SBB's All Molasses Rum Recipe

[Alzahra888]

At the risk of getting off topic, my life has been five decades of changing country as an international functionary, ive only ever lived in furnished flats. Hardly changed a lightbulb and certainly never picked up more than a hammer and screwdriver until a couple years ago. We all live different. Ask me what a still is two years ago and id have had a blank face. Thanks for your patience and help. Things have come a long way and i dont mind looking like an idiot in this forum. Earnest, however, and diligent.

[NZChris]

Your life doesn't sound much different to mine up until I started distilling. The biggest difference I can think of is that I didn't have the internet feeding me mis-information while I was researching what to do. I had to go to university libraries and hunt for actual research.

[Alzahra888]

Ive only ever used this site. In that i count myself luckier than you. I spend eons in libraries but you’d never see me going to one with this kind of project in mind. Too many things at our feet for such a far fetched project to have caught my interest that way.

[Alzahra888]

i didnt fuck up this rum ferment (YET!), i only thought i did and thats where i went wrong. This prolly doesnt come off funny to you as it does me.

[Saltbush Bill]

Let's get back on topic.

[Yummyrum]

Ok. Dont recall a specific quantity of yeast being mentioned in the recipe which is clearly cause for the poor take off with 5gr as i said but it got 55gr before inducing taking off

Salty’s specific quantity is a large handful .

His hands are a bit bigger than mine .
I can only fit 42 grams in mine .

So yes 55 grams would have been closer to the mark .
But surely you might have suspected that 5g ( basically a heaped teaspoon full ) was a lot shy of a large handful

Maybe Salty can edit the recipe to include a mire specific amount of yeast for those with unusual hand sizes .

[Saltbush Bill]

You can use half of that or even less in a 30 L ferment , it will just take off a bit slower.

[Alzahra888]

Excellent. Thanks all. My bad.

[Alzahra888]

The brix is unchanging over last two days. Assuming there is 3kg of sugar in the ferment, would you run it on a gas-fired still?

[Saltbush Bill]

How about you just forget all the fancy gadgets, dip ya finger in that wash, then shove the same finger in ya mouth.
If it tastes bad enough that it makes ya face pucker then it's ready for the boiler.
Stop over thinking shit.

[Alzahra888]

Im only asking if the sugar will burn at the bottom of the keg.

[Saltbush Bill]

See above.
EDIT, there should be no sugar left if it has not fully fermented, sugar or no sugar,,,,,no mouth pucker then its not done and not ready.

[Alzahra888]

Thanks and gosh. Ill just run this sweet n sour solution and leave you alone.

[Saltbush Bill]

Ill just run this sweet n sour solution and leave you alone.

Excellent idea ......learn from your own mistakes as I did .

[liquid_chris]

One of the things I like best about this recipe is lack of scientific precision. I took no gravity readings, no pH readings. used a pinch of this and a handful of that, when my airlock stopped bubbling and the sweet was gone I ran it, and it made great rum. Every batch got better (I'm guessing the combo of dunder and feints). I'm a retired chemist who's done with precision and lab notebooks. Be safe. Have fun. Throw it at the wall and see if it sticks.

[Steve Broady]

One of the things I like best about this recipe is lack of scientific precision. … Be safe. Have fun. Throw it at the wall and see if it sticks.

Amen to that! Some recipes require careful planning and execution for best results. This is a great one to just sit back and enjoy the ride.

[Zacher]

I think from what I'm reading that you ran straight wash , if I was running that way I probably would have ran low wines, maybe I didn't mention that in the earlier post.
Having said that , there is no wrong way, what matters is that you like what you've made.
Please give an update when you think its aged enough.

It's been about 2 months in the oak barrel. It was pretty harsh to start but it has mellowed dramatically and has a really nice light brown hue.

Non-rum drinker buddy was blown away with how much it mellowed in just 2 months. Actually likes it now!

Another few weeks and I think I'll take out a bottle and start to solera. I am going to do a stripping run on 12G and a spirit run soon thereafter.

[joschi]

just a quick question, didn't want to open a new topic:
i have 105 liters of rum wash, it's running since 2 weeks, (30 liters molasses and 2 kg raw sugar, total volume 105 liters, sould be 9.5 % alcohol)
first 3 days, it was fermenting very fast at around 32 celsius, then temperatur dropped to around 26 celsius.
now there are still a few "bubbles" apearing at the surface (no airlock, just a lid that does not close airtight)
it tastes dry, even bitter, no sweetnes.

Can i run it?
i know, it's been asked bevore, and waiting would be better, but i would really like to do one stripping run today, have the time and weather is bad. It will foam probably anyway, but i have i sight-glass... what's the "worst" thing to happen beside foaming? Offtaste from the yeast?

Thank you.

[Zacher]

My thoughts: If it's bitter tasting and you need to run it, after 2 weeks you are probably good to go. Worst case is you lose out on some ABV because it has not run out. If there is yeast on the sides and bottom of the fermenter when you transfer, it's done. If there is still yeast in suspension you may get some scorching but if it's a stripping run, that should come out in the spirit run.

