Pugi's Rum or "Pugirum"

[MartinCash]

You will probably find it harder to do cuts on a single pass, as they'll be more smeared than in a spirit run of a few combined strips.

Provided you didn't throw anything away, you always have the option of re-combining everything together and re-running it. Heads in your main product sounds to me more like a cuts mistake than anything else.

[StriaghtJakket]

yep - that's what sucks - threw all in the feints with the neutral feints - as per Pugi's instructions. Only kept the small amount of Oils aside. I think (may be biased) my cuts were great on blending day, as i mentioned, Heads, hearts and tails were all above 80% - which was what was throwing me out. Mind you, i have only really made neutral up until this point. So, my thoughts on what heads and tails were, (mainly heads) were somewhat different as I have never made rum. really what i went of was that kind of 'sting' that i would associate with the sweeter heads on a neutral/vodka to differentiate the cut, as up until the tails it was not as straight forward as i have done prior.

[MartinCash]

Did you dilute the cuts to 30% or so for tasting? I can tell you from experience that tasting anything much over 40% will quickly kill your taste buds. I've had to redistil a batch because of this. I started with the hearts, then by the time I got to where the tails ought to start, I couldn't taste them. Heads I go by smell and are a little easier.

If your product is coming out at 80%, you should be diluting at a minimum 1:1, I would go a little more because it seems to bring out smells better at lower ABV.

[WithOrWithoutU2]

yep - that's what sucks - threw all in the feints with the neutral feints - as per Pugi's instructions. Only kept the small amount of Oils aside. I think (may be biased) my cuts were great on blending day, as i mentioned, Heads, hearts and tails were all above 80% - which was what was throwing me out. Mind you, i have only really made neutral up until this point. So, my thoughts on what heads and tails were, (mainly heads) were somewhat different as I have never made rum. really what i went of was that kind of 'sting' that i would associate with the sweeter heads on a neutral/vodka to differentiate the cut, as up until the tails it was not as straight forward as i have done prior.

viewtopic.php?f=15&t=68702

Sounds like you know how to cuts for neutral. But with all the flavor that comes through with a Rum it will be trickier. The above link by YummyRum is a good write up to keep your cut samples abv consistent to help limit the ABV variable. He suggest 35% ABV is ideal. But I have heard others say as low as 20% can be useful. But I think the key is being consistent with whatever ABV you choose.

[StriaghtJakket]

Did you dilute the cuts to 30% or so for tasting?
If your product is coming out at 80%, you should be diluting at a minimum 1:1, I would go a little more because it seems to bring out smells better at lower ABV.

correct, yeah i always bring it down to to about 40 - it has never been 'scientific' i just use a syringe and eyeball it depending on the ABV of the jar.

viewtopic.php?f=15&t=68702

Sounds like you know how to cuts for neutral. But with all the flavor that comes through with a Rum it will be trickier. The above link by YummyRum is a good write up to keep your cut samples abv consistent to help limit the ABV variable. He suggest 35% ABV is ideal. But I have heard others say as low as 20% can be useful. But I think the key is being consistent with whatever ABV you choose.

Mate, that is a good read! as above only use a syringe. it is not the cuts so much I am worried about. realistically from reading a tone of Rum posts, i will wait to see how it ages after a couple of months. what has thrown me was the very high ABV through the run up until the end, 6 or so litres of +80% up until the last few jars.

[Jlanius]

Has anybody made this in a pot still? The recipe says to add an equal amount of dunder to your stripped wash before doing a spirit run. There’s a thread elsewhere on HD, that says if you are using a pot still, to not add any dunder back in. Can somebody advise?

[Saltbush Bill]

At the time this recipe was put on the forum almost everybody would have used pot stills. So the answer is yes.
As for the dunder, Id follow Pugies recipe.......or it wont be Pugirum.

[Jlanius]

At the time this recipe was put on the forum almost everybody would have used pot stills. So the answer is yes.
As for the dunder, Id follow Pugies recipe.......or it wont be Pugirum.

Saltbush,

What’s the science behind mixing the stripped washes with an equal amount of dunder? Is that not what we just separated out, or did the stripping run do something that I’m not aware of?

