Panela Rum with Molasses Recipe and Ratios

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Dougmatt
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Panela Rum with Molasses Recipe and Ratios

Post by Dougmatt »

Hi all, thanks for all the great threads on Panela Rum around here, but I’ve seen quite a few different swings at ratio and recipes with none in tried and true. I didn’t want to hijack someone’s thread, so starting a new one for feedback on my plan.

I just received 100#’s from sugardaddy and here is my plan based on what I’ve read and done in previous batches adjusted to 6 gallon batch:

Ferment 1 - moly + Panela
- .75 Gallon TSC feedgrade Molasses (1G / 8G wash)
- 6 lbs SugarDaddy Panela (1lb / net wash size)
- Made to a 6 gallon wash
- Bakers yeast
- Est OG ~ 1.075 - 1.080
- Est FG - 1.020 - 1.025
- % Abv estimated with non fermentables based on Moly experience and some test runs ~ 6.5 - 7.9% (been averaging 7.4ish personally)

Dunder - will be adding .5 gallons of hot Dunder from batch about to run, but wasn’t necessary in previous test runs
infected Dunder - I have it from a Rum made a year ago, but not planning to use it….
Trub - not planning to use it, but will have it if someone thinks it would help
Nutrients - not planning to add anything, but do have options
Oyster shell - not planning to use, but have them

Process
- add TSC Molassas to bucket
- add all Panela to bucket
- add hot Dunder (can substitute hot water at this stage)
- stir to melt Panela ( I’ve seen Larry’s process video which is awesome, but a spoon works well for me at this size)
- water to 6 gallon mark total shooting to land at ~90 degrees
- pitch bakers yeast (mine is Fleischmann’s)
- strap 80 degree brew belt to bucket, seems to work for me for a quick warm ferment
- ferment dry - been averaging 3 - 4 days
- strip run 2/3 of batch (~3.75 gallons) with any accumulated feints from prior runs
- 1.5 run (spirit run of prior strip with remaining 1/3 of batch (~2 gallons)… maybe it’s a 1.33 run :wink: )

Aging: plan to keep 750 ml white to drink early, age the rest 1 year before sampling anything on oak, and trying to decide which barrels to use…. Options are:
1 x badmo medium toast new barrel (when it arrives as just ordered it)
1x 6 gallon spent wine barrel that has been used with Spanish and Italian red varietals (5 batches)
1 x 5 gallon new Gibbs barrel that I would have to order, and want to use with HBB for at least a year first so dunno bout that. :problem:

Plan to oak age at 58%.

Also, I have some pure molasses (SBB recipe) and Panela + molasses (above ratios) which I can tap into to blend and fill the wine barrel as the 100#s May not get me there depending on cuts. I also sometimes use glass beads in the barrel with wine to “take up room” so the barrel is “full” when I don’t have enough product.

Some details on my setup.
- ferment in 7.6 gallon buckets, but I have as many as 4 buckets that I can use all at once
- have lots of glass carboys free so can siphon and hold while fermenting more
- my still is a 5 gallon stainless steel still (speakeasy) with a gin basket
- external heat (hot plate)
- I intend to pack the gin basket with copper mesh on 1.33 sprit runs only

So questions for everyone, especially those who have done Panela:

1- should I use the molasses? I have done a few test runs with it, but not without so will probably do a side by side this time. Just trying to learn from any one’s experience as so many say they add it in different threads.

2 - any opinion on how much molasses? I’m guessing that even though Panela has molasses in it still that there is something in the processing that warrants adding blackstrap to the mix, but still working through ratios and flavor profiles. I’m more Zacappa 23 guy for sipping than a Pusser’s Navy unless of course I’m making pain killers

3 - any other suggestions on ratio’s or any adjustments to my plan (other than buy a bigger fermenter and still :oops: which isn’t currently an option and I’m ok with these sizes as I can move them around easily)

4 - Any opinions on the oak aging at 58%? I’ve done 62 and 58, but haven’t landed on my sweet spot yet.

5 - this will be my first time filling a barrel. With wine as I said above, I use glass beads to “take up room” when I don’t have enough wine to fill the barrel. Large bursts of Oxygen being the enemy of the wine. If I don’t have enough spirit, should I use them to reduce loss and keep as much surface contact?
I just read an article about the dangers of drinking that scared the crap out of me.

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Re: Panela Rum with Molasses Recipe and Ratios

Post by Bushman »

Your recipe has a little more blackstrap to Panela than mine which is probably a good thing unless you like a lighter rum. If you haven’t been to the BVI your comment about Pusser’s and pain killers might be lost to some. I think your safe in the range you suggest for aging. Go for it and let us know the results.
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Re: Panela Rum with Molasses Recipe and Ratios

Post by OtisT »

Sounds like a good plan. Let us know how it turns out.

