Home Distiller

Gotta lot of molasses and I'm making a bunch of rum. My little 6 gal pot still is working overtime. My 20L washes are usually 5kg molasses 2 kg sugar. I strip and then spirit run.
How would u age this stuff? I can't afford a barrel. I've been using oak sticks in Mason jars. I charred the oak on my first couple batches. 6 months later it has quite the campfire taste. I plan on toasting the oak sticks on the next few batches. Any advice would be appreciated.

Rum is usually aged on used wood, not new. Ex bourbon and whiskey barrels, barrels that have been started on bourbon, then used for whiskey. Sherry barrels. And more.

I often start my rums aging on JD barrel chips from my local BBQ supplier.

I've found American oak cubes at my brew shop that are 1/2"×1/2" med toast.
I place them side by side at 4-5" long
Put them in some 140-150 proof and nuke it to 150°f close and let naturally cool to room temp. That will pull a vacuum, open the next day and do it again. I do this for 3 sometimes 4 cycles and after a week it pretty fn good.
I have a gallon that was done like that and has been sitting for about 9 months, I'd put it up against just about any rum out there for a blind taste test.

If you didn't toast the oak and it's pretty raw you might not like the outcome. Toasting brings out the flavors of the oak, tee pee has a thread on it and explains it well as others do too.
I personally don't like the char taste in my rum but that's just me, I think most rum distilleries use used oak barrels so the level of char is quit a bit less than say a new freshly charred barrel made for bourbon.

I can't afford a barrel either that's why I use wood in glass. I also read a load of info to learn how to do it and make a fine drink. Good luck!!!

Shine0n

I am using toasted wood with rum right now.

I like toasted french oak for the complexity, but I am also using toasted sugar maple wood (less) in combo.

It gives the rum a complex palate with maple aftertaste.

Just curious,

How are you getting the charred oak? Sometimes you get a smokey smell if you are burning the wood over a wood fire. I found you get less smokey taste when you use a gas flame to char the wood.

Keep the char for whiskys , Rum does best on medium toasted oak in my opinion. French or American...your choice in that department.
If you can afford them medium toast dominoes from Still Dragon are the bees knees. There are other suppliers if you look around.

I've been using oak staves from a barrel planter I picked up at a hardware store. I broke it apart and planed it down, cutting them into 1"x4"X1" sticks.
The sticks I've toasted in the oven seem to give a very nice flavor to my product.
The sticks I've charred on my grill (using an open flame) seem to give too much of a campfire taste.
I also used too much wood on my previous batches.

Over here I just goo and get oak out of the woods - don't you have oak growing nearby ?

Try red oak. Many people may disagree but I think it's got great flavor.... for me at least. I char it with torch till just turn black. I use 1, 1/2in by 1/2in by what ever the height of mason jar is at about 160 proof for 10 days. Then proof down to 80 without wood and age for as long as I can.

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I have had good luck soaking my toasted then charred sticks in a jar of water for about a week. Change the water a couple times and give it a shake right before you do to rattle around the sticks a bit. Then dry in the sun and use to age. I found that helps temper the campfire taste.

If you use too much, don't take it out. Just wait longer.

I massively over-oaked a fast aging experiment to a Coke color a while back, but the tannins that spoiled it disappeared over the next few months.

Don't be in too much of a hurry. I leave the wood in mine until I proof the last of the demijohn, then re-use the oak in new make.

alohashine wrote:I've been using oak staves from a barrel planter I picked up at a hardware store. I broke it apart and planed it down, cutting them into 1"x4"X1" sticks.
The sticks I've toasted in the oven seem to give a very nice flavor to my product.
The sticks I've charred on my grill (using an open flame) seem to give too much of a campfire taste.
I also used too much wood on my previous batches.

Give the charred ones more time after taking the oak off. I did the same thing with a barrel planter, using 1"x1"x5" sticks, charred outside. One per pint jar. 3-6 months on oak, then 4-6 months off oak, amazing flavors and all the woody charred flavors settle out.

Some other things to consider, using a clean burning flame to char the wood (like a torch you'd use to solder pipe) with no soot some have said can be better. Also, after charring to soak the sticks in clean water for a day and shake off the loose bits of char before putting it in the spirit.

I run mine through a britta water filter seems to pull off the tiny bits of char

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chickenfeed wrote:I run mine through a britta water filter seems to pull off the tiny bits of char

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And I love the dissolved plastic taste that the britta imparts

Don't use plastics with high proof ethanol!!

OVZ

Edited to say Oops thought you were running your rum through the britta, now I see that it's just the char water
But why??
OVZ

Pikey wrote:Over here I just goo and get oak out of the woods - don't you have oak growing nearby ?

Hahaha I wish! Live on an island and no oak to be found out here. Wanna send me some??

NZChris wrote:If you use too much, don't take it out. Just wait longer.

I massively over-oaked a fast aging experiment to a Coke color a while back, but the tannins that spoiled it disappeared over the next few months.

Don't be in too much of a hurry. I leave the wood in mine until I proof the last of the demijohn, then re-use the oak in new make.

Thanks nzchris. U always give me great advice and I mean it. Some members bark at me and scold me. You are always patient and forthcoming with fantastic tips. Thumbs up

I have been polishing at 40% with a britta should i stop thought the no plastic was only for the still not for after iys watered back to 40

chickenfeed wrote:I have been polishing at 40% with a britta should i stop thought the no plastic was only for the still not for after iys watered back to 40

Who told you that was a good idea?

I have no idea why anybody would want to do that to a rum.

alohashine wrote:

Pikey wrote:Over here I just goo and get oak out of the woods - don't you have oak growing nearby ?

Hahaha I wish! Live on an island and no oak to be found out here. Wanna send me some??

I get my oak from eBay, seller is chef440rt. He can mix and match toasted and charred. I age in 1 gallon glass jugs, whiskey gets 2 sticks per gallon for about 12 months. I keep the used sticks for rum, 4 per gallon. I use all charred but next oak order will try a little toasted as well