[Saltbush Bill]

Ive never personally made Pugi's Rum, but have tasted it made and aged by other Distillers......it makes a good Rum.
Its not unusual to add a quantity of things back that we have just removed in distilling, Many Rum recipes use dunder added back to the mix before fermentation, in that case I believe its for both flavour and PH reasons.
Some people add aged Dunder back to the boiler before a spirit run, in that case mostly for flavour enhancement.
Pugi adds fresh, Im guessing for similar reasons. Fresh dunder is quite acidic and so that can also play a part. Adding Dunder back to a run is not just something done in this recipe or by hobbyists, its also done in the commercial world.
For the exact science you'd better talk to a scientist.
Or do a lot of reading,the links contained within the following link may help
you https://www.bostonapothecary.com/rafael ... rs-on-rum/

[SGB]

So, I guess you just have to trial and error with the Dunder to see what you like. Doesn't seem to be any specific rule I guess.

[BigJames]

Just started my second batch( first batch with dunder). Just loaded my Pugibomb into the fermenter. Can’t wait for shit to take off. The temp has been between 93-97 outside this week. Hopefully I’ll have a fast ferment and get started filling my free brand new white oak 5 gallon barrel. It pays to have good friends. Hope everyone has a great weekend and keep on shining

[Sailman]

I'm thinking about starting one of these this weekend and I have a question about collecting the rum oils. My plan is to do several stripping runs until I get enough to fill the keg for a spirit run. So I usually strip down to about 10% and keep everything except for the 4 shots. Then I add everything together and prove it down to 40% for a spirit run. Where do I collect the rum oils? Are they collected at the end of the spirit run from 40 to 20% or do I collect them on the stripping run from 40 to 20%. The way I was reading it if I collect on the spirit run, then I won't have any to add back in on the spirit run until after all of the stripping runs have been done including the spirit run. The way it sounds to me is you collect the rum oils and add them in to your very next Rum run. This may have been covered before and if it has I'm sorry, I'm sorry I'm just don't page 3 or 4.

[howie]

spirit run instructions from 1st post
"Collect the 40% ABV down to 20% ABV in seperate container. These are your RUM OILS. Handle them with care and treat them special. Always add them to your still when you do a SPIRIT run and always collect them from the spirit run. The more times you use them the more concentrated they become. It wont take long and they will overflow into the hearts. This is the KEY to My rum"
so you won't have any 'rum oils' until your 2nd spirit run.
the 40-20% is pretty accurate and the smell of the rum oils is distinctive.

[Sailman]

spirit run instructions from 1st post
"Collect the 40% ABV down to 20% ABV in seperate container. These are your RUM OILS. Handle them with care and treat them special. Always add them to your still when you do a SPIRIT run and always collect them from the spirit run. The more times you use them the more concentrated they become. It wont take long and they will overflow into the hearts. This is the KEY to My rum"
so you won't have any 'rum oils' until your 2nd spirit run.
the 40-20% is pretty accurate and the smell of the rum oils is distinctive.

Thanks I feel like a complete d****** I've read his Recipe I don't know how many times and I must have just missed it.

[howie]

Thanks I feel like a complete d****** I've read his Recipe I don't know how many times and I must have just missed it.
[/quote]
ha ha , no worries.
i did that plenty of times, then i started to take notes as i went through the long threads or i would be befuddled by the end.

[Sailman]

I just started a batch of this well at least kind of I loosely followed the recipe. I used 2 gallons of evolved habitat Feed grade molasses. This was all that I could find locally, I know it's not the best but we'll see how it goes. 4 pounds of Sugar in the raw. 10 tsp of LD Carson's yeast nutrient. Two crushed B complex vitamins. This was a 10 gallon batch and the PH was adjusted to 5.2. Now I know that the molasses is gonna have a lot of unprementable sugars informidable sugars and solids but but I got a temperature corrected Starting gravity of 1.106. Is this normal for it to be that high? Should I add some water to bring down the starting gravity?. Also I'm going to use a yeast starter with this because of the talk of molasses that I had to use. I'm trying to give it the best possible chance to ferment.

[Yummyrum]

Around 1.100 is pretty normal for this type of recipe .you’ll also find next gen when you add Dunder , it will be even higher .


If you try Saltbushes all mollasses you’ll be looking around 1.130

[Sailman]

OK thanks I was thinking it was a little high. I just didn't want to get any off flavors or cause any stress to the yeast because of the gravity.

