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I reckon one of the nice things about rum is it's very robust, stands up to multiple distillations very well, so the nice thing is if you completely cock it up, you can always add to the next batch, redistill, reflux, whatever you want. I do like my rum

Just sterilising my wort/wash/whatever for breeding up edv493! Very exciting.

Kentucky shinner wrote:tell us your exact redipe, and what is treacle?

Hi K S
Treacle is mollasses with a different name. Here in the uk the brand name stuff is made by tate and lyle. I have been using it lately as it has got cheaper and is around 64% sugar content and smells superb.
All the best S H

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treacle" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

Hi
Thanks for the link Lwts quite interesting. Here in the uk when treacle is mentioned it is always the dark stuff that is being reffered to. At this time of year with guy forkes night (5th nov) treacle toffee is popular with some too , i love the stuff.
The tate & lyle stuff which is pretty much the only treacle you will see on supermarket shelves here says on the front of the tin in small writing "made from cane mollasses" but doesn't say anymore about ingredients apart from the fact it is free from presevstives etc.
Maybe the definition of treacle is slightly different from country to country who knows.
all the best S H

I need some opinions.. I checked at my feed store today and I can get 5 gallons of molasses for $24.00 is this expensive.

Well I use fancy grade catering treacle, and for me it works out at £6.38 per UK gallon. Now I only use 1 gallon to 20kg cane sugar (at the moment) so the cost is not a big issue.

I suppose you would need to compare actual sugar content, as it seems to vary a lot. Mine comes in at 64% sugar. And take into account that UK and US gallons are different.

I have found the cheapest source is to look at the supermarkets, wait for the reduced price offers, and clear the shelves. Often it is cheaper than buying in bulk - wierd - but the power of bulk sales.

that sounds cheap to me KS. remember that molasses weighs a lot more than 1kg/L, more like 1.4kg/L, so there's more in there than meets the eye

KS, that is a reasonable price in my book.

myles wrote:Well I use fancy grade catering treacle, and for me it works out at £6.38 per UK gallon. Now I only use 1 gallon to 20kg cane sugar (at the moment) so the cost is not a big issue.

I suppose you would need to compare actual sugar content, as it seems to vary a lot. Mine comes in at 64% sugar. And take into account that UK and US gallons are different.

I have found the cheapest source is to look at the supermarkets, wait for the reduced price offers, and clear the shelves. Often it is cheaper than buying in bulk - wierd - but the power of bulk sales.

Hi Myles Where are you sourcing your mollasses from? Have looked for it in bulk but have come up empty handed apart from feed grade stuff.

Bout 3 bucks a gallon more in my market KS

Sounds like a good price to me too.

Price is fine, but make sure it's not sugar beet molasses, and that it's fermentable, otherwise, you're fixing to waste a lot of time(and money).

thanks guys Ive wanting to make some Rum so I may just have to get me 5 gallon and see how it comes out..
KS

Hey KS, if you have a GFS outlet store anywhere near you they have blackstrap for $11.50/gal. I picked up two gallons last week 'cause all this rum talk has convinced me to give it a try.

if you have a GFS outlet store anywhere near you they have blackstrap for $11.50/gal.

I find fancy molasses by the gallon for less than that at any "bulk" food place(look for "restaurant supplies" in the yellow pages, or ask your favorite restaurant where they buy their bulk foods; tell 'em you're making a big batch of BBQ sauce from an old family recipe to share with all your family and friends, if they ask; once you have the source, nobody there will ask you what its for...). Why fancy? I find it more consistent than blackstrap, has much more sugar and thus more fermentables and thus requires less added sugar, and find even the wash tastes "cleaner".

If I could get fancy molasses cheap I would use that.

GingerBreadMan did a blackstrap v. fancy comparison a while back.
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... =11&t=6975

suburban hillbilly wrote: Hi Myles Where are you sourcing your mollasses from? Have looked for it in bulk but have come up empty handed apart from feed grade stuff.

I am using Tate and Lyle tracle that comes in 1 gallon (7.25kg) plastic containers. I get mine from Pioneer but it is also in other catering suppliers. But as I said earlier it can be cheaper to buy it in small tins in the supermarket. Even better when it is on offer "buy 1 get 1 half price" or simmilar.

