First rum yeast question

[PC1]

Fixin to start my first rum wash.here’s my plan, 1 gallon unsulphered molasses, not blackstrap. About 10 gallons water, enough raw sugar to bring the Sg to 1.08-1.09, and as my Ph seems to always crash a handful of oyster shell, or calcium carbonate as needed. I have no Dundee.
My question is yeast, I have fleishmans bread yeast, Dady, EC1118, Red star Premier cuvée, on hand. Which would you use? Should I get a rum specific yeast?
Thanks.

[Steve Broady]

Im pretty new, but I’ve made a few batches of rum. The simple answer is that from that list, I’d chose bread yeast or maybe DADY.

However, I’m also going to suggest that you think about using more molasses. Look at the SBB Rum recipe in the Tried & True section. I made several rums just as you are describing, and they’re nice, but lacking. Tasting my first batch of SBB rum was an eye opener.

[Dougmatt]

I’ve used Dady and Bread in my molasses and Panela rums. I have a preference for Bread as it seems to let the molasses base flavor shine through a bit more, perhaps because it is grown on molasses.

Your ratios of molasses to sugar look a little low from what I use primarily due to the use of Raw sugar versus Panela, but looks like a sound recipe to me. As Steve recommends, getting more molasses in will give you a different flavor profile and a much richer spirit. Another option versus Raw sugar which several people (myself included) have been playing with is Panela. I’m working through this years batches of molasses plus Panela (125#’s of it) right now and using bread yeast. Last years rum was pretty darn good coming out of the barrel at the 6month point. I’ve found Panela cheaper than raw which is also good . I have a small batch of SBB (also bread yeast) sitting on oak next to it, I think it needs more time but hard to compare results as it is oak in glass versus a barrel.

Refined Raw sugar has some molasses (about 2-8% depending on process used, brand, where you live, etc) whereas unrefined brown (ex: Panela, jaggery, etc) generally have more molasses (8-14%).

Check out this article https://www.whatsugar.com/post/complete ... own-sugars for more info if interested.

[LordL]

Bread yeast seems very popular for rum. With that said, I have been interested to try a Belgian or German isoamyl producing strain, for that banana punch!

[JustinNZ]

One good thing about bread yeast is it’s happy at 35deg Celsius so you’ll be all done in 3-7 days.

[Yummyrum]

One good thing about bread yeast is it’s happy at 35deg Celsius so you’ll be all done in 3-7 days.

As most sugar grows in areas of high temperature , ot is also where the Rum Distilleries are . Fermentation of Rum for that reason usually is done around the 30°-35°C mark .
Bread yeast is a winner .