Butter Rum

[Shine0n]

I personally strip down to 10% but with my new double thumper I only need one and done.

I'm getting more and more into the traditional double retort Jamaican style rum, that is where my heart is along with the butter treatment on some.

[Copperhead road]

Is the step where you heat up the wash, then hold temp, then cool the factor that produces the buttery taste ?

I am not normally a rum drinker but recently got the pleasure of trying some of Saltbush Bills rum and it has a nice buttery & caramel smell. Top notch bit of swill indeed!
It has turned me into a bit of a rum convert.

[Shine0n]

It is, this rum is super buttery white. I'm putting 2 gallons on oak for a year for a party next 2019 July party.

SBB I'm sure get his notes from oaking so I'll see how mine goes.

Keep a bit of this white, you won't be let down!!!!

[Copperhead road]

It is, this rum is super buttery white. I'm putting 2 gallons on oak for a year for a party next 2019 July party.

SBB I'm sure get his notes from oaking so I'll see how mine goes.

Keep a bit of this white, you won't be let down!!!!

Thank you kindly ShineOn, I will have to give this one a crack because it sounds delicious. ”mouth is watering”

I Will be sure to give some feedback !

[Shine0n]

Please do, I believe I hit the nail on the head on this one.

As long as you don't deviate from the original recipe you'll get the goods as described.

Yummyrum posted that dark brown sugar in Australia is the same as the US so as long as you use bakers yeast, and don't be shy with it either your mouth will do more than water. lol

Good luck my friend, post back with results in due time.
Shine0n

[hpby98]

A batch has been started

And now it’s in my 55 gallon drum with the heater and probe and will hopefully happily percolate away

[Copperhead road]

Off to feed n farmers store to get some backstrap molasses, never made a Rum before!

This Buttery Goodness has got me aroused
Have been told White Rum is a staple in the US and pretty keen to get it trending in Australia......

BTW ShineOn do you use a potstill or Column flute when making your Goodness????

[hpby98]

Off to feed n farmers store to get some backstrap molasses, never made a Rum before!

This Buttery Goodness has got me aroused
Have been told White Rum is a staple in the US and pretty keen to get it trending in Australia......

BTW ShineOn do you use a potstill or Column flute when making your Goodness????

He uses a pot and thumper

[Copperhead road]

Off to feed n farmers store to get some backstrap molasses, never made a Rum before!

This Buttery Goodness has got me aroused
Have been told White Rum is a staple in the US and pretty keen to get it trending in Australia......

BTW ShineOn do you use a potstill or Column flute when making your Goodness????

He uses a pot and thumper

Thanx mate

[Shine0n]

I have now a double thumper
I'm slowly working on the flute, still need parts, MONEY!!! and time to finish.

One thing is to get the ferment finished quick as possible to avoid infections, in the summer mine finishes in 3-4 days (45) gal.

I am going to do a 3 week open fermentation and see what happens, I'll start another thread for that tho.

Good luck fellas

[zapata]

Hey shine, will you take some detailed notes running that double thumper? Or if you came across some can you share them? I know it's the traditional rum setup, but I have seen few/no detailed reports.

Particularly things like starting abv, how the abv curve drops through the run, etc are things I'm interested in. Of course I guess that depends some on what you load the thumpers with. You gonna do the traditional high/low wines? What do you load them with your first run if you just have normal feints and not high/low wines?

I've always wondered why the double retort setup isnt used for whiskey. The normal story is that the idea was imported to the Caribbean esp Jamaica by the British. But if the Brittish used double retorts, what did they use them for? Surely not rum in the old world, so must've been whiskey, maybe gin? But excluding modern craft spirits, I've never read of thumpers used in any spirit other than rum.

I've been debating making a double retort setup vs a flute. Top of my list for pros/cons is that a flute is more versatile, while double thumper is rum only. I know it's not really, but so far as proven by tradition it seems to be.

(Just realized this probably makes more sense in a dedicated thread, you got a build thread for the double thumps?)

[Shine0n]

Zapata, I'll definitely take good notes on future runs. Yes I'll be doing low/high wines in the retorts as well as bourbons and brandies.

