SBB's All Molasses Rum Recipe

[Yummyrum]

Gezz , has it been that long Salty . I remember having a go at those samples when they were maybe a year old . Must visit again

[Saltbush Bill]

Yup time flys by Yummy..........they are here waiting for you and any other distilling visitors who want a sample.

[peach travis]

So I’ve ended up doing 5 ferments of this since I started in January, the last of which is currently finishing up. They have all been roughly 35L batches. The first 4 strips yielded about 45L of low wines at 25%.

I left 10L aside and did a spirit run on the remaining 35L at the weekend, just straight pot still mode. It took over 10 hours. After cuts that yielded 5.7L @ 79%, which I diluted to 7.6L @ 59% and put on med toast US oak per SBB’s recommendation.

I will do the final wash through my column with the remaining 10L of low wines just so I have a solid comparison. I have a lot of feints from the pot run - not sure if they should go in as well or if I should do a 3rd feints run at the end.

I made narrow cuts, and the resulting blend already shows a lot of promise. It’s rough, sure, but it’s got that lovely thick distinctive rum flavour already.

Cheers again Bill, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed doing this one, and I think you’ve inspired me to keep my insulated cooler as a dedicated rum fermenter.

[Yummyrum]

Running feints though a reflux column is a great way to get a nice Light White sipping Rum ( think Baccardi style ) to enjoy now while your Flavour Rum matures on Oak . While it’s a good way to use up excess feints , a bit of Rum wash doesn’t hurt either .

Having said that . One thing that makes Saltys Rum is that he recycles Feints , so keep some .

[peach travis]

Running feints though a reflux column is a great way to get a nice Light White sipping Rum ( think Baccardi style ) to enjoy now while your Flavour Rum matures on Oak . While it’s a good way to use up excess feints , a bit of Rum wash doesn’t hurt either .

Having said that . One thing that makes Saltys Rum is that he recycles Feints , so keep some .

Cheers Yummy. I should’ve been more clear, the column is just 4 plates (no packed section) so not sure if that changes your point.

I am hesitant to add the feints to the plated run as I want as controlled a comparison as possible to see what my preference is (there were no feints in the pot run).

But you’re right, that’s Bill’s method, and I’m probably overthinking it!

[Saltbush Bill]

Feel free to experiment and do it how ever you want.
Personally I've recycled the feints endlessly for years now. Re-using both heads and tails as well as stripping deep into tails at the end of each run helps with flavour long term I think.
I do take a slightly bigger fores cut than most would, I don't want any of that stinky fores shit in my heads cut and going back into the next distillation.
Some folk say that the feints portion of the run will increase over time doing this, I'm of another school of thought and that is, that after 3 or 4 cycles the increase is little to none, the amount of faints stabilizes and stays the same.

[peach travis]

Cheers Bill, I’ll be sure to report back once the rums have aged a while.

[2ndstill]

Looking to do my 3rd try at this recipe this weekend
Just wondering if there are any updates from the original recipe? Thanks.
I'm using 20kg fancy molasses. I think it = 14 liters

[Saltbush Bill]

Recipe works well as is.....how did the other two work out for you?
Feed grade mollases from a rural stockfeed store is cheaper and gives more flavour if you have access to it.

[2ndstill]

The first batch I used Lalvin EC-1118 because that's what I had. But I was told to use regular bakers yeast. I did the second time. Both tasted good but the bakers yeast was the winner. I put toasted oak sticks in the jars. It was a huge hit in eggnog.

[2ndstill]

I get the mollases through a friend who owns a restaurant. I dont think the price is too bad. $50 can.
For 20kg (4jugs)

[The Baker]

I get the molasses through a friend who owns a restaurant. I don't think the price is too bad. $50 can.
For 20kg (4jugs)

Hi,
Dunno your country...
That's $2.50 a kilo.
But if you are working in USD that is nearly seventy dollars Australian or $3.50 Australian a kilo.
Not cheap.
Though there may well be more usable sugars than in feed store molasses
(does anyone know the difference?)
so then the price would compare better.

Geoff

[Saltbush Bill]

Some fancy has a little higher sugar content to the best of my knowledge. Those prices seem expensive how ever you look at it.
From memory I payed $150ish AU for the last 200L drum that I bought. Prices seem to vary from year to year month to month depending on supply n demand in these parts.

[Swamptrout]

I get stockfeed molly for .80c a litre = 20L for $16

[Saltbush Bill]

I get stockfeed molly for .80c a litre = 20L for $16

Your on a winner if they will sell you small quantities at that sort of price.
To get anywhere near that I have to buy a minimum of 200L.

[2ndstill]

Mine is in Canadian fund's. About the cheapest I've found. I didn't look hard.

[Swamptrout]

I get stockfeed molly for .80c a litre = 20L for $16

Your on a winner if they will sell you small quantities at that sort of price.
To get anywhere near that I have to buy a minimum of 200L.

Hahaha they bottle it into 2L soft drink or milk bottles for $1.60 each.

[2ndstill]

Well the wash is made. Now the wait.