I think new oak can overpower a panela rum. If you want a whiskey like rum, the new barrels could work. I have never tried aging rum on wine soaked oak, but if it was a good wine I would give that barrel a try.

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Re: Panela Rum with Molasses Recipe and Ratios

Post by NZChris »

I keep my ferments separate, strip and spirit run to get the finest product I can from each, age appropriately for the type of rum, then blend years later.

If you are in a hurry to put something in the drinks cabinet, there are some tricks posted on the forum.
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Re: Panela Rum with Molasses Recipe and Ratios

Post by Dougmatt »

Thanks for the responses all.

@bushman - thanks for the molasses and aging feedback! I discovered pain killers in Florida, but later went to the BVI and visited the Pusser’s facility and bar. Love Pain Killers, cannot drink Pusser’s straight… also I’ve tried other similar rums in the drink, but they just get lost in it so I stick with their brand. For those who might be curious, recipe at the bottom of this post (hopefully this is ok to post, it is also on their website).

@Otis - than you for the plan feedback. I am going to look for a used bourbon barrel and see what I can find nearby. Agree on not wanting to use new oak if I can avoid it. I put my last batch on new toasted French oak and it’s not ideal. Great rum on the nose, but too much tannin in the drink at the one year point. :sick:

@NZChris - thank you for the note. My rationale for any combining is to put together enough for a full barrel to then age, and I plan to start tasting / sampling at one year to see how it’s doing. Most of what I plan to combine will be the same recipe (above), just done I’m several small batches. I was thinking I could top off to a full barrel if I needed maybe thinking like a wine maker that I need to at least start with a full barrel, but sounds like you would recommend against that? Also, just fyi I am not I’m a hurry, my drink cabinet is pretty full. Not exactly sure what exactly prompted that comment. Perhaps my Plan to keep a small fraction white for early drinking? I thought I would do that just for a little fun while aging, but not necessary really….

Recipe for pain killer:
A blend of Pusser’s Rum, pineapple juice, orange juice, and cream of coconut, served on the rocks with an orange slice and a cherry, then topped off with freshly grated nutmeg.
Ingredients
2-ounces (60 ml) Pusser’s Rum
4-ounces (120 ml) pineapple juice
1-ounce (30 ml) orange juice
1-ounce (30 ml) cream of coconut
Freshly grated nutmeg

Directions:
Add liquid ingredients to a cocktail shaker and shake vigorously.
Pour into a big glass or goblet filled with ice. Grate fresh nutmeg on top.
Garnish with an orange slice and cherry.
Be careful–this is a smooth and sneaky drink. Enjoy!
I just read an article about the dangers of drinking that scared the crap out of me.

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Re: Panela Rum with Molasses Recipe and Ratios

Post by NZChris »

If I was running in and out of a single barrel, I would sample it before deciding what to make for each run. I don’t actually have a rum ‘recipe’, I just know the principals and make the best I can out of whatever is available at the time.
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Re: Panela Rum with Molasses Recipe and Ratios

Post by Dougmatt »

Ah. Got it now. Thanks. Going to try to take and fill this barrel, then possibly solera a few with Badmo’s if that works out for me. I’m not nearly as experienced as you ( yet ) to be able to determine what the next batch to add would need. Trying to wrap my head around the impact of molasses right now by doing 3-4 batches:

1- all blackstrap molasses
2 - above blended mix
3- all panela
4 - I have a enough fancy molasses to replace blackstrap in above so I might try it just to see

Thinking to put one small jar of each on some American oak and taste every 3 months or so until I get a sense of it.
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Re: Panela Rum with Molasses Recipe and Ratios

Post by NZChris »

If I want a preview, I have tricks I got from here;
https://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=55301
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Re: Panela Rum with Molasses Recipe and Ratios

Post by Dougmatt »

Well into production now. I have 4 fermentation buckets, and using Trub from initial washes to keep things going into the next generations. I’ve used ~50lbs of Panela so far, and have 35G of wash going. Starting stripping runs on initial batches this morning. I’ve been cutting back on OG levels as FG is coming in higher than expected.

