salty taste from not cleaning the molasse. I'll do that on the next batch which I might put down today.
There is approx. 4 litres of wash that wouldn't fit in the still - initially I made it fit but found that it makes its way right through the column : (. So after a good clean and leaving some space in the still for expansion the first run went well.
I've got my first back set for the dunder pit which is awesome and also have a quick dunder I tried to make a couple of weeks ago. I used a gingerbeer plant as the innoculent and that seems to have gone pretty well, a little sour but mostly it smells good enough to drink.
So today I'm going to mix a few small batches with the hearts from the first run to get some ideas on flavours and start some essences. Using the fresh dunder, quick dunder and excess wash.

Last night while we were separating the heads tails and hearts we took a half shot glass of hearts, watered it down to 40% and added 1/4 tsp of the left over wash, the taste and aroma were amazing. The honey really shined through. Looking forward to doing the same with the back set and quick dunder today - once it's late enough to have a taste
In the mean time I'm making throwing pots and enjoying some quality tea

Sent from my SM-T670 using Tapatalk

[Mikey-moo]

He hasn't joined yet but equal parts, honey, molasses and brown sugar. 2kg of each

Sent from my SM-T670 using Tapatalk

Please thank Ralph for us

[Jafa5]

Oaked spiced and rum essence added in three different volumes but still needs a little time to age.
Local brewery preferred the one without dunder at this stage and they have a better sense of taste than me so I'll take that.
Dunder pit on week 3 ands looking good so I'm starting a new set of rum wash and try bobs recipe from scratch.
We normally drink the rum straight or with a little ice btw not with coke or anything.
Not sure if that makes a difference to how you oak or spice it usually

Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk

[esxman]

Bob , nice recipe ,well done a lot of inspiration there to try different things . My interest in a black rum , is I like to make the rum-baba desserts , and rum n raisin ice cream in the summer , to do justice to both you need copious amounts of spicy rum! I cannot get blackstrap here in Greece , so settled for a big jar of dark molasses cooking grade, a big bag of demarara sugar , and an english product called "treacle". Before I bought my still , I was using white rum and herbs to make a dark rum , and even bought a small bottle of 12 year old dark rum as a sniffer , like a wine sommalier , to try and get the aroma and taste true. I have all the spices , all the citrus in the garden , those I dont have I can buy locally . I have been adding a little dunder like you say , for the colour and sweetness , and I use some of my European oak dowels to get that dark colour , oh and a little caramel too .As you say ,filter and filter again if necessary . I might add I am popular with the ladies , its surprising how frequently cooking recipes like biscuits and cakes call for the dark rum , so I am busy giving away 1/3 litres bottles of my product .Thanks again for the bold recipe esxman

[Buccaneer Bob]

Thanks so much, esxman.

Yeah, you should share some of your rum spicing recipes. I'm sure there are a few people here who would be interested.

[rickyaifd]

I may have missed or overlooked the info, but what do you use in place of the dunder if you are making your first batch?

[Buccaneer Bob]

I may have missed or overlooked the info, but what do you use in place of the dunder if you are making your first batch?

Just water and perhaps the juice of an extra lime or lemon should do the trick.

[Davel]

Well..... yesterday I picked up my 3rd 50lb pail of molasses and am going to continue to follow your recipe Buccaneer Bob.

Thanks again for such a good post.

Just in observation.......I noticed that the last few runs I did I seemed to get more flavour. I attributed that to having not let the wash sit more than a few days after fermentation stopped. Previous to that I was letting the wash clear for 7 -10 days as one does when making beer.

Does this line of thinking jive with anyone else's experiences?

[raketemensch]

Fif... fifty... fifty pounds?

[acfixer69]

Fif... fifty... fifty pounds?

5 Gals of blackstrap weights 60#

[nerdybrewer]

Fif... fifty... fifty pounds?

5 Gals of blackstrap weights 60#

I typically use 150 Lbs dry.
Comes to about 80 gallons wash.

Do that a bunch of times and you can fill a 15gal barrel with rum.

[Davel]

raketemensch & acfixer69.........the pails I get are actually 18kgs so call them 40lbs not sure why you're telling me 50lbs as I understand it there are many different pail sizes in the world.....just sayin'

Care to offer any comments on my question?

[Davel]

Hey Nerdy, with running that sort of volume have been able to get a consistent flavour profile from run to run?

How long do leave your wash after fermentation stops before you've got it in the boiler?

[Buccaneer Bob]

Well..... yesterday I picked up my 3rd 50lb pail of molasses and am going to continue to follow your recipe Buccaneer Bob.

Thanks again for such a good post.

Just in observation.......I noticed that the last few runs I did I seemed to get more flavour. I attributed that to having not let the wash sit more than a few days after fermentation stopped. Previous to that I was letting the wash clear for 7 -10 days as one does when making beer.

Does this line of thinking jive with anyone else's experiences?

I'm just happy to hear that you're liking it, Davel.

As far as how much time a wash sits and how that impacts flavor, I personally have never been able to tell much difference between letting a wash settle for a couple days after the fermentation stops or letting it sit for a couple of weeks.