[Zacher]

Spent the majority of yesterday doing the spirit run. I packed the extension with copper mesh and ran in reflux. It ran for about 8 hours and I yielded 10 jars at 24oz. Jar 10 was cloudy and all tails, 8 & 9 were definitely skanky but 1-7 were pretty darn good. So in total I got 168oz of 165 proof rum. I look forward to the aging and adding to the barrel that's 3 months old. Great recipe Salty!

[SW_Shiner]

Put down a 60L wash of this on Thursday. Man did it take off fast, and the smell is just fantastic. Looking forward to running it this weekend.

[Dutch41]

UPDATE:
Equipment: 26 gallon boiler, 4" flute w/ #4 sections...
Barrel: #5 gallon/ 19L/ Gibbs Brothers, medium toast, no char, New...
December 2023- Filled barrel...
April 2024- Used a distillers thief to sample #2 ounces...
I wanted to sample how things were progressing in the barrel and I have to say that I'm amazed at what has developed in this short time. The rum was not the greatest when I put it in the barrel and it wasn't the worst either BUT it is one of the best recipes I've done. I did a run and done with this recipe and so far I'm not disappointed in anything about the steps taken to make this pirate juice. I did top off the barrel because of those angels but that's to be expected. I truly love this rum so far that I may have to do a repeat of #5 gallons. Good luck to all and a special thanks to SaltBushBill for this recipe...

[JustinNZ]

just a quick question, didn't want to open a new topic:
i have 105 liters of rum wash, it's running since 2 weeks, (30 liters molasses and 2 kg raw sugar, total volume 105 liters, sould be 9.5 % alcohol)
first 3 days, it was fermenting very fast at around 32 celsius, then temperatur dropped to around 26 celsius.
now there are still a few "bubbles" apearing at the surface (no airlock, just a lid that does not close airtight)
it tastes dry, even bitter, no sweetnes.

Can i run it?
i know, it's been asked bevore, and waiting would be better, but i would really like to do one stripping run today, have the time and weather is bad. It will foam probably anyway, but i have i sight-glass... what's the "worst" thing to happen beside foaming? Offtaste from the yeast?

Thank you.

Hey man. I do this recipe a lot. What you described sounds like a typical ferment. The temperature probably dropped as the yeast stopped going absolutely bonkers, as they like to do the first three days. They party hard in tropical conditions. The extra 11 days in the cooler, but ok conditions, should have been plenty to finish the job. Mine drop to around 25-28 deg C under the blankets and tend to be all done after a week.

For your curiosity (and ours) you could take a before and after gravity reading with a hydrometer. I hardly ever check, but mine finish around the 1.040 mark or a little bit higher or lower. 1.030 would be a surprise. 1.050 wouldn’t worry me too much. It’s the nature of black strap molasses. The main thing is it tastes sour and dry.

I use a low watt density element to avoid or minimise scorching. Works well.

Don’t think you needed the raw sugar in there, just quietly. This is an all-molasses T&T recipe. Sorry if I’m stepping on your toes here, Bill.

Hope you’re having fun.

[Saltbush Bill]

Don’t think you needed the raw sugar in there, just quietly. This is an all-molasses T&T recipe. Sorry if I’m stepping on your toes here, Bill.

Not at all, you've made enough of this to know the right answers.

[MarkChap]

I have just finished dong my stripping runs and will move onto a spirit run in the coming days, if not tomorrow.
I am not sure if I have seen here how much oak to age on per litre of spirit
If I recall I want about 63%abv

Thanks for your help

[Bradster68]

I have just finished dong my stripping runs and will move onto a spirit run in the coming days, if not tomorrow.
I am not sure if I have seen here how much oak to age on per litre of spirit
If I recall I want about 63%abv

Thanks for your help

There's lots of great post on aging with oak stick size, amounts,chars and times. But all that will depend on your liking

[Archee72]

Cut from OP….

I use 1 x home made stick roughly ¾ inch x ¾ inch x 6 inches per Liter. If using domino's I split them in half length ways and visualize a similar amount of oak……near enough is good enough.

[MarkChap]

Thanks Archee, I knew it should be here but just couldn't see it

[fiery creations]

.........

[Saltbush Bill]

The photo looks normal for a molasses wash that is in the early stages of fermentation.....it shouldn't have looked like that once it settled down a bit after the first few days.

I just ran 20 gal of 20% ABV low wines of SBB's all molasses and am having similar issues even with only 4 plates.

The last 1/3 of the run dropped a lot more than that. 70%ish.

Taking the last third of the run at 70% through 4 plates definitely wont help the flavour.......this would be my first guess at why it tastes bad. Are you maybe confusing the taste of Rum tails with "soapy"
I cant see how you can run a 4 plater at 70% without pulling a ton of tails through.