SBB's All Molasses Rum Recipe

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Saltbush Bill
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SBB's All Molasses Rum Recipe

Post by Saltbush Bill »

This is the way that I have made my rum for the last 4-5 years.
The recipe and method below is a collection of ideas and methods that I have gathered and experimented with from other Rum recipes that I’ve found on the different distilling forums over my time in the hobby.
The one main difference with this recipe from most of the others on the forums is that it doesn’t use any added sugar, it is 100% molasses.
It will probably only suit those of you who have access to a lot of good quality cheap stock feed or black strap molasses.

EQUIPMENT AND INGREDIENTS FOR A 27 L WASH.....METRIC
First Wash.
30L fermenter
8L of molasses
Contents of 1x vitamin B complex capsule or 1x ground up Vit B tablet.
1 good pinch Epsom Salts.
Lowens or other Bakers Yeast.
Boiling Water 4-5 L boiling or very hot water.

EQUIPMENT AND INGREDIENTS FOR A 7.1 US GAL WASH.....US GAL
First Wash.
8 Gal fermenter
2.1 Gal of molasses a smidgen over 2 will do
Contents of 1x vitamin B complex capsule or 1x ground up Vit B tablet.
1 good pinch Epsom Salts...a pinch is what you grab between two finger tips
Lowens or other Bakers Yeast.
Boiling Water 1.3 Gal boiling or very hot water. 1.5 gal wont hurt

METHOD
Start by putting the 8L/ 2.1Gal of molasses into the Fermenter.
Tip the 5 L/1.3Gal of boiling water in on top and stir to fully dissolve the Molasses.
Add cold water to around 25L/6.6 Gal mark and add Vitamin B and Epsom Salts.
I don’t put the Vit B in until this point because I’ve read that too much heat will destroy the Vit B. Not sure if this is true or not.
Top fermenter up with cold water to the 27-28L/ 7.3 Gal mark.
Throw in a good handful of Lowans or other Bakers Yeast.

NOTES
IN ALL SUBSEQUENT WASHES REPLACE THE HOT WATER WITH 4L/ 1Gal OF VERY HOT DUNDER FROM THE LAST RUN.
Sticking to this quantity of dunder has meant that I have never had to fiddle with or worry about PH in over 50 generations.
Depending on your water type and PH it may vary for you.
Don’t ask for SG’s or FG’s of this wash cause I don’t work that way, nor do Molasses washes in my opinion.
If it has stopped fizzing , tastes dry and has a sour taste it’s done. If is still sweet it’s not done.
Using the quantities above should give you an initial wash temp of between 35-38c /95-100f in an average climate. Baker’s Yeast can handle that temperature.
The high pitch temp will have the wash off to a fast start. You should be seeing action within an hour……by the next morning it should be going hard.
I always pitch new yeast with this recipe , dumping the hot dunder on to the old yeast bed kills the yeast and turns it to nutrients for the new yeast.
You can add cold dunder and let the old yeast bed do the work again if you wish, but the ferment will take a lot longer to get going and won’t be as vigorous as it will using hot dunder and fresh yeast.
In warm weather conditions this wash should be done in 5 to 7 days sometimes sooner, don’t panic if sometimes it takes a bit takes longer.
I’ve made this wash in many sizes from 28L/7.4Gal up to 180L/ 47.5 gal , it should scale up to any size you want without trouble.
I sometimes single run this wash through 4 plates , other times I strip a wash or two and then mix them 1/3 strip to 2/3 wash. Both ways give good results.
At the end of the run I always strip way down to cloudy tails …these low wines along with the heads and other tails cut from the run go into the boiler next run.

CUTS
I don’t like headaches and I don’t like the taste of tails, I keep hearts only ,occasionally I may venture into some of the very slightly heads and tails jars .
If you want to go down the path of adding heads and tails that’s your choice.