The only thing I have noticed is that one time I let a wash sit for a few months when we were moving, and the alcohol had turned to vinegar by the time I got around to checking inside the bucket again to see how the wash was doing.

Of course, that speaks more to my good-enough-for-rum-but-not-good-enough-for-wine-and-beer sanitation procedures more than anything.

Regarding buckets of molasses, my molasses supplier can usually get right around 30 kilos of molasses into my "5-gallon buckets", but he fills the bucket right up to the lid.

As you may know, bucket manufacturers leave a fair amount of headroom in a bucket, just in case that "5-gallons" of material expands when it gets warm.

But my molasses guy says: "Screw that noise, let's see how much molasses we can really fit inside this thing."

[acfixer69]

raketemensch & acfixer69.........the pails I get are actually 18kgs so call them 40lbs not sure why you're telling me 50lbs as I understand it there are many different pail sizes in the world.....just sayin'

Care to offer any comments on my question?

Many pail sizes indeed. But when talking standard molasses in bulk it is 5 gallon pail which is 60 lbs. The quote was to raketmensch. Industrial bulk is 55 gallons. You are using dry molasses? Yours is the first successful use of it I have heard of. Maybe you can tell the folks more on how to make that work in your own thread using a dry molasses recipe.
Going to have to run some of Bob's recipes this summer still got essence in the fridge.

[MichiganCornhusker]

Well..... yesterday I picked up my 3rd 50lb pail of molasses...

raketemensch & acfixer69.........the pails I get are actually 18kgs so call them 40lbs not sure why you're telling me 50lbs

[nerdybrewer]

Hey Nerdy, with running that sort of volume have been able to get a consistent flavour profile from run to run?

How long do leave your wash after fermentation stops before you've got it in the boiler?

Generally I feel it's ready to run a week after it finishes, it could be run as soon as it's done fermenting but waiting for sediment to drop out is nice.
Using what I learned in this thread about saving my backset and some of my finished wash and using it over and over from batch to batch I have developed a definite profile that is copied from batch to batch.
Using wet molly whether it's food or feed grade or as I have been doing using Sugar Daddy's Panela it's all pure cane raw sugar with only small differences.
Of course it's those differences that cause the flavors to be unique.

I know when I taste a commercial rum if it was made from Panela now, I can taste it.
Last summer I was in Leavenworth, WA and visited a distillery shop for a tasting.
The rum was definitely made from Panela, I mentioned this to the proprietor and he wondered how I'd guessed.
I said I'd had some experience and left it at that.
That being said, I liked mine better.

I have buckets of backset / dunder saved which has been aging just waiting for the next time I make a batch.
I've also got barrels of rum & whisky aging.

It feels like I'm in a pretty good place, but I really want to start making bourbon - just waiting for the weather to warm up enough.
With the equipment I've amassed making 90 gallon ferments of bourbon mash will be taking up all my free time this spring.
Meanwhile having some great aged rum to sip after doing all that mashing will make things that much better!

[angus_young]

Thank you so much for this amazing recipe Bob! Last night I did my first strip run and saved the dunder in a food grade bucket. Shall I put the lid of the bucket tight or close it a bit loose? I am planning on waiting for 3 weeks for my second batch with this dunder. Not sure if letting some air in the bucket will help bacteria.

Thanks!

[nerdybrewer]

Thank you so much for this amazing recipe Bob! Last night I did my first strip run and saved the dunder in a food grade bucket. Shall I put the lid of the bucket tight or close it a bit loose? I am planning on waiting for 3 weeks for my second batch with this dunder. Not sure if letting some air in the bucket will help bacteria.

Thanks!

Hi Angus, for 3 weeks you have enough air in the bucket with or without the lid on tight.
I prefer that to keep creatures out.
Stop by the Welcome thread and say hi.

[angus_young]

Thank you so much for this amazing recipe Bob! Last night I did my first strip run and saved the dunder in a food grade bucket. Shall I put the lid of the bucket tight or close it a bit loose? I am planning on waiting for 3 weeks for my second batch with this dunder. Not sure if letting some air in the bucket will help bacteria.

Thanks!

Hi Angus, for 3 weeks you have enough air in the bucket with or without the lid on tight.
I prefer that to keep creatures out.
Stop by the Welcome thread and say hi.

Thanks for the information nerdybrewer, I will keep the lid closed. Have been doing readings on the forum for the pass 6 months, I will definitely introduce myself!

[Davel]

Thanks for the "experienced" input Buccaneer Bob & Nerdy.

After reading your comments it got me thinking that it is probably my dunder coming of age that is imparting more and more flavour. Great to know grade of molasses doesn't seem to shift flavours all that much.

I've currently got some 15 gals of DME malt, oats, barley & rye in the fermentors and just source a big plastic food grade drum to put in to service. I'll be hitting the rum brewing hard this coming weekend hopefully..... I'm really looking forward to brewing more rum

I'll check back in once I have something to report.

