SBB's All Molasses Rum Recipe

[Oatmeal]

Had a little birthday sample at year two, was surprised at how many coffee notes were present. Definitely going to get another year...

[just_still]

Anybody else ending up with cloudy rum in the bottle?

I made a batch of this using feed molasses from Tractor Supply. It fermented fine, strip & spirit run. Sat on medium toasted oak about 18 months at 60% abv. Besides taking on color from the wood, it's perfectly clear in the jars at barrel proof. When I bottle proof down to 40-45%, it clouds immediately. If it sits long enough in the bottle, some of this precipitates down and settles at the bottom in clumps, but not all, the top remains cloudy. It looks like a bottle of cloudy tails. Is this a rum thing? Did I just make bad cuts? Any ideas how to remedy the situation at this point? It tastes fine to me, I don't notice excessive tails flavors. I've done a handful of other all-grain spirits and a couple of sugar heads, this is the first time anything has ended up cloudy in the bottle.

[Sporacle]

Anybody else ending up with cloudy rum in the bottle?

Sounds like tails to me.
Lowering the abv will make the oils more visible due to the additional water content.
More importantly how does it taste

[Saltbush Bill]

I've never had that happen, I can only suggest to much tails.
Someone may come along with another suggestion.

[NZChris]

Anybody else ending up with cloudy rum in the bottle?

Yes. but I don't make SBB's rum.

Cloudy whiskys and rums don't necessarily taste bad, and they may have more of a flavor punch than their clear cousins.

[Dougmatt]

Try adding more higher proof spirit until it clears, then bottle at that proof if you really want it clear in the bottle.

[MooseMan]

Stripped my first SBB rum yesterday. It really wanted to puke and I had to back off the power around 30%.
Everything in the still was covered in little black specks after the run, where the foam had got burned on the underside of the keg top I assume, big clean up job

This was 30l in a 50l keg, wash racked and settled for a full 2 weeks after fermentation finished.
I put on another batch straight after the strip was done, using some of the hot dunder as directed.

I'm thinking of adding the stripped wines to the next wash when it's ready to run, and add a few ml of veg oil, would you rum afficionados say that's a good way to go?

[Sporacle]

Stripped my first SBB rum yesterday. It really wanted to puke and I had to back off the power around 30%.
Everything in the still was covered in little black specks after the run, where the foam had got burned on the underside of the keg top I assume, big clean up job

Moose, most of my SBB strip's come very close to puking or they do puke a bit.
I know the point when my boiler changes sound and I have heat just transferring to my riser, I shut down power and let it sit for 5 minutes then restart.
I add vegetable oil, mine is just a generous pour.

I have had a puke with a 1.5 run once (on my flute) that was due to greed, boiler was way to full. Somewhere around 70L in my 80L keg.

Interesting that most of my pukes have occured not at the very start of the strip but definantly in the first 25%.

Power, oil, volume and a bit of luck Moose

[Yummyrum]

I agree Sporicale , if mine puke its not at the start but about quarter through .
I also use vege oil .Sunflower oil seems to work well fir me .I use a good pour too . I’d guess its about 1/4cup for about 50litre charge in a 80litre keg .I’ve never detected any flavour difference between using oil or not nor different types of oil .

[MooseMan]

Thanks Sporacle.
I've not had to add oil to anything yet, but I think this rum wash needs it!

A bit of luck! Haha!
I'll pray for some on the next run and keep a very close eye on the sight glass in case I don't have any!

[subbrew]

Started this yesterday and my brewery/reloading/distilling room smells incredible.

Used 9.5 gal golden barrel blackstrap molasses
4 gal Evolve deer molasses
teaspoon epsom salts
2 teaspoon Fermax yeast nutrient - didn't have vitamin B tablets
3 gal dunder that has sit in a bucket for two years
3/4 cup bread yeast rehydrated
filled barrel to about 42 gal.
Aerated for an hour with a fish tank air pump through a brewing air stone
Temp sitting at 95 F.

12 hrs later was chugging away

When distilled I will put some of it in a Badmo clone which previously held Honey Bear Bourbon

Then only three years or so until I can enjoy it.

[Dutch41]

Tonight I started my very first SBB's Rum. I diluted #4 gallons of blackstrap molasses with hot spring water, topped it off with spring water to the 13 gallon mark and pitched my yeast. I plan on doing two more 13 gallon runs and I will use dunder on the following runs. Thank you to sporacle and SBB for answering a few questions that I had. I will keep you all posted as the project goes on.