OAKING AND AGEING.
This rum is pretty rough straight off the still, three months on oak it gets better, 6 months better again…..12 months and longer, it just gets better and better as it ages in my opinion.
Everyone likes different things when it comes to oak , I don’t like char or French oak in rum, char gives it a smoky taste and French tastes too sweet to me. Experiment and find what suits you and your taste buds.
My favourite is medium toast American Oak domino's or medium toast home toasted sticks..both give a different result , but both are good.
I use 1 x home made stick roughly ¾ inch x ¾ inch x 6 inches per Liter. If using domino's I split them in half length ways and visualize a similar amount of oak……near enough is good enough.
This is my method of dissolving Molasses after adding the dunder. It saves a lot of stirring. It also helps with aerating the wash at the same time
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This is how your ferment should look and sound after about 10 -12 hours
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Last edited by Saltbush Bill on Fri Jun 29, 2018 3:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: SBB's All Molasses Rum Recipe

Post by Swedish Pride »

Nice write up mate, Might have to look in to getting proper molly to give this a go.
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Re: SBB's All Molasses Rum Recipe

Post by Copperhead road »

I am very surprised your Rum Recipe is not already here Salty considering it sits in the 100% PROVEN SECTION on numerous distilling forums.
As you know I have never made rum before but have got myself a new 60L Appalachian Oak Barrel ready and waiting to be filled with saltbush bill rum! :D
I am sure the rum nuts here will love it.... :clap:
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Re: SBB's All Molasses Rum Recipe

Post by Yummyrum »

Nice write up Salty . Thats pretty much exactly how I do it and it works perfectly .
If there is a vote for Tried and true , you got mine .

The pressure cleaner method works for me too. :thumbup:

Maybe me and you get similar type mollases .... but I find it hard to believe in this big wide world that there can be that much difference that this recipe / method for 100% mollases isn't followed more often :roll:
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Re: SBB's All Molasses Rum Recipe

Post by Shine0n »

Thanks for posting that Saltbushbill, I've also read your recipe in another site. Sounds good!

I'm gonna try this one but since my flute isn't finished I'll be using my double retort potstill.

How is this rum white?
I've just in the recent past started to like dark rums and have alot of toasted white oak.
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Re: SBB's All Molasses Rum Recipe

Post by durty_dunderpants »

great read that SBB, nice clear writeup and cool to see some other ideas.

near as what i'm doing for rum washes too, so tried / proven, don't need no convincing here! :thumbup:

be interested if ya know what sort of sugar content you other allmolly guys are getting in your molly (or alcohol in the wash) just for the comparism? guessing it must be similar. stuff i get is 44% sugar which means can pack plenty flavour in. agree that it's pretty rough off the still though, swear i can taste all the funk of the field in it!
ShineOn wrote:How is this rum white?
i can say for me, refluxxed to bout 92% a tight heart cut is pretty damn sweet white.. (but ya gotta wait 3 months for it to come round still!). pot hearts seem like they could work.. i think i just got a mental block from bacardi as light rum is the only thing that stays white round here :roll:
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Re: SBB's All Molasses Rum Recipe

Post by Copperhead road »

Its a shame HD has such limited storage when uploading attachments, SBB has some great videos that he has done to show beginners the fermentation process.
Normally the short videos are posted with his recipe.
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Re: SBB's All Molasses Rum Recipe

Post by Saltbush Bill »

Swedish Pride wrote:Might have to look in to getting proper molly to give this a go.
Might make a rum drinker out of you yet SP. :thumbup:
Yummyrum wrote:The pressure cleaner method works for me too. :thumbup:
Makes life a bit easier.
Shine0n wrote:How is this rum white?
I don't drink it white ShineOn but it might be ok through a reflux still, I might give it a go one day.
durty_dunderpants wrote:just for the comparism? guessing it must be similar. stuff i get is 44% sugar
From what Ive read and what local mill workers tell me it should be between 43-47% sugar. The yield from a wash always seems to be about the same so it cant vary much. If you did happen to have a lower sugar content molasses its as simple as using more molasses in a wash.
Copperhead road wrote:Normally the short videos are posted with his recipe.
They are there Copper , you just need to click the links.
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Re: SBB's All Molasses Rum Recipe

Post by Copperhead road »

I really should wear my spectacles :shock:
I am used to seeing the actual videos at the bottom, my bad.... :oops:
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Re: SBB's All Molasses Rum Recipe

Post by Tater »

Yummyrum wrote:Nice write up Salty . Thats pretty much exactly how I do it and it works perfectly .
If there is a vote for Tried and true , you got mine .

