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Stangas wrote:Hey guys... can you use twice as much molasses and no sugar? i can get it real cheap...

Otherwise i was gonna use..

5kg molasses
2.5kg dextrose
distillers yeast
make to 20L

nutrient aint needed due to the molasses.. is this correct?

Sure. 10kg of molasses would have roughly the same sugar content as that recipe.
I don't add any nutrients to my molasses washes.

2 gallons of molassis per 5 gal should be ok, but more than that may be too thick for a good ferment. The sugar content of molassis depends on the type of molassis, and how many sugar extractions have been done.

I used 2 gallons in 6.5 gallons of wash, INTO A WELL ESTABLISHED YEAST BED, and it was slower than the 5lb cane sugar + 1 gallon molassis generation.

I did low wine distill last night on the 2 gallon molassis wash(in 6.5 gallon total). The smell in the spirit was real nice once the heads were done comming through...spirit run soon.

cheers guys... i will go with the recipe i posted... will keep in touch with results

This is my recipe for 80 litres of rum wash:

13.5kg molasses $43.40
8kg golden yellow sugar $12.00
4kg white sugar $3.60
yeast $2.00
acid blend $1.00

Total cost is $62
Yield is 37 x 750ml bottles @ $1.68 each

$62 may seem like a lot but when broken down to cost per bottle it is about 1/12 the cost of the cheapest commercial bottle available.

Please don't harass me about what I pay for molasses... it's all I can get. I have written to the manufacturer about where to get larger packages which would certainly cost a lot less.
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-So here my Question 1: I will do a 10 litres wash so do I just divide by 8 every mesure.
-Question 2: How much acid blend will I need (I had never use it)
-Question 3: Which kind of yeast should I need ( max%,that it can andle ) and do I need a complete fermentation( Stop making bubbles)

THX hope it was easy to amswer ( sorry for my written french error)

I just bought some 1/2 gallon bottles of molasses at Smart&Final for $3.65. It's restaurant grade and comes in nice HDPE screw top jugs that I use for my low wines. It's a lot cheaper than the Grandma's brand molasses that they also sell which goes for about $15 a gallon.

Captin Moron wrote:

canadianmoonshiner wrote:This is my recipe for 80 litres of rum wash:

13.5kg molasses $43.40
8kg golden yellow sugar $12.00
4kg white sugar $3.60
yeast $2.00
acid blend $1.00

Total cost is $62
Yield is 37 x 750ml bottles @ $1.68 each

$62 may seem like a lot but when broken down to cost per bottle it is about 1/12 the cost of the cheapest commercial bottle available.

Please don't harass me about what I pay for molasses... it's all I can get. I have written to the manufacturer about where to get larger packages which would certainly cost a lot less.

It seems expensive, but when you think about a wine kit cost over 60.00 and that only yeilds 30 bottles or less at 12% abv....

I finally found fancy mollasses for 8$ a gallon at my local IGA, I never noticed it before cuz its on the bottem shelf a few items away... How much does that weigh, Is 8$ a gallon a good price?

I get mollasses at the feed store at $15 for 5 gallons.

jj123456789000 wrote: -So here my Question 1: I will do a 10 litres wash so do I just divide by 8 every mesure.
-Question 2: How much acid blend will I need (I had never use it)
-Question 3: Which kind of yeast should I need ( max%,that it can andle ) and do I need a complete fermentation( Stop making bubbles)

1. Yes, except maybe the yeast, but there are no measurements for the yeast in that recipe anyway.
2. When I've made rum in the past I've never used any type of acidifier and my rum came out just fine. See possum's posts above about using lemons if you want acid.
3. You can experiment with different types of yeast. For my rum I have been using Lalvin's EC-1118, 20g for 20L wash, and it has worked well. You don't necessarily have to let it ferment till it completely stops making bubbles. See the quote below from the parent site:

"Just to clear up my use of the term "secondary fermentation", what I mean by that is the fermentation phase that takes place immediately following the high krausen phase. Wine and beer makers will recognize the pattern whereby their fermentations start out with a lag phase followed by a vigorous bubbling phase, often with foaming, then it settles down to just spurious bubbling. This vigorous fermentation is the high krausen phase, or primary fermentation. After that, the mash or must settles down to a spurious bubbling, this is the "secondary fermentation" in my parlance, and it usually takes one or two weeks for beer and one or two months for wine. After this, the beer or wine is left to age or lager (German for, "store in the cold"). In my terminology, the fermentation that naturally carbonates a beverage is called the "conditioning fermentation".