Treacle is mollasses with a different name.

In Aussie Land treacle, golden syrup, and molasses are all different products on the supermarket shelf, though pretty sure that golden syrup and treacle are just more refined versions of molasses (molasses > golden syrup > treacle).

I have used treacle in rum ferments and it seemed to work fine.

Yeah, fancy for me is about 5x the price I thought golden syrup was just invert cane juice, concentrated, and treacle is just fancy molasses.

""just more refined versions of molasses"
I believe it is first run "gold" or second run dark,black strap/ molasses the third run.
unsulfated,is from "ripe" or mature cane. sulphated is from "green" cane that has
been treated with sulphur dioxide to help remove sugars.

If I could get fancy molasses cheap I would use that.

Strangely, in my area, fancy is much cheaper than blackstrap. And since I don't need as much sugar, it comes out even cheaper. It never fails to ferment perfectly and produces a consistently great rum for me. I've also seen many blackstraps that are sulfured, yet have never run across a fancy that was. I do keep an eye open all the time, with an open mind, but damn, I kick myself in the ass every time I stray away from my sweetheart, Fancy.

HookLine wrote:

Treacle is mollasses with a different name.

In Aussie Land treacle, golden syrup, and molasses are all different products on the supermarket shelf, though pretty sure that golden syrup and treacle are just more refined versions of molasses (molasses > golden syrup > treacle).

I have used treacle in rum ferments and it seemed to work fine.

Its the same here in the uk I have never used associated the word treacle with anything other than dark treacle, golden syrup is syrup. I have only ever seen mollasses here in health shops and a local chemist never in a supermarket.

Kentucky shinner wrote:I need some opinions.. I checked at my feed store today and I can get 5 gallons of molasses for $24.00 is this expensive.

the stuff i got from the feed store was in 3-1/2 gallon containers...all nasty and leaky...was pretty cheap, $14, and ruined my workshop! stunk like a melon-farmer, nasty sticky stuff all over everything...the stuff would not ferment. it would would bubble nicely for a short bit then just plain stop. must have been the sulphered variety, so double check with the merch dude before you bring nasty home.

yer gonna love it!
i think i'm switching to only rum for the winter, fermenting outside is going to be out of the question in a couple weeks.

I just ran off my Generation 2 of hooks rum and I have to say that using dunder and lees from the previous batch is absolutely the only way to make rum. Well.. I just mean that it makes such a huuuuge difference in flavor compared to the first batch. After my second batch came out I threw my entire first batch into my feints jar.. Not even the same class. Can't wait to get to 4 or 5 generations!!

...couple more gens into it, and MAN!!! i have found some magic. couple mistakes, couple re-runs, but with the thumpificator and some luck, i got a boatload of KILLER rum, ready to bottle-up, flavor, and/or age in spent barrels.

think i'll split it up into 1/3 white, 1/3 spiced and 1/3 aged.

thanks to all y'all for the help and support. stop on by for a taste...

btw...got the good molasses hook-up at smart and final (http://www.smartandfinal.com/locations.aspx)...'bout $9 a gallon and it's really nice, food grade stuff...

What type and brand is the molasses?

"barkman's
old country
light-unsulphured
molasses"

is what the label reads.

it is distributed by golden heritage foods.


did a quick search for it online, and the prices came back really high, like over $50 a gallon?! strange...it's about $9 at smart and final...and no shipping charge!

I looked and that is whole sale you mite not be able to buy?.

condensificator wrote:did a quick search for it online, and the prices came back really high, like over $50 a gallon?! strange...it's about $9 at smart and final...and no shipping charge!

That is probably for a case lot (4 one gallon jugs per case). Still, it is more than you are paying.

Dnderhead wrote:I looked and that is whole sale you mite not be able to buy?.

smart and final is open to the public, with no membership.

Braz wrote: That is probably for a case lot (4 one gallon jugs per case). Still, it is more than you are paying.

yep, you are right...now it makes sense. the shipping would definitely be cost prohibitive, so smart and final is a good source for me. the link that i put up above is a store locator. they have a lot of locations (USA), might be one near all'y'all.