The pressure cleaner method works for me too. :thumbup:

Maybe me and you get similar type mollases .... but I find it hard to believe in this big wide world that there can be that much difference that this recipe / method for 100% mollases isn't followed more often :roll:
agreed yummy well as this recipe been received on other sites don't see why it shouldn't be in tried and true .
I use a pot still.Sometimes with a thumper
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Re: SBB's All Molasses Rum Recipe

Post by Shine0n »

Sorry if off topic

CONGRATS SBB!!!!
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Re: SBB's All Molasses Rum Recipe

Post by Yummyrum »

Amen to that Tater .

Congratulations Salty :thumbup: ...... 'bout bloody time .
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Re: SBB's All Molasses Rum Recipe

Post by Saltbush Bill »

Thanks for the votes of confidence folks, I wasn't really expecting that to happen quite so quickly or possibly at all.
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Re: SBB's All Molasses Rum Recipe

Post by Copperhead road »

Congratulations Salty, well deserved & a fantastic achievement to have your recipe in Tried and True section of the biggest home distilling site on the planet!
World Class effort @tater, SBB RUM will be known all over the globe now, mind you it has become quite famous in OZ already. :thumbup:
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Re: SBB's All Molasses Rum Recipe

Post by NewZealandDreamer »

Thank you for the excellent detail. This is nearly exactly how I've successfully done it, too.
May I ask the details of your gear? Copper or stainless?
Are both runs through a pot still? You mentioned "4 plates" which suggests reflux / column.
I've always double pot distilled, but now you have me wondering about doing first run in the pot, and second through the column. Thanks!
(FYI, I'm running the 5 gal. Grainfather with copper alembic, plus I have the T500 stainless column)
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Re: SBB's All Molasses Rum Recipe

Post by Saltbush Bill »

NewZealandDreamer wrote:May I ask the details of your gear? Copper or stainless?
I have both a pot and a plated column, both are full copper. Stainless boiler running copper off cuts in it.
NewZealandDreamer wrote:Are both runs through a pot still? You mentioned "4 plates" which suggests reflux / column.
Yes normally its run through a plated column using 4 plates. Stripping can be done using either the column or the pot.
.
NewZealandDreamer wrote:I've always double pot distilled, but now you have me wondering about doing first run in the pot, and second through the column. Thanks!
Try different ways , see what you like, different distilling methods will give different flavor intensities.
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Re: SBB's All Molasses Rum Recipe

Post by Jimy Dee »

This is a great development and t&t all the way. When I started at this just a couple of years ago I got great help from Yummyrum and Salty gave me a few quality pointers too about all molasses rum. I also scoured HD for what Salty had up about his all moll rum - Yummy advised me Salty made the best rum and was the guru to be learned from. I think both of ye are mates and I hope Salty does not mind me including Yummy in this post - I think I'm safe as Aussies tend to be chilled and solid grounded people. In any event I do my rums following this method, only difference is that I only put in Epsom salts.

I was also strongly advised to not shy away from high fermenting temps - circa 30C all the way. Mine ferment in around 2 days when temps are high. I have loads of cheap agri molasses available to me so may be the low sugar content indicates the short fermenting time - I really don't know. I only have these great Aussies to thank for my all moll rum knowledge and delighted Saltys is gone to T&T.

I believe that the best yeast for rum is bread yeast as this is grown on in its commercial production on a molasses base, and arising therefrom bread yeast loves all moll washes. Bread yeast tends to be really cheap and available in most supermarkets.

Finally I think all beginners should start with a sugar wash, proceed to Saltys all moll wash, then an all grain wash and then start deciding what they might like to consentrate on from there.

