SBB's All Molasses Rum Recipe

[Stonecutter]

Well just over 9 months later I'm finally running the stripping run on this. It smells wonderful.

Damn Zeotropic
I’ll be stripping a portion next week and then the rest the week after. Will be at 3-4 weeks. Here I thought I was doing great by letting it sit for a good long while to finish but here YOU are showing us all up! Read that the old schoolers would let it ferment on its own (no pitched yeast) nice and slow for a heavy rum. Is that what you were after or has some other universal influence directed your path?

[Zeotropic]

Well just over 9 months later I'm finally running the stripping run on this. It smells wonderful.

Damn Zeotropic
I’ll be stripping a portion next week and then the rest the week after. Will be at 3-4 weeks. Here I thought I was doing great by letting it sit for a good long while to finish but here YOU are showing us all up! Read that the old schoolers would let it ferment on its own (no pitched yeast) nice and slow for a heavy rum. Is that what you were after or has some other universal influence directed your path?

I intended to finish up my new 15 gallon still before running it but I got busy and screwed up a keg on my first build attempt so I never finished the still and I finally got tired of seeing the full fermenter in the closet so I am at least stripping it today in my 5 gallon still (it's so slow!). Hopefully I will get the spirit run done before a whole year goes by.

[hawkwing]

How does the bait molasses taste as rum?

[rolling]

I'm in a pickle and not sure how to proceed. I've had two 5 gl. barrels aging my SSB in the basement where there isn't much temp change. Maturing is slow, but I don't want to "overoak" as I've seen mentioned a lot with small barrels and whiskey. I don't have many other choices except an outdoor shed where the temp changes will be high. Will my rum hold up if I were to move it there? As it is after 2+ years, it's buttery smooth on the front end, hot on the back, and not a lot of complexity. Probably great for mixing, but I like to sip. I'm willing to wait it out and let it go slow in the basement if it will make it better. I just filled another barrel over the last month, so I now have three. What do you all think?

[Saltbush Bill]

5 gal = 18.9271 L ...for what its worth some of mine has spent a fair bit of time in a 20 L American Oak Barrel........at least several years I would think....it has been kept full by topping it up from a larger barrel. To me it doesn't seem to oaky/ over oaked. Having said that both barrels have done a lot of work, so don't contribute as much as they once would have. Mine are in a shed which fluctuates quite a bit in temp on any given days as well as from summer to winter. I tend to loose a fair bit to the Angels.
Not sure that I can really give you much in the way of advice as I'm guessing your basement conditions as wells as your seasons are very different to mine.
Would it be worth putting one in the shed and leaving the other where it is, see how they compare in 4-6 months maybe?

[Zeotropic]

So far 9.5 hours (3 pots full) in and the last pot is heating up so I should be done some time after 1:00 am and it is looking like I am going to end up with over 4 gallons of low wines from somewhere around 18 gallons of wash (is that the right term for fermented molasses?) at around 28%.

[NZChris]

I aim for around 8% abv in my rum ferments, so would expect around 5 gallons of Low Wines. That said, the lower the yield, the greater the intensity of molasses flavor in the finished product.

Heat up time and costs between rum stripping runs are the main reasons why I built my preheater. My next strips are usually pouring into the collection vessel less than 10 minutes after I turn the heat off a strip.

[rolling]

My son came over and he helped me move the barrels out to the shed. I'll monitor them more closely, and I plan on making more so I may get another 5 gal going. Thank you, I'll keep you posted.
As an aside, my son asked why I made rum and not bourbon. My answer was rum is about the easiest process to make successfully. Adding a grain mix in would make a lot more work and I wanted easy work and success. I'll buy my bourbon unless I get a much nicer still house.

[Rrmuf]

I'm on my 2nd and 3rd ferments of this recipe and I am very surprised at how fast it starts and how quick it is to finish: It seems to get to done within 2 days with heat keeping the fermenters above 28C but it only kicks in when the fermentation starts to slow down. I thought batch #1 had stalled and after "troubleshooting" it, it became clear that it hadn't stalled, it was just done. Stripping run output made that obvious.

My learnings to share:

1. I know the hydrometer readings will be artificially high in a molasses wash, but the relative drop start to finish still seems to be significant. So,
instead of expecting (e.g.) a 1.065 to 0.993 drop, you can expect something like a 1.14 to 1.05 drop. Not everybody cares about that, but I like to
use Tilts to track my ferments because I move around alot....so I care.
2. SBB's comment on when it stops fizzing and the taste is completely absent of sweetness is dead-on.
3. FURIOUS start! I have not had any other recipe start so fast and hard. The heat generated from the ferment brought the lightly insulated
fermenter temp up to 33C which was new for me.
4. SPEED! I'm not used to a ferment getting to 95% done in just over a day and a half, but the first batch did, and it was just my misguided
assumption that it had stalled that delayed taking the heat off to switch to clearing it.
5. The low wines are a bit cloudy as compared to what I've done before but I am not alarmed by that. They also smell and taste pretty bad.