Here’s how things are shaking out so far on the 100#’s of sugar daddy’s Panela:

August 9th at noon

Ferment 1 - moly + Panela
- .5 Gallon TSC feedgrade Moly
- ~6+ lbs Panela
- Made to a 6 gallon wash
- Trub from prior run
- .5 gallons old dunder
- OG - 1.114
- FG - 1.020
- % Abv - 12.8%

Ferment 2 - moly + Panela
- .5 Gallon TSC feedgrade Moly
- ~6 lbs Panela
- Made to a 6 gallon wash
- Trub from prior run
- .5 gallons old dunder
- OG - 1.104
- FG - 1.022
- % Abv - 10.76%

August 11 at around noon

Ferment 3 - moly + Panela
- .5 Gallon TSC feedgrade Moly
- ~6 lbs Panela
- Made to a 6 gallon wash
- .5 gallons new dunder
- OG - 1.077
- Pitched yeast at 92 degrees
- FG -
- % Abv -

Ferment 4 - moly + Panela
- .5 Gallon TSC feedgrade Moly
- ~6 lbs Panela
- Made to a 6 gallon wash
- .5 gallons new dunder
- OG - 1.075
- Pitched yeast at 100 degrees
- FG -
- % Abv -

August 13 - 10am

Ferment 5 - only Panela
- ~ 9 lbs Panela
- Made to a 6 gallon wash
- No dunder
- OG - 1.078
- Trub from ferment 2, no new yeast
- FG -
- % Abv -

August 14 - 9am

Ferment 6 - only Panela
- ~ 7 lbs Panela
- Made to a 5 gallon wash
- No dunder
- OG - 1.074
- Trub from ferment 1 no new yeast
- FG -
- % Abv -
I just read an article about the dangers of drinking that scared the crap out of me.

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Continuous Panela Rum Recipe

Post by Dougmatt »

Ok. I’m up to 30 batches now (I’ve filled a 5G bucket, a badmo barrel, and been drinking some white). I’ve got this into a continuous process if anyone is interested and I’ve decided molasses adds very little to the party so I skip it. Here’s what I’ve been doing:

First batch:
- 9 lbs Panela
- 1 gallon (hot) dunder (don’t worry if you don’t have it in the first batch, you will shortly)
- 5 gallons water
- bakers yeast
- I haven’t needed nutrients even in first clean batch
- for ph adjustment, I have good water and this has auto piloted through all batches so far

- OG is 1.078 without the dunder, dunder will mess with it a bit, it will not finish dry for me with hydrometer so you can probably boost the Panela by another pound for higher yeild, I just haven’t.

I have a 5 gallon boiler so I do 12 gallons at a time (2 buckets) which is usually enough to get 3 strips and around 1 gallon left over for a 1.5 spirt run with 3.5 gallon charges

fermentation:
- add all Panela to bucket
- add hot Dunder (can substitute hot water at this stage of first batch)
- stir well to aerate and incorporate Panela
- water to 6 gallon mark total, I add straight from tap and use warm water shooting to land at ~90 degrees
- pitch bakers yeast (mine is Fleischmann’s)
- ferment warm - I use a brew belt on bucket, but can wrap with a blanket or whatever you do normally. I shoot for >80F myself, but not maniacal about it.
- ferment dry - been averaging 3 - 4 days but leave it until ready to run which for me is usually 1-2 weeks

When ready to run
- pull strip run from top of a bucket, siphon remaining to glass carboys, but leave Trub in the buckets (small layer, but will be obvious to you where the yeast has settled to the bottom, averages about 1/2 gallon or less). You will be dumping dunder in on this from your stripping runs. I go ahead an add the next batch of Panela while the still is heating up. I go ahead and dump in 9lbs of Panela and add a little water (enough to cover the Panela). I feel this keeps the yeast happy, but I’ve also not done this until later and it works fine.


strips:
- strip first batch
- dump 1 gallon of dunder into each bucket (hot) and setup the next fermentation as above, the hot Dunder will kill some yeast (future nutrients), but more than enough lives on to continue the journey.
- strip 2 more batches.
- on strip I go to around 35% low wine Abv and I get about 3/4 gallon per strip. I could go lower, but I like using wash to add more flavor In next step

Spirit Run:
- Add strips to boiler (for me this is ~2.25 gallons)
- add feints from prior run to boiler - this is usually around 1 gallon depending on my cuts
- top off boiler with remaining wash to correct fill level (around .75 gallon for me)
- run slow as per normal spirit run

I usually get around 3-3.5L of product at 60% ABV out of this process. It’s a nice flavorful product, that drinks well early, but improves over time.

So the numbers
3L @ 60% (i usually yield more, but worst case) => 4.2L @43% or ~5.5 @ 750ml bottles
18lbs Panela at $2 a lb (I pay much less in bulk, but will use $2) that’s $36 or $6.50 a bottle or less for some nice Rum. Order in bulk and it’s closer to $3 a bottle. Yeast is free after first run as well.