To miss out on Saltys all moll rum would indicate an incomplete distillers apprenticeship in my opinion. This recipe/protocol should be a significant chapter to be learned in any distillers hand book. Well done Salty and thanks for sharing and educating us all.
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Re: SBB's All Molasses Rum Recipe

Post by Copperhead road »

Good post Jimy Dee, yummy & Salty played a big part of what’s in my bottle also......
They both fantastic teachers to learn from! :ebiggrin:
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Re: SBB's All Molasses Rum Recipe

Post by Duncan W »

Thank you for posting your recipe and method Saltbush Bill. :clap: Got into this hobby less than 2 years ago and have only ran UJSSM (thank you Uncle Jesse). This is my first attempt at rum.

Being a whiskey guy, this all molasses recipe seemed to fit my tastes as I was hoping for a deeper rum flavour. Also, feed molasses is inexpensive here (product label reads 41.7% total sugars). Stripped to 3 generations through my 50L keg pot still and now have 12L of cask strength rum on toasted oak!!! As you said "this rum is pretty rough straight off the still"... agreed, the sampling was somewhat discouraging over the strip/spirit runs. But after only 2 weeks on toasted oak the flavours are greatly improving! My brother is a rum guy and I hope to pass SBB Rum around this Xmas.
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Re: SBB's All Molasses Rum Recipe

Post by Saltbush Bill »

Time and oak do great things to rum :thumbup: Thanks for the feed back Duncan.
Let us know how it progresses.
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Re: SBB's All Molasses Rum Recipe

Post by rubelstrudel »

Saltbush, are you sure the vitamins makes any difference? I was under the impression that you feed molasses to horses to give them a vitamin B boost. Ergo that molasses was full of vitamin B.
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Re: SBB's All Molasses Rum Recipe

Post by Saltbush Bill »

rubelstrudel wrote:I was under the impression that you feed molasses to horses to give them a vitamin B boost.
As far as I am aware working horses are fed molasses as an energy source, any vitamins gained would be a secondary consideration. Its fed to cattle in drought conditions for the same reason.
rubelstrudel wrote:Ergo that molasses was full of vitamin B.
Most molasses has quite a lot of vitamins in it ,some of those vitamins are in the B group. The amount of each probably also depends on the age and quality of the molasses.
Its easy enough to google what those vitamins are and how much of each there is if you are that interested.
As yeasts like B I don't see that adding a little extra is a problem.
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Re: SBB's All Molasses Rum Recipe

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Saltbush Bill wrote: As yeasts like B I don't see that adding a little extra is a problem.
Bang On! I even use a bit for good measure with my grain whiskey even know many say it’s not necessary, more so out of habit and routine. If your getting good results in your bottle why change anything. :thumbup:

Sorry for off topic in relation to SBB RUM
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Re: SBB's All Molasses Rum Recipe

Post by Yummyrum »

I do Saltys recipe but I don’t use B vits . So far with fresh mollases It works perfectly fine without them ,But I agree , if you have them there , put it in , can’t do any harm .
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Re: SBB's All Molasses Rum Recipe

Post by The Baker »

To feed it to the cows in a drought you mix it with water and throw it on the dry hay.

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Re: SBB's All Molasses Rum Recipe

Post by Saltbush Bill »

The Baker wrote:To feed it to the cows in a drought you mix it with water and throw it on the dry hay.

Geoff
That depends where in Australia or the world you are, here its fed straight but often its mixed with urea first. Cows just lick it out of a container on the ground.
Off topic but this is how you can do it.
https://www.daf.qld.gov.au/business-pri ... eef-cattle" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
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Re: SBB's All Molasses Rum Recipe

Post by googe »

Congrats sbb :thumbup:
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Re: SBB's All Molasses Rum Recipe

Post by rubelstrudel »

So after reading the links and doing some research I have found out that molasses normally have enough B6 but very little B12. So adding a Vitamin B boost may have some effect.
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Re: SBB's All Molasses Rum Recipe

Post by bentstick »

Congrats SBB,cheers mate! I followed SBB's recipe to the letter through 90 gals of humane consumption grade molasses, I can attest to this rum,its good white(yes yes SBB I know) and oaked some in a 5 gal barrel for 2 yrs,and some was oaked in 1/2 gal jars with dominoes.All was good.
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Re: SBB's All Molasses Rum Recipe

Post by Woodsy71 »

Well done, Salty!
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