[CatCrap]

Great thread Bob. I've been making a fair amount of rum myself. Been using the Pugi Rum recipe, but i'll have to give the BB a whirl too. I really like the yeast bomb from Pugi, but it sounds like you guys aren't having any trouble with this rum without adding any nutrients. I do have to say, LWTCS/Larry turned me onto Panela, and holy shit, that stuff makes an incredible rum. Panella has kind of a sweet/sour flavor. I recommend any rum makers give it a whirl. I find it at the local mexican grocery store. You can find it online, but its absurdly expensive. I understand you can get it through Sugar Daddy, or from him through Still dragon, but Still dragon it's always on back order, and i think with shipping it comes out around the same as i'd pay in the store. Anywho, It's definitely a different flavor from molasses, so i've been doing either all panela (Expensive! Best price i can get is like $1.50USD a pound.. adds up) or all molasses.

I read this recipe about a year ago and it must have stuck in my brain somewhere, because i had the bright idea (not my idea) to add some wash/dunder to the finished rum for aging. I made a post about it, and was gently reminded that this is similar to what BB does. So, thanks, Bob, for planting that idea in my head, and allowing me to think for a moment i came up with it.

Also, word of warning folks.. be careful how much dunder you're adding to your ferment if doing successive generations (sour mash/UJSM style). The acidity can get pretty off the charts, and i was loving the flavors in the Panela dunder so much, i tried a 50% backset mash. Well.. serious PH crash.. and nothing i added would bring it up. I think i added almost a cup of Calcium carbonate, to no avail. Then tried calcium hydroxide (which should work better, as Carbonate is more of a buffer) but it took an awful lot to raise the Ph even half a point.
Remember... the Ph scale is in measures of 10.(can't remember the actual word for this). That means that 6 is 10 times as acidic as 7, and 5 is 100 times as acidic as 7, and 4 is 1000 times as acidic, and well.. my wash was around 3.0... that is 10000 TIMES as acidic as neutral (water) at 7. Also, molasses, etc, has very strong buffering powers of it's own from what ive read. So, it's not going to want to change Ph much at all.

Thanks Bob!

[nerdybrewer]

Great thread Bob. I've been making a fair amount of rum myself. Been using the Pugi Rum recipe, but i'll have to give the BB a whirl too. I really like the yeast bomb from Pugi, but it sounds like you guys aren't having any trouble with this rum without adding any nutrients. I do have to say, LWTCS/Larry turned me onto Panela, and holy shit, that stuff makes an incredible rum. Panella has kind of a sweet/sour flavor. I recommend any rum makers give it a whirl. I find it at the local mexican grocery store. You can find it online, but its absurdly expensive. I understand you can get it through Sugar Daddy, or from him through Still dragon, but Still dragon it's always on back order, and i think with shipping it comes out around the same as i'd pay in the store. Anywho, It's definitely a different flavor from molasses, so i've been doing either all panela (Expensive! Best price i can get is like $1.50USD a pound.. adds up) or all molasses.

I read this recipe about a year ago and it must have stuck in my brain somewhere, because i had the bright idea (not my idea) to add some wash/dunder to the finished rum for aging. I made a post about it, and was gently reminded that this is similar to what BB does. So, thanks, Bob, for planting that idea in my head, and allowing me to think for a moment i came up with it.

Also, word of warning folks.. be careful how much dunder you're adding to your ferment if doing successive generations (sour mash/UJSM style). The acidity can get pretty off the charts, and i was loving the flavors in the Panela dunder so much, i tried a 50% backset mash. Well.. serious PH crash.. and nothing i added would bring it up. I think i added almost a cup of Calcium carbonate, to no avail. Then tried calcium hydroxide (which should work better, as Carbonate is more of a buffer) but it took an awful lot to raise the Ph even half a point.
Remember... the Ph scale is in measures of 10.(can't remember the actual word for this). That means that 6 is 10 times as acidic as 7, and 5 is 100 times as acidic as 7, and 4 is 1000 times as acidic, and well.. my wash was around 3.0... that is 10000 TIMES as acidic as neutral (water) at 7. Also, molasses, etc, has very strong buffering powers of it's own from what ive read. So, it's not going to want to change Ph much at all.

Thanks Bob!

Hi CC
I have been using 100% Panela in my rum for a while now.
You are correct, adding too much dunder really makes it difficult for the yeast.
I don't think more than 25% is a good idea, but that's me.
Generally I try and keep it at about 10% because I get the good flavors but don't have the PH issues.

Also yes it is expensive, but if you can get together with others in your area Sugar Daddy will ship out in bulk for a group buy.
This brings the cost per LB down to something more reasonable.

I believe the phrase you may have been looking for looking for is "order of magnitude".

[zapata]

Logarithmic is the word.
Technically it's the negative log of H+ Ion concentration.
Useful not only for the large scale covered between whole integers, but because it converts awkward measurements into more easily used numbers. E.g. 1.23x10^-4 is much easier to use as 3.91 in the ph scale.

[zapata]

Maybe not the best thread, but it would be interesting to see how many people are using panela in the classic molasses rum recipes vs one of the panela specific ones or just winging it.