[Dutch41]

I distilled my first 13 gallon (49L) batch of SBB's Rum last night which I started on 23 October. I saved all of the product to put in the next distillation. I was going to add the product to the boiler as the run went on however it was getting very late so I decided to save the product instead. I also decided to bump up the subsequent batches to a 17 gallon (64L) batch. I adjusted the recipe as follows:

5.1 gallons (19L) Molasses. I gave the molasses jugs a hot water bath for about 1.5 hours.
3.4 gallons (12.8L) hot dunder to dissolve molasses. Aerated and mixed with a drill and a mixing paddle.
Topped off Fermenter to 17 (64L) Gallon Mark with Spring Water, sitting at 91F (32.8C)
2.5 Vitamin "B" Tablets, crushed.
2.5 Good Pinches of Epsom Salt.
Aerated and Mixed again.
3/4 Cup (94G) of Bakers Yeast.

GOAL: To make enough to fill a new 5 gallon (19L) medium toasted barrel & a little extra to top off the barrel due to samples and the angels share.

[sadie33]

Started this yesterday and my brewery/reloading/distilling room smells incredible.

Used 9.5 gal golden barrel blackstrap molasses
4 gal Evolve deer molasses
teaspoon epsom salts
2 teaspoon Fermax yeast nutrient - didn't have vitamin B tablets
3 gal dunder that has sit in a bucket for two years
3/4 cup bread yeast rehydrated
filled barrel to about 42 gal.
Aerated for an hour with a fish tank air pump through a brewing air stone
Temp sitting at 95 F.

12 hrs later was chugging away

When distilled I will put some of it in a Badmo clone which previously held Honey Bear Bourbon

Then only three years or so until I can enjoy it.

I do love the smell. I spent a couple hours doing 3 five gallon ferments the other day. I finished cleaning up, was tired and wanted to get off my feet. I said to my friend -"now I feel like we should be eating molasses cookies". I came down from the loft after putting away some of my supplies and she said- "are you ready to make those cookies?" I was like-nope.

[subbrew]

Started this yesterday and my brewery/reloading/distilling room smells incredible.

Used 9.5 gal golden barrel blackstrap molasses
4 gal Evolve deer molasses
teaspoon epsom salts
2 teaspoon Fermax yeast nutrient - didn't have vitamin B tablets
3 gal dunder that has sit in a bucket for two years
3/4 cup bread yeast rehydrated
filled barrel to about 42 gal.
Aerated for an hour with a fish tank air pump through a brewing air stone
Temp sitting at 95 F.

12 hrs later was chugging away

When distilled I will put some of it in a Badmo clone which previously held Honey Bear Bourbon

Then only three years or so until I can enjoy it.

Update on this. I racked to carboys and got 43 gallons. Left a couple gallons of muck in the bottom so must have started with 45 gallons total.

Did the first stripping run last night and collected 3.8 gallons at 38% from an 11 gallon charge. So that would indicate I was a bit over 12% abv in the wash, a bit higher than I would have liked. I will use 12 gallons rather than 13.5 of molasses next time but you never know exactly the sugar you will get in Molasses. I collect low wines in 6 cup batches and the last batch was 6%, first batch was 68%. At the end, off the spout was lightly molasses flavored water. Which gave me a thought, has anyone collected the "sweet" water at the end of a run and used it to proof the final product? I may try saving some and use to proof some rum I distilled two years ago.

I have very high hopes for this. The middle jar, I think it was 42%, had a little mangy edge to the molasses flavors but I could have sipped a glass just as it was. The lower end, before hitting the water, was very rough molasses flavor with a lot of oil on top. If the spirit run follows a similar curve I will be searching out the tails jars I want to keep in the blend.

[rolling]

Hate to blow my horn, but ... a friend came to visit and I broke out my 4 year old SSB for sipping. He'd never sipped rum before, and was surprised something like this existed. He left with three bottles, but he is a very close friend. He later shared it with a friend who he described as "really into rum and whiskey" who was very impressed. I was taken aback by all of this, my family and kids have always "humored" me with my makings. I was truthfully about to give up on this whole experiment, there is so much work involved. As soon as the weather dictates I'll be breaking out my still again! I have four 5gl. used bourbon barrels for my solera system. My youngest is only half or less full, and I don't like that. My oldest is about four years. I'd love to see it get a few more years on it.

