Hi, This is my first post here (other than the Welcome post) and firstly I want to thank you for making me do the required reading - I already know more than I thought I would!
So, I want to make a good rum, and my reading through this forum has pointed me to the Hook Rum Recipe (written for 60 litres), and to convert it down for my "normal" sized fermentor (which I don't fill above 23-25 litres) I think my reading tells me I should be putting in the following ingredient amounts:
- 2.5 litres molasses
- 2kg raw sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon tomato paste (because molasses is low in nitrogen)
- First run: Make up final 23-25 litre volume with water, plus 1/2 teaspoon citric acid (not sure why the citric acid)
- Subsequent runs: Make up final 23-25 litre volume with 1/3 dunder and 2/3 water, plus some calcium carbonate (not sure why the calcium carbonate or how much)
- If using tap water, then a pinch of vitamin C to neutralise any chlorine (but I'll be using rainwater, see below)
- 50 grams dried bakers yeast
- Keep ferment at 25-30 degrees Centigrade
- When all airlock bubbling has finished, leave it another week, then taste it: if there's still sweetness to the taste then leave it, but if it tastes dry then run it
So that seems to be where I'm heading, but because I want to get this right, and because the recycling of the dunder is apparently very important for future results (meaning I want to get this right from the beginning!), I'd love for any of you out there with experience with this Hook recipe (or any other rum recipes) to check me on the following:
1. Have I got all the above ingredient amounts right for a 23-25 litre ferment?
2. All my water here is pure rainwater - it's filtered down to 1 micron and then put through a UV filter, so is extremely clean, but like all rainwater it tends to be slightly acidic rather than neutral. So I'm assuming I skip the above-mentioned vitamin C (as there's no chlorine to neutralise), but should I be adding anything not already mentioned in the above recipe to counteract the slight acidity of the rainwater? And if so, do I need to know the exact pH of the rainwater (most test kits don't seem to give accurate readings, especially for low pHs, but just give a general indication)?
3. I think "dunder" in this context means what's left in the still after the distillation, correct? Do I let it settle first before I collect it, and collect off the top? Or do I collect it all mixed up? (I'm assuming that could make a difference to future taste profiles of subsequent runs?)
4. I'm not sure what the above citric acid (in the first run without dunder) and calcium carbonate (in subsequent runs with dunder) ingredients do, but should my use of these be changed due to using rainwater? And if so, by how much?
5. Regarding the above recipe, is there any difference between using "2kg raw sugar", or replacing that with "1kg raw sugar plus 1kg brown sugar"? From a newbie perspective that sounds pretty much the same, but brown sugar is different to raw sugar (contains some molasses for flavouring?) and so that might make the "available sugars" different? On the other hand, would using the two different types of sugars create more of a flavour profile in the resultant rum?
6. Lastly, when I do the run in my pot still (a new purchase for me), should I be adding a few drops of "distilling conditioner" to stop foaming (which I'm used to using with my neutral runs in my reflux still)?
A big appreciative thanks in advance for any help from the knowledgable minds out there! I really do want this to work!
Hook rum with rainwater?
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