I'll start another thread but I can see very positive results for all types of spirits and rum is my best friend so that's what I'll mainly focus on.

Now where do I start this kinda thread to talk about this particular setup and it's many uses? I'll figure it out lol

I still need to do some research of my own and have been for years now but just started to get serious about single pot double retort rum, long hot, open fermentation.

I'll do a butter rum and the second will be the one used with the low/high wines.

No more off topic Shine0n!

Butter rum here please

[Pfretzschner]

ShineOn, since you suggested that rum might be something to concentrate on for the hot summer months, I have a few questions. I've read tons of posts here related to Rum but continue to have a hard time finding some of the basic, simple information that I, and I'm sure a lot of newbees like me, would like to know. As impress as I am with the sophistication and technology that some guys have and use,,, I'm one of those hands on kind of people that like to try and don't mind failing,,,, as long as it's fun. And right now I'm having a ball.

I made my wash from the recipe that you shared at the beginning of this post. I used 2 gal of molasses, 16 lbs of dark brown sugar, and I used EC1118 yeast, of course, re-hydrated. It started working with very tiny bubbles for a couple days, then you could see the constant movement of the wash, and the bubbles started to increase in size and volume. The temperature has maintained a constant 85 to 90 and it's bubbling away. I read about so many ferments being ready in 4 or 5 days but this one is on it's 8th day and still working. I forgot about he refrectometer, but checked the brix the second day and it was 26. this morning it was 19. The taste of the wash has gone from very sweet to a pleasant, smokey flavor, but still has some sweetness to it. I can't wait to see how it finishes out. Whenever the ferment stops, I plan to butter it up for a couple hours at 135 degrees, then run it the next day. I should get two runs from this wash. I'm working on a larger thumper but it's won't be ready for a while. I have also been experimenting trying to infuse the flavor and aroma from the leaves and berrys off my all spice tree, into the loquat brandy and the results have been amazing. I will definately try it with this run to work on my own variety of spiced rum.

So tell me what you think that I did right and wrong, or what I could do better. And thank you for the suggestion! I think it is going to keep this old man busy for the summer.

[zapata]

I'm obviously not shine, but I'm excited to hear your results as I think you are the first to try the butter process with 1118 will be good to here if it ends up super buttery... though if it's your first rum you obviously wont have a direct comparison to make, but if it butters up like bakers does you wont be able to miss it.

So far as speed, it doesn't sound like you did anything "wrong". 1118 is a fermentation machine, but a bit of a slow one. Also keep in mind most people using bakers yeast including this recipe, pitch a full metric shit load into rums. I would expect 1118 to be a bit slower than bakers at any pitch rate, and more so if you pitched a normal amount, say 2-3 packs for your (presumably?) 16 gallon wash? Vs the 1/2 cup of bakers in shine's recipe. Not wrong, just will be a little slower and the butter process is untested with your yeast choice.

[Shine0n]

You took the words out of my mouth zap, ec1118 is a great yeast and should ferment quite deeply but I'm unsure of the flavors that will develop as in my fruit washes 1118 is a really neutral/clean yeast so I'll anxiously wait for your results from this.

Bread yeast will do probably a better job on the "butter"

[jon1163]

Hey shineon, you think of one and done in a 15 gallon / 8 gallon pot and Thumper would do for this?

[Pfretzschner]

Thanks for the input. I pitched 6 packs of 1118 yeast and was really surprised at how long it took to viably be able to see it working. It sure was a lot different reaction for the Rum than it was for the Loquat. I'm going to make another wash with bread yeast so it will be fun to see if there is any difference in the butter.

[distiller_dresden]

Hey Shine - so I'm making some mashed in this coming weekend, based on Goddess' vanilla rum she shared in the Liar's Bench thread. I scaled down, and then upped the ABV to about 11-11.5% and got this:

HONEY-BUTTER VANILLA RUM
4.75 gal water
3 lbs malted red wheat
.75 lb honey malt
.75 gal hq molasses
6 lbs dark brown sugar
Red Star baker's yeast, 82-84F ferment
approx. 11.5% ABV finish

Night before distillation - into pot, heat to 135F, hold 2 hours, let cool overnight.
(Should impart butter notes/flavor)

My question is, I got three triple packs of the normal Red Star baking yeast. What kind of pitch do I do with baking yeast? Is it one packet like any other yeast per 5-6 gallons liquid, on average, or reading the first page and scaling from your recipe, it seems like I should use about 37 grams for 5.5 gallons liquid. What are your thoughts for this?