These next two started just as furiously and look to finish just as quickly. The temps are dropping now to 28C, (literally Start + 28hours) when my ferment heat is starting to maintain it now. The starting SG was ~1.13 and it is down to ~1.06 now. I figure I will give it another day at 28C then cut the heat to start clearing it.... but I only expect a slight further drop in SG.

I'm looking forward to setting up my still to ~4 plates (not sure how I do that but I'll figure it out) and distiling all this to make a rum. Many thanks to SBB for the great instructions and the other contributors on this thread; it has been very helpful.

[Saltbush Bill]

Thanks for the feed back
At this time of year in Au you shouldn't really need artificial heating.....it might just slow the ferment speed a bit.
Lately I've been reading a bit that slower ferments for Rum can be beneficial if your looking for more flavour.

[rolling]

I've been working in a cooler climate and it's taken a full 5-6 days to finish off. It's a slow constant bubbling going on. I keep the room in the 60's F. or higher, usually 70's, and have two aquarium heaters set at a steady 86 F. In the summer it's a different story. I've tried reading BRIX, and don't bother with the hydrometer, I just go till it's done.

[Yummyrum]

So,
instead of expecting (e.g.) a 1.065 to 0.993 drop, you can expect something like a 1.14 to 1.05 drop. Not everybody cares about that, but I like to

These next two started just as furiously …………The starting SG was ~1.13 and it is down to ~1.06 now.

Rrmuf
Your start and finish gravity readings are pretty much what I get too . Agree not everyone cares, but it’s good to know , if nothing else , out of curiosity .
As you found out , the taste test for finish is the proof .

[Stonecutter]

Finally stripping the first 6 gallons of a 26 gallon batch. The wash or molasses wine smelled a lot like soy sauce. Is this Normal?
Now that I’m producing I actually don’t mind the flavor coming of the spout. The “rub and lick” method I can tell this is going to make a damn fine rum. Thanks Salty

[kakashi]

Hi SBB!

I finally got around to making my third batch of this recipe and doing a spirit run with it. I took a cut of hearts and tossed it all into a jar to meld together. The ABV is sitting at 66%. It's been sitting for a few days, and smells pretty decent in the jar, but when I watered some down to 33% and tossed it into some Coke to taste test it (don't judge me), I found it has an unusual taste very similar to seaweed.

Is that a normal smell for this recipe? It's not unpleasantly strong, but I don't really think of seaweed when I think of rum. Is it likely to age out? I plan on letting it sit in glass jars with some oak for 6 months or so - see what happens.

[Saltbush Bill]

Ive never smelled or tasted seaweed in the new make......nor has anyone else ever mentioned it.
Different people smell and taste different things in different ways.
I can only suggest you stick it aside for 6-12 months on oak and taste it again.

[kakashi]

Thanks, I'll do that and see where I land.

[Zeotropic]

Well I made my cuts as best I could and put it on some white oak. I am looking forward to finding out what double pot stilled all molasses rum tastes like in a year or three.
It seems pretty good now but obviously quite rough. I have definitely had worse from the liquor store.
This recipe made it easy. Thanks Saltbush bill.

[Rrmuf]

Thanks for the feed back
At this time of year in Au you shouldn't really need artificial heating.....it might just slow the ferment speed a bit.
Lately I've been reading a bit that slower ferments for Rum can be beneficial if your looking for more flavour.

In Canada, in a basement (aka. cellar), the aux heat is often needed. However not so much with this recipe, I admit. Certainly not for that first 24 hours! It was useful for one ferment this round because I misjudged the dunder and water temps and ended up with a wash temp of 20C. The heat was initially useful to bring that up to >28C by which point the ferment was more than strong enough to keep itself warm. NB. ferment heaters are controlled by a thermostat.

So, they are settling now. Will strip it later this week.

[Rrmuf]

Hi, Sorry if i missed it, but I just noticed that the recipe calls for 1/3 low wines and a wash. I was going to strip three washes and distill the low wines. Has anyone done that? Suggestions?

Also, is it a waste of time to let the wash settle down in a secondary fermenter before distilling?

[Yummyrum]

Rrmuf.
Yes I do that .I prefer to run low wines in my plater with just 3 plates . Also last time I used the Thumper .Had low wines in boiler and just enough feints ( mostly heads ) in Thumper to cover the thump tube , and the Rum is really good from both methods . Although , the cuts had ti be a lot tighter on the Thumper run than the Plater.
Regardless , running Low wines is fine IMO .