[Dutch41]

I distilled my first 13 gallon (49L) batch of SBB's Rum last night which I started on 23 October. I saved all of the product to put in the next distillation. I was going to add the product to the boiler as the run went on however it was getting very late so I decided to save the product instead. I also decided to bump up the subsequent batches to a 17 gallon (64L) batch. I adjusted the recipe as follows:

5.1 gallons (19L) Molasses. I gave the molasses jugs a hot water bath for about 1.5 hours.
3.4 gallons (12.8L) hot dunder to dissolve molasses. Aerated and mixed with a drill and a mixing paddle.
Topped off Fermenter to 17 (64L) Gallon Mark with Spring Water, sitting at 91F (32.8C)
2.5 Vitamin "B" Tablets, crushed.
2.5 Good Pinches of Epsom Salt.
Aerated and Mixed again.
3/4 Cup (94G) of Bakers Yeast.

GOAL: To make enough to fill a new 5 gallon (19L) medium toasted barrel & a little extra to top off the barrel due to samples and the angels share.

I've distilled the first 13 gallon batch and a 17/18 gallon batch of SBB's awesome Rum. The fermenter is sitting patiently for the third batch of 17/18 gallons of mash which I will run by the weekend. So far everything has gone perfect and I've scaled up the recipe to fit my needs. There has not been one single error in the process, it's been flawless. Thank you Saltbush Bill and Sporacle for some behind the scenes advice. Advice to others: follow the recipe exactly and you won't be disappointed, the recipe is in Tried & True for a reason...

[Dutch41]

I distilled my first 13 gallon (49L) batch of SBB's Rum last night which I started on 23 October. I saved all of the product to put in the next distillation. I was going to add the product to the boiler as the run went on however it was getting very late so I decided to save the product instead. I also decided to bump up the subsequent batches to a 17 gallon (64L) batch. I adjusted the recipe as follows:

5.1 gallons (19L) Molasses. I gave the molasses jugs a hot water bath for about 1.5 hours.
3.4 gallons (12.8L) hot dunder to dissolve molasses. Aerated and mixed with a drill and a mixing paddle.
Topped off Fermenter to 17 (64L) Gallon Mark with Spring Water, sitting at 91F (32.8C)
2.5 Vitamin "B" Tablets, crushed.
2.5 Good Pinches of Epsom Salt.
Aerated and Mixed again.
3/4 Cup (94G) of Bakers Yeast.

GOAL: To make enough to fill a new 5 gallon (19L) medium toasted barrel & a little extra to top off the barrel due to samples and the angels share.

I've distilled the first 13 gallon batch and a 17/18 gallon batch of SBB's awesome Rum. The fermenter is sitting patiently for the third batch of 17/18 gallons of mash which I will run by the weekend. So far everything has gone perfect and I've scaled up the recipe to fit my needs. There has not been one single error in the process, it's been flawless. Thank you Saltbush Bill and Sporacle for some behind the scenes advice. Advice to others: follow the recipe exactly and you won't be disappointed, the recipe is in Tried & True for a reason...

SBB's Rum update: Today I distilled batch #3 and prepared batch #4 in the fermenter. My son who enjoys this craft was able to come over for todays distillation. As we went through the process, he was truly amazed how easy this recipe is. Todays distillation was another 17/18 gallon (64L/68L) batch that went very smooth. After batch #4 is distilled, I will be putting all of the spirit in a #5 gallon (19L) medium toasted oak barrel at about a 60% ABV. Batch #2 and #3 included feints from the previous distillation and batch #4 will as well when I evaluate batch #3s product that was distilled today. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year...

[theotherstu]

My first go at this, I cut everything down to 1/3 just to try it out.
So made 9 litres. 16 hours in and it's got a decent crust on the top, but I'm going to need additional heating at this time of the year. I do wine, beer and other stuff in the cupboard where the boiler lives, but sadly, it's a really efficient combi/solar and on an outside wall and at this time of year, rarely gets above 20c continuously.

So I'll do my usual trick. A homemade insulation jacket and an aquarium heater set to 25c and dump it in the shed.

As a warning, don't ferment this in the house unless you live on your own. This stuff absolutely stinks
The wife is unimpressed. I love the treacly smell.

[Yummyrum]

Hee hee , whats wrong with you wife’s nose ?…… it does smell great .