[peach travis]

Cheers Bill, I’ll be sure to report back once the rums have aged a while.

I ran the remainder of my SBB low wines (probably 10L worth) and a fresh 35L wash through my four-plater this weekend.

Obviously the jury’s out until they’ve aged on wood for a while but I can say the rum didn’t seem to lose anything in flavour over the pot still. The hearts tasted very nice.

[2ndstill]

Okay it seems my wash may have stalled I'm not sure. It's been about a week and a half it's 26 degrees pH is 4.6 not reading anything on the proof and Tails measurement . Seems like the sweetness is gone but does not smell or taste like there's any alcohol in it.

[Saltbush Bill]

Seems like the sweetness is gone

If its not sweet its probably done, is it tart? or sour tasting?

but does not smell or taste like there's any alcohol in it.

What exactly should that taste or smell like ?

it's 26 degrees

Hopefully that's 26C , if your using bakers yeast it would be happier at 36C

pH is 4.6

Ive never adjusted or measured PH and never needed to.....I doubt very much that is the problem.

not reading anything on the proof and Tails measurement

That is because your using the wrong tool for the wrong job, you need to use a proper Hydrometer that measures the gravity readings of the wash. Even then you wont get an accurate reading on a molasses wash due to all of the impurities in the molasses/ wash.

[2ndstill]

Yes does seem sour.
Yes 26c started at 34c
I checked gravity 3days ago it was 1.09

[2ndstill]

I did read that checking some of these things isn't helpful with mollasses. But I was just curious what others thought at this point.

[Yummyrum]

I’d agree with Saltbush .

However , I do take a few readings purely for curiosity .... because folk often ask.

It is not uncommon for an All Molasses Rum wash to finish with a really high gravity . Typically 1.060 -1.080 but if you have been adding a little extra Molasses or Dunder , it could easily be 1.090

Now your pH at 4.8 is just fine and again quite typical . I’ve found mine usually starts at close to 5.5 and drops to around 4.7-5.0 .
Molasses and dunder have an amazing ability to clamp the pH so no adjustment is required so long as you stick to the recipe

It is when folk start adding more Dunder in the hope that they will get better flavour that the final gravity starts to creap up and up .

[2ndstill]

Gonna check.my notes to see how my other 2 batches ended

[Zeotropic]

I can't wait to try this. I just have to pick up one more gallon of molasses before I can get it started.

[Archee72]

Put my 1st ferment down yesterday, looking forward to getting it on oak

[Wheelup]

Hi Saltbush, extremely excited to try this soon.

A quick question, you mentioned pouring 4 litres of dunder instead of the 5 liters of boiling water 'onto the yeast bed' is it that important if there is a yeast bed or not? how necessary are the nutrients from the dead yeast? I feel like a fermenter with a tap at the bottom is an easier way to separate the wash form the trub/yeast bed so I presume I just transfer this to the next wash.

Also regarding your ferment, is it ok to be not 100% sealed? considering there are distilleries that use open fermentation I'm guessing this is fine if its a little loose fitting top on the bucket? did a read a blanket over the top is a good plan?

Thanks again, a great read going through this whole thread and the amazing feedback, fingers crossed mine works out as good as others

[Saltbush Bill]

is it that important if there is a yeast bed or not? how necessary are the nutrients from the dead yeast? I feel like a fermenter with a tap at the bottom is an easier way to separate the wash

On the first ferment there is no yeast bed, subsequent ferments will have layer of yeast in the bottom of the fermenter what ever happens.
Killing that yeast off by adding boiling or very hot dunder just turns it to nutrient for the next lot of yeast, it also saves time by not having to cool the dunder before adding it back to the fermenter, you couldn't do that if you wanted to use the existing yeast bed. Killing the old yeast with hot dunder and then adding the molasses to be dissolved while its still all hot helps dissolve the molasses.
The main reason I use new yeast each time is that it kicks the ferment off faster, just something I noticed over time, so I choose to go that way, for a while I did use the old yeast bed to do the fermenting.
You can still drain through a tap to get the wash out, if the wash is let settle for a week beforehand the yeast wont move anyway......it will remain on the bottom of the fermenter.
No need to keep the ferment sealed ....my 180L fermenter only uses a sheet of plywood for a lid.

[FLOB]

Saltbush Bill-
I'm a noob and I have a spirit run of my Honey Bear attempt waiting for me to find some time. But I was in restaurant depot earlier today for some other stuff and since I've been reading this thread, 3 gallons of molasses ended up on my cart. I figure they can rest in my basement until I'm ready for them in the not too distant future.

I'm working with a pot still head on a keg boiler and I know you run plates. My plan is to make a 10 gallon batch with only water and strip it. Then use the dunder to make another batch large enough to give me 10-11 gallons when combined with the low wines and do a spirit run. Does that sound good or would I be better off with a smaller initial batch to get dunder going? I be thankful for any tips you (or anyone else) would have for running this on a pot still.

This would be my first rum, so I kinda have 3 strips and a spirit run drilled into my head. My fear is that process here would lead to a very light rum.

Thanks