[Saltbush Bill]

SBB,
Thanks for the recipe. Just made a bottle of 95 proof from some of my very young (6 months) aging stock that wouldn’t fit into the cask. Delicious, two fingers with a cube of ice. Really looking forward to how it will taste after 3 years in the used cask.

Wondering how this is going 8ball ?

[8Ball]

SBB,
Thanks for the recipe. Just made a bottle of 95 proof from some of my very young (6 months) aging stock that wouldn’t fit into the cask. Delicious, two fingers with a cube of ice. Really looking forward to how it will taste after 3 years in the used cask.

Wondering how this is going 8ball ?

Salty,
It made it 28 months or so in the third fill Gibbs cask. Turned out very nice.

Well, the rum journey to fill the cask was a huge learning curve. My thanks to you and all the other HD members who contributed comments & advice. I probably wouldn’t change anything because I know that I have a nice, unique rum to sip on & share with friends and family.

I made various types of rum initially, then dialed in on what I liked best near the end: Panela & Molasses. I also started out using bakers yeast, then switched over to FermPro 921 because of it’s nice fruity contribution to the party.

Cheers!

[Rrmuf]

Thanks for the recipe Salty. I just finished my cuts from a spirit run yesterday. Not sure how many plates it amounts to, but I had 35%ABV low wines go in my still with a shorter column with a couple coils of mesh, rc running slow and it came out at 88% off the spout. I let the jars air about 24hrs and I found the more pronounced molasses smells near the tails so it was a tricky thing to make the cut between hearts and tails. Took a more conservative cut as "heads". All in all, the result didn't smell great but proofing it down to 90p and even an hour later it improved. Clearly, I won't know what I will end up with for months down the road. I have 6 or so litres staying white, and 4 litres making love with 4 sticks of oak. Stay tuned!

[Stonecutter]

I’ve got about 2 gallons of rum leftover from my spirit run that is currently sitting in a glass carboy. I was thinking of sealing the rest of the spirit in the carboy with some wax until next year and then using it to fill my barrel up again. I don’t want it to air too much in the glass until I can get it on oak. Do you think I’m worrying too much? I currently just have a natural cork in the top. I understand that as it ages it with breath in the barrel but without some wood on it I feel like I’ll just be losing flavor.

[NZChris]

I age all my rum in glass, with wood, with natural cork bungs not jammed in too tightly. What I keep white, also has cork bungs, some years old without any loss of flavor that I can tell.

[Saltbush Bill]

I think your worrying to much.....it should be fine without the wax.

[Stonecutter]

Thank you very much for the input NZC.
Fuck it. I just decided I’m going to split the carboy into two one gallon jugs and wax seal one and leave the other corked. It’s only a year but it’s an easy enough experiment seemings how I have the stock.
Both Downstairs in a closet on my shitty shag carpeting. See you in a year.

Salty….I new you’d say that

Edit: This question probably should’ve been taken up in the aging section

[Saltbush Bill]

Personally I wouldn't empty the barrel at the end of a year......I'd sample at 3 months 6 months 9 months and so forth. Each time top up the barrel with what's on glass.
If you make a bit more rum to top up the carboy you can then keep topping up the barrel indefinitely. The majority of the contents of the barrel is aging more all of the time that way, and compensates for the small amount of new make that your adding.
If you choose that path you could also add a small amount of oak to the carboy to get a head start on oaking.

Edit: This question probably should’ve been taken up in the aging section

New Aging topic here...... viewtopic.php?t=89087

[Rrmuf]

... 2 weeks later, i smelled my white and my oak-aging jugs and they have both changed alot. We even ventured to taste the white portion and my wife was pleasantly surprised! I am guessing this will be excellent come summer time! Thanks SBB.

[welly]

Moving my question from a related SBB rum post as this seems a bit more of a relevant place to ask.

So my first SBB molly rum, the OG came in at 1.090 - I suspect I either added too much water or didn't quite get the full 10L molasses out of the containers. It's been going since Sunday and is down to 1.057 - I'll be giving it at least another week before I check gravity.

Given the OG was lower than it should have been and I was unable to properly aerate the wash; I gave it a proper stir with my mash paddle but that was as good as I could do - have since bought a paint stirrer drill attachment for future batches - I'm wondering at this stage I should just let it be what it'll be. Let's say it drops another 10-15 gravity points if I'm being generous, I'll end up with something around a 5% wash.

I wondered if it's worth chucking in a kg or so of sugar to help it along the way or just let it be? I've got another batch of molasses on its way so I'm not wedded to this particular wash but I might as well use it! Wash quantity is up to the 33L mark on my fermenter.

Cheers!