LOL I remember as a kid , my Grandad had his bottles of wine bubbling away in the hot water closet .I blame him for my interest in the hobby .

Good luck , it’s a great recipe and turns out well . I would suggest keeping it closer to 30° if you can . 25°C is a little on the low side .
Whats , you plan ? I’m guessing you will Double distill in a Pot still as 9 litres is too small for a plated still .

[MooseMan]

I've got a 40l sugar wash running in the garage right now, with electric blanket and reflectix around it to keep it at 30°C.

It was made with 5l of SBB Rum dunder from the last strip, in an attempt to make a lighter rum that I can drink sooner.

Every time I go in there I can't resist getting the lid off for a good inhale of the rumminess, it's heavenly!

[Dutch41]

Merry Christmas fellow magic makers. I currently have #3 batch's of SBB's Finest Rum Recipe already distilled and I'm truly hoping to do batch #4 next weekend. It's all coming together and all that one has to do is keep it simple like Salty has published. I have truly followed the recipe to the "T" except for upscaling the batch. I ordered a 5 gallon (19 Liter) new oak barrel with a medium toast. Hopefully the barrel arrives shortly after batch #4 has been distilled. I've saved some dunder from every batch so I can make an essence for future rum flavoring as needed. I truly hope everybody has a wonderful holiday season and please be safe. Keep on Stillin...

[Saltbush Bill]

Glad your enjoying the recipe Dutch, and a Merry Xmas to you.
Barrels really do make a difference long term I think.
Just hard at times to justify the cost when there are alternatives like glass and oak sti ks.

[theotherstu]

Hee hee , whats wrong with you wife’s nose ?…… it does smell great .

LOL I remember as a kid , my Grandad had his bottles of wine bubbling away in the hot water closet .I blame him for my interest in the hobby .

Good luck , it’s a great recipe and turns out well . I would suggest keeping it closer to 30° if you can . 25°C is a little on the low side .
Whats , you plan ? I’m guessing you will Double distill in a Pot still as 9 litres is too small for a plated still .

Yeah. Weird, because she'll be the first to want to drink it!

I checked earlier and it was at 27c. I'll go up it to 30c - I am somewhat worried it may have stalled.

And yes, I'll do a stripping run first. Baby steps!

[theotherstu]

OK, back. First run complete.
Frankly, I'm not sure I did this right. Out of ~9 litres (that's around 2 gallons), I got around 550ml of hearts at around 60%. Was expecting more.
It was definitely very bitter and not sweet.

Other thing about it is that it smells and tastes ridiculously of molasses. I expected it to have a more "rummy" taste.

Any ideas? I've got the next 9 litres on the go, but used the dunder to make it this time.

[Saltbush Bill]

Can you clarify a few things please ? I take it from reading back to you first post that you are doing this using an air still.....is that right?
I take it that the 9 L was wash , not low wines?,,,,,,so single run from wash?

Other thing about it is that it smells and tastes ridiculously of molasses. I expected it to have a more "rummy" taste.

Have you ever smelled new make Rum before to know what it should smell like straight from the still?
It's marvellous what time and oak does.

[Yummyrum]

Yes it will smell of molasses straight off the still .
It won’t develop the Rummyness until its aged . If Rum makers could make and bottle rum from the still , they would , but the Time in an Oak barrel is required to turn the rough molasses stuff straight off the still into the Rum flavour we expect .

[JustinNZ]

Hey man. The maths tells me you’re ok.

A fermented 9L wash with an abv of 10% means 900ml of ethanol. If you kept 40% of that as your hearts, that’s 360ml of ethanol. If that ethanol was in a container at 60% abv, that’s 600ml of keeper at barrel proof.

If you just did that distillation as a one and done in a pot still it should be tasty but won’t taste like bought rum. I don’t like it much at all off the spout except for a small number of jars. Like Salty says, after 3 months it will start improving but only gets better with age. In my opinion after 6 months it smells amazing and is great in rum and coke. After a year it’s a lovely sipper.

[Saltbush Bill]

You will also get a better result by stripping and then running 9 L of low wines.......I'd also consider a power controler for your air still so that at least you have a little control over output speed.

[theotherstu]

Thanks all. Yes, I did a 1.5 stripping run as suggested.
Sounds like I did it right then. Round 2 fermenting……

Thanks all for the patience and advice. I’ll try to stop being one of those n00bs asking too many silly questions and go back to using the search button properly.