Just to recap, a mash intended for distillation only needs to undergo the high krausen phase in my standard processes. "

-J

Just one last question (Maybe)

So I will use : -1.7Kg molasses
-1kg golden yellow sugar
-0.5kg white sugar
To make a 10L. wash
-But what is the order to mix them and when do I put on the water?

that doesn't realy matter
but you could make a starter for the yeast,
and let all the sugar dissolve in the water,
then, mix everyting together

(10l is not very much)

Last summer i think i paid $10 for 10gals of mollasses. Canadian, if you can figure our a cheap way to ship the mollasses i'll send you some, from Oregon, "Land of Cheap Brewing Supplies".

Stangas,
Did you make the 2x molassis or the molassis and dextros, and I was currious if you ran it through the still ? If ya did give it a run already, how did it come out ?

CHEERS---PS my rum goes nice in Pina Colladas, alittle dizzy, but nice.

Was wondering if you wantedto make something along the lines of Captain Morgans when would you add your spices?
Also if some one has come up with a good spiced rum if you don't mind whats your recipe?
Thanks
JD

sorry forgot to mention useing a pot still

I think most people that make spiced rum simply add the spices to a bottle of the rum after it has been double distilled and diluted a bit (not sure to exactly what %ABV - experiment and see). Just do a search for 'spiced rum' and you will find a few recipes. There is also one on the main site under Preparing>Sugar Based>Rum.

would half molassis half water work? or is it too thick?
10 liter molassis toped off with water to 20 liter

Really there is no sound recipe for how much water to add to molasses. The best way to get a strong, full-bodied wash is to use a hydrometer and get a specific gravity of 1.100 Thats about a 20% alcohol wash, if I aint mistaken. The hydrometer works well because depending where you get the molasses it might be more sugary or less, using a hydrometer is, I believe the only way to get it right.

I'm trying to ferment 1 cup molassis and 1 cup water
so far it does very little

1:1 is a little strong, 1:3 is workable for me.

the only fermenter I've left is the one of 20l and I have 10l of molassis to spend ...
maybe I'll put some aside for later experiments

I would like to contribute a recipe for a really vigorous fermenter with a very good taste.
I mix all my stuff in a large plastic container (Trash can).

First I add 6.5 gallons rain water (important ingredient).
I then measure up the wall to twice the height to know when to stop adding water.
I add 3 gallons of GFS (Gordon’s Food Service) Black Strap Molasses.

In a separate pot, on the stove, I put one gallon of rain water. To this I add 4 one a day style multi-vitamins that I have crushed thoroughly in mortar. I then add 13 teaspoons of DAP (one tsp per gallon of wash). I then add one cup (from GFS 2 pound bag) of Red Star active dry baking yeast. I bring this to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes.

Add the contents from the small pot to the large container. Add another cup of dry yeast. Top up with water to the mark. Stir everything thoroughly. I use a paint stirrer and a drill and aerate well.

This gets split between two 6.5 gallon carboys. The first time I tried this I had to drill out the holes in the fermentation locks to keep them from coming off the bottles. This stuff generates a bit of heat so I don’t have to supply any in a 68 degree F room. Fermentation is usually less than 10 days. This is pretty good for bakers yeast.

After this is distilled (I use a pot still with a glass doubler) this is a fine drink. Despite the aggressive taste of the molasses, it comes off really smooth for white rum. The vigorous and fast fermentation along with the rain water keep the off tastes to a minimum.

I calculate the yield to be 2.3 gallons of 100P. I usually hit my expected yield.

I have a couple of questions...

Why rain water? Isn't that kind of dirty?

What is the purpose of adding a cup of yeast and then boiling it?

Some of us in the USA do not have city water. We collect rainwater and keep it in a cistern. I collect water in other way also, and try to keep it as pure as possible.

Water is mysterious stuff. Rainwater is special though. If I want to sour a batch of corn, make a good meade or ferment without having to burn out all that yeast killing chloramine, I use pure, naturally and lightly carbonated rainwater.
Mostly I use it because of its lack of chemicals and I never have to cook it. Saves energy only having to cook nutrients.

The yeast are canibals. Seriously, boiling the yeast releases the folate. Natural folate is hard to come by. Google vegemite and see what I mean. I can't get Vegemite, so I boil yeast as a source of nutrients that causes the yeast to bud better than any other source I have ever seen.