Oh, and the best way to get flavor from honey malt is to heat the water up to just under boiling, turn off, drop in the honey malt, right? And let it cool to about 155F before I pitch my malted red wheat?

[zapata]

Perfect! Direct comparison between 1118 and bakers for a butter test. Definitely interested!
Go ahead, I'll make popcorn

[Shine0n]

Man, I wrote out some long ass response to some of the questions and somehow it didn't post and it's not in any draft files... SHIT!!!
Now I'm about 4 rum and cokes into the evening I'll try to respond in the am so I don't look like some dumb ass. lol

I'm glad some of you guys have taken an interest in this rum and I hope yall experiments pan out, I really do!

If any of you want to replicate this recipe, just follow the very simple recipe from the original post and I promise you'll get the butter bomb rum unlike any other out there.

Sorry, I'm drunk, having fun and I will answer any q's in the am.

Peace, drunken fool!!!!!!!

[TDick]

Sorry, I'm drunk, having fun and I will answer any q's in the am.

Peace, drunken fool!!!!!!!

One of the advantages of this hobby.

[Shine0n]

DD, Take all the yeast and make a starter. Rehydrate it in a mixture of a little sugar and water. Get more yeast in the mixture and pitch a few hours later.

Also if possible ferment it at a higher temp, 90+ would be better but it will finish at the temp you suggested just a bit slower.
Jon, I do this style rum a one and done with the thumper. Now that I have a double retort system I'll be using that for the majority of my runs. You can always rerun it if it's too strong for your taste buds. lol

[Pfretzschner]

I'm obviously not shine, but I'm excited to hear your results as I think you are the first to try the butter process with 1118 will be good to here if it ends up super buttery... though if it's your first rum you obviously wont have a direct comparison to make, but if it butters up like bakers does you wont be able to miss it.

So far as speed, it doesn't sound like you did anything "wrong". 1118 is a fermentation machine, but a bit of a slow one. Also keep in mind most people using bakers yeast including this recipe, pitch a full metric shit load into rums. I would expect 1118 to be a bit slower than bakers at any pitch rate, and more so if you pitched a normal amount, say 2-3 packs for your (presumably?) 16 gallon wash? Vs the 1/2 cup of bakers in shine's recipe. Not wrong, just will be a little slower and the butter process is untested with your yeast choice.

I still have questions about the fermentation. Things seem to have slowed down almost to a stop. There are very tiny bubbles and very little activity. The Brix is holding at 15 since yesterday. It smells like it's still working and taste wise, these's still a lot of sweetness. This rum wash is definitely very different from the brandy and I have no idea what to expect. I was getting ready to make the next wash using bread yeast but wanted to make sure this one as going to survive.

Do you have any suggestions,,,, or am I being too much of a newbie now?

[Shine0n]

I'm not sure as 1118 is a beast at work, I really hate to jump straight to this part but if you have a ph meter you might want to take a peak at it.

with my water (neutral 7) I don't have to adjust but with your choice of yeast and slower ferment it might have dropped down a bit too far.

If you have some sea shells/coral or pickling lime, drop a pinch in the wash and look for foaming. If it foams like mad the ph has dropped and you'll need to adjust to raise the ph up to 5.0ish

Also give it a nice stir and degas it, if you have some bread yeast go ahead and dry pitch a half cup full. What dies will be consumed by the other yeast and will act like a nutrient.

Check the brix again today and we'll go from there

[TDick]

Now that I have a "double retort system" I'll be using that for the majority of my runs.

[Shine0n]

Double thumper with high and low wines usage.

[Pfretzschner]

I'm not sure as 1118 is a beast at work, I really hate to jump straight to this part but if you have a ph meter you might want to take a peak at it.

with my water (neutral 7) I don't have to adjust but with your choice of yeast and slower ferment it might have dropped down a bit too far.