[Sailman]

"Make the wash again and pour on to the yeast left in the fermenter. Then strip again. Add the 2 stripped washes into still with equal amount of dunder that you have saved and the RUM OILS( see below )"

I'm wondering if I'm reading this correctly, in the original recipe he states to do 2 stripping runs And then add all of the stripped spirit into The still with equal parts of dunder left from the stripping runs. So that means 3 gallons to make the 2nd strip stripping runs and what is left goes into the spirit run an equal amounts? (Iow wine to dunder 50/50 mix) The reason I ask is to me this just seems like an awful lot of dunder, but what do I know this is my 1st Rum any help would be appreciated.

[Sailman]

Now the wait begins, I put it in a used 5 gal barrel that had Rye in it.

[CoogeeBoy]

first run Started at 1.095 finished at 1.01
second run - started at 1.11 estimated finish at 1.02

if you keep re-using backset your unfermentables are going to start going through the roof, and the wash gets higher
as in my first run it finished at 1.01 so i figure there is .o1 of unfermentables so the next run should finish at 1.02

any comments?

I was going to ask Pugi, what is a typical end SG on this? Mine seems to have stalled around 1.03 from 1.10.
Of course my pH meter decided it was time to check out and using pH strips doesnt work so well with rum but I suspected it was a little on high on the alkaline side (I used my pH meter and adjusted for the wrong initial pH), added some lemon juice, seemed to work but not for a long time.
Wondering if to add more yeast, a yeast bomb or this is just where molasses washes finish.

Any insights welcome.

[Saltbush Bill]

Keep it simple.....taste it...is it sweet or dry/ tart/ sour?

[Sailman]

I have to fill in my barrel I had a little over a gallon left. I followed the recipe except for added Orange peel and all spice.

[CoogeeBoy]

Keep it simple.....taste it...is it sweet or dry/ tart/ sour?

Will taste tonight, thanks for the advice as usual.

[hawkwing]

The final SG will depend on how much molasses you put in. The blackstrap molasses I get is listed as 37% sugars. What I found works is you count 63% as non fermentable sugar. So you take the weight of the molasses you used and multiply by 0.63 and then figure out how much sugar per volume and then lookup the SG for that. That should be approximately the final SG. I hope my thinking is correct.

[Saltbush Bill]

Or you can just taste it.

[Yummyrum]

Dunder is also a big player in the OG and FG .
If you have been heavy handed over the gens , Dunder can account for almost half the Gravity readings .

As Salty said , best way to tell if Rum wash is done is taste it for residual sweetness . .

[CoogeeBoy]

what is it with you Northern NSW types staying up so late?

[cmac62]

This is for anyone who wants to provide some input. I am a complete nube. I have done 3x2 runs of 5 gals each and have them sitting on oak. I also have 1 gal of low wines from a sweet feed wash and about the same of heads and tails from the other stuff. I was thinking of making a 5 gal batch of this wash and using it to run a 1.5 with adding the LWs from the sweetfeed and possibly some of the oaked stuff that doesn't taste so good. I'm using a Anvil foundry brew system for the boiler and a Stainless TC tubing for the still head. I assembled a CCVM with 36x2" column with a site glass and Corrugated SS RC. I have a 24x2" ss shotgun PC. When I run in pot mode I usually run 12" off the boiler (with about 10" of copper scrubbies) then 2 90* elbows to the PC. I also have a 15 gal keg and propane to do my stripping runs with.

Questions:
Should I use the copper when running rum?
Do you think the 1.5 run is a good idea, or should I just ferment/strip the pugi batch, keep that dunder and then do the spirit run with the sweetfeed and Pugi LWs?
If I do a 1.5 run can I use what's left in the still from this as dunder for the next batch?
Would it be better to run this in the CCVM mode with light packing in order to get some flavor, but one and done?
I'm hoping to have something passable as white by the middle of Oct is that doable?

Thanks

[Sailman]

I put 5 gallons of this recipe in a barrel on May 1st and I pulled the bung today to take a look and taste. The taste was good but not quite enough vanilla. Also I think it needs to be a little darker it's a it's a honey golden Brown color now. What do you guys think about the color? This was a second use barrel that had rye in it to start and then I followed it with this rum recipe. I was going to try and reuse the bung but it came apart when I tried to extract it.