I am sure there is lots written about using yeast as its own nutrient somewhere in the Homedistiller.org pages.

1 gallon Fancy mollases
4 gallons water
yeast
time

This has worked very well for me. The molasses that i buy from a natural food store is $50 for 5 Gallons.

The Rum recipe I posted originated in trying to ferment HFCS 55 which I get for $0.25 per pound. The first time I used the GFS Blackstrap, it nearly stuck. I tried a heating pad and more nutrients. The resulting spirit was bad. I was pretty sure the Blackstrap was lacking some nutrients to get a faster and thus cleaner fermentation. So I tried my HFCS55 recipe and it worked better than expected. The only difference in the HFCS55 and the Blackstrap is that the Blackstrap already has enough acidity. For the HFCS55 I have to add about a teaspoon per 5 gallons of wash. I usually shoot for a PH of about 5.5 with the HFCS. It seems to not stress the yeast as bad. Also, I generally try to get a SP of 1.070 for the the sugar. When I make up a batch of HFCS I make whopper sized batches for vodka. The low yield is worth the extremely fast fermentation without having to by Turbos. I prefer to distill a lot rather than wait for long feremntations.

Doesn't rainwater have sulfiric acid in it nowadays from auto pollution? Apparently it's not a problem, but I haven't had any issues with the chlorine and flouride in the city water either.

Interesting about the yeast... I should try using the sludge at the bottom of the last ferment instead of tomato paste next time.

I started a batch of this recipe Friday night at 11:00 pm. It has already exhaused 98% of the sugar. I'll try to post a video of the fermentation. I plan to try getting this batch run this afternoon.

In my area, all tap water is rainwater being it comes from the Ohio River or a Reservoir, which is the same runoff. The last I remember reading, the water treatment process adds aluminum sulfate which is additional sulfur.

There's plenty copper in my still. The copper reacts with any sulfur in the steam and makes a pretty bluish spirit. After the spirit cools in the fridge, it coagulates and I can filter it with a coffee filter. I have never had this happen with rainwater. If I use concentrated grape juice it almost always comes out blueish.

I'm trying something new (to me at least).
Check this out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbKQfzutmf4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xi6R4_9-etY

Don Ventura wrote:

jj123456789000 wrote: Question number 2. Is Gold yellow sugar mean brown sugar but very light.

Yes, gold sugar is light brown sugar; which also comes in regluar and Dark brown. Difference is in the amount of refining that has gone into the production of the sugar to process out the impurities and other particles which inturn go into mollasses. The darker the sugar the less refining has gone into it.

Actually be US Law/regul;ation "brown sugar" (either light or dark)
is White cane sucar that is colored and flavored with a dose of molasses
and the dark brown sugar gets a heavier dose.

It is NOT "less refined" sugar than cane sugar, it simply IS can sugar with a small does of molasses to color it.

Demerara sugar IS "less refined" sugar, it is from the next to last crystalization in the sugar refining process (as opposed to extraction of sugar from the molasses/concentrated cane juice)

WhiteLightning wrote:Really there is no sound recipe for how much water to add to molasses. The best way to get a strong, full-bodied wash is to use a hydrometer and get a specific gravity of 1.100 Thats about a 20% alcohol wash, if I aint mistaken. The hydrometer works well because depending where you get the molasses it might be more sugary or less, using a hydrometer is, I believe the only way to get it right.

Rum making in the caribbean is done to make FAST fermentations for several reasons...
1)the risk of bacterial of fungal infections is HUGE in the hot humid tropical climate, so you want to ferment FAST so that it's ready to distill
as quickly as possible.
2)a fast dilute fermentation is less subject to "sticking"
3)Alcohol is progressively more toxic to the yeasts that produce it as temperatures increase.

I'll add that for proper flavor development fermenting in a HOT environment is probably preferable.

If you want rum flavor straight molasses (sufficiently diluted for best fermentation speed) is probably the best way to go, personally I'd recommend a starting gravity of ~1.050.
Yeah the alcohol level of the wash will be lower but there is an EASY way to fix that... make a larger batch of wash!

AllanD

Raw cane sugar is not so hard to find any more. I work with several from India. They use a raw sugar available at the India grocery stores. It is called Jaggery or gur. It is kinda pricey though. I think the last I boughtt was at a local chain store called Value Market for $10 USD for 5 lbs.

The Amish are sellin it in bulk (unrefined sugar) in thier store for $0.91/ lb