If you have some sea shells/coral or pickling lime, drop a pinch in the wash and look for foaming. If it foams like mad the ph has dropped and you'll need to adjust to raise the ph up to 5.0ish

Also give it a nice stir and degas it, if you have some bread yeast go ahead and dry pitch a half cup full. What dies will be consumed by the other yeast and will act like a nutrient.

Check the brix again today and we'll go from there

I don't have a ph meter but I did try the sea shells. I ground some to a powder and there was no reaction or foaming. So I'm about to pitch the 1/2 cup of bread yeast.

The brix was still 15 at this morning. I'll let you know what happens,,,, again, Thanks.

[JohnsMyName]

Shine - I'm excited to find this butter thread, thanks for sharing with us. I make a lot of rum and will be trying this very soon. A couple of questions...

Your recipe includes sugar I'm assuming because the feed molasses isn't sweet enough? I use fancy grade and every gallon has 8.5 lbs of sugar so I do not add any additional. Does sugar have any use in your recipe besides raising final abv?

I know a lot of rum recipes call for a hot fast ferment mimicking Caribbean temperatures. I have a temperature controlled workshop that's at 70F and have always had great tasting rum (only used bakers yeast). Is the fast ferment purely for speed or does a fast ferment create wanted flavors in the rum?

Do you find this butter flavor mixed through out the run or does it concentrate at a particular point?

Cheers,

John

[Shine0n]

John glad to see you found this thread, I also make a ton of rum
The original recipe I used feedgrade molasses and it has 43% sugars and I'm not completely convinced it's all fermentable so that's what I did was add the dark brown sugar to help get a respected abv.

16lb dB sugar which is 100% fermentable and the 43% on the feedgrade I'm sure isn't is still only 24-26 lb sugar for a 16 gal ferment, still less than 2 lbs per gal plus it has no off flavors from the sugar.

I now actually use blackstrap which is slightly sweeter in sugar content and is WAY much cheaper than fancy which imo temps to be light on flavors I prefer. If fancy is what you like then by all means use it.

This rum comes from the added heat up after fermentation is complete, 135°f is what I use and hold for a couple hours. Bread yeast is most likely the culprit for the butter bomb! I've not tried to deviate from the original recipe because it works and works well other than going to blackstrap molasses.

I have limited time for distilling and hot fast ferments work with my timing of this crazy life of work and children. lol

If the lower temps work well for you, please do as you've been doing. The real key to this rum is the heat up after the ferment has finished.

The butter flavor is powerful throughout the run. I actually did a stripping run on one and the flavors were so good I kept (minus fores and a small heads cut) everything down to 110p/55%.

I do not proof down the spirit to 80, in fact I like it around 125ish for mixing or on the rocks. I do let the ice tame it down some before I sip but even with the addition of ice it let's out a buttery aroma that will fill the room and linger in your mouth for quite a while.

I also haven't oak aged much at all of this rum, I will in future runs but it's sooo good white it's almost a sin to oak it.

Now I've said that I'll put a couple gallons on oak for a year and change my mind. lol

Please if you try this rum, follow the instructions and post back some reviews of your experience with it. I'm welcome to good and bad, I've yet to hear anything bad about it.

[Pfretzschner]

I'm not sure as 1118 is a beast at work, I really hate to jump straight to this part but if you have a ph meter you might want to take a peak at it.

with my water (neutral 7) I don't have to adjust but with your choice of yeast and slower ferment it might have dropped down a bit too far.

If you have some sea shells/coral or pickling lime, drop a pinch in the wash and look for foaming. If it foams like mad the ph has dropped and you'll need to adjust to raise the ph up to 5.0ish

Also give it a nice stir and degas it, if you have some bread yeast go ahead and dry pitch a half cup full. What dies will be consumed by the other yeast and will act like a nutrient.

Check the brix again today and we'll go from there

Shine,,, much to my surprise, after I pitched the 1/2 cup of Fleishmans bread yeast, it looked promising. I checked this morning and it was back to tiny bubbles, and the brix was still at 15. It smells good, like it's fermenting,,,, tastes good, but still a little sweet, and you can see a minimum amount of activity on the top of the wash. Today will be the 14th day it's been working.

What do you think I should try?