Not bad. Comments welcome!
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Re: Panela Rum with Molasses Recipe and Ratios

Post by Dougmatt »

Just ordered another 165# of panela from SD. If anyone in the north Georgia area wants some, let me know as it’s a little more than I need. With shipping it’s < $2 a pound.
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Re: Panela Rum with Molasses Recipe and Ratios

Post by OtisT »

Hi Dougmatt, I read through your process and it seems pretty solid. :thumbup: I hope you write about how these spirits as they age. The wood will make or break your spirit.
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Re: Panela Rum with Molasses Recipe and Ratios

Post by Dougmatt »

OtisT wrote: Sun Jan 08, 2023 10:49 am Hi Dougmatt, I read through your process and it seems pretty solid. :thumbup: I hope you write about how these spirits as they age. The wood will make or break your spirit.
Thanks for the feedback! My first 5G I put in a once used fresh dumped bourbon barrel and then I filled a new medium toast, no char Badmo. I’m planning to setup a solera once I get this new batch. I had a party in December and we dipped into the 5G a bit. Just remember it was tasting pretty darn good, smooth with nice vanilla notes at barrel strength. My wife convinced me to do dry January :thumbdown: which at least keeps me out of it until February :silent: . Will write up and post some tasting notes then.
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Re: Panela Rum with Molasses Recipe and Ratios

Post by Dougmatt »

Pulled a taster out of the 5G barrel today. Wow what a difference 3 months makes. Nice caramel color. Nose: caramel, citrus and a little spice. Palate: tropical fruit, caramel, wood smoke, cinnamon, and a little vanilla and baking spices.

It has developed a bit of tanic bite I believe from the wood, but it could be I left a little too much heads in the mix. Didn’t have this bite at last taste though….

Tasted at 55%. Proofed a bottle down to 43% and will keep it around until next few tastings to see how it develops.
B5939F7D-947F-49A5-A976-079FD29D863D.jpeg
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Re: Panela Rum with Molasses Recipe and Ratios

Post by Saltbush Bill »

Dougmatt wrote: Sun Feb 12, 2023 12:27 pm PS I am never going to figure out photos on this site :)
You and me both, I just tried to turn your photo and it went back in exactly the same way.......sometimes I can sometimes I cant.
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Re: Panela Rum with Molasses Recipe and Ratios

Post by Yummyrum »

Saltbush Bill wrote: Sun Feb 12, 2023 2:00 pm
Dougmatt wrote: Sun Feb 12, 2023 12:27 pm PS I am never going to figure out photos on this site :)
You and me both, I just tried to turn your photo and it went back in exactly the same way.......sometimes I can sometimes I cant.
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Re: Panela Rum with Molasses Recipe and Ratios

Post by Dougmatt »

Yummyrum wrote: Sun Feb 12, 2023 4:34 pm
Saltbush Bill wrote: Sun Feb 12, 2023 2:00 pm
Dougmatt wrote: Sun Feb 12, 2023 12:27 pm PS I am never going to figure out photos on this site :)
You and me both, I just tried to turn your photo and it went back in exactly the same way.......sometimes I can sometimes I cant.
My lucky day
Yah!

We need a picture posting sticky or something…,
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Re: Panela Rum with Molasses Recipe and Ratios

Post by Dougmatt »

Since last update, I’ve worked my way through the 165#’s of Panella and 6G of feed molasses. I’m about a gallon away from filling the 3rd barrel in the solera. Would probably have them all full if it wasn’t for that pesky drain valve on the badmo ;).

Speaking of that valve, I Just pulled a bottle off the badmo at the 9 month point. Excellent flavors. Light smoke and banana on the nose, buttery mouth feel and spicy baking spice, vanilla and citrus pallet coming out of the barrel at 58%. Proofed down to 40% and will taste again in a few days after it recovers. Drank nice neat, and looking forward to cocktails this summer.

Here’s my current solera situation :

Entry barrel 1- Former wine - 5G, Hungarian oak, med toast
- first fill 6/1/2023
- sitting at ~4G @65%
Aging barrel 2- first dump bourbon - 5G med toast, heavy char, previously used American oak
- first fill 9/1/2022
- topped up with new make 2/20/2023
- topped up with new make 6/1/2023
- full at 5G @60%
3- Badmo - med toast, no char, I think American oak but need to confirm.
- First fill 8/19/2022
- topped up from barrel 2 2/20/2023
- topped up from barrel 2 6/1/2023
- Full at 1.7G @58%

I decided to go ahead and pull from the 5G former bourbon barrel to top up the badmo, top off barrel 2 with new make, then dump my Chardonnay and add the rest of the new make to that barrel to get a third barrel in the system.

Decisions I need to make soon:
- when I pull my next bottle from the badmo, should I top up or drop the proof. Some people seem to suggest keeping the proof in the last barrel closer to bottle strength. I’m thinking about adjusting it down closer to 50% but haven’t decided yet.
- I have about 30G of wash and 2.5 gallons of low wines still to run. Should top off my barrel 1 and leave me with ~2.5 gallons. Need to decide how I want to store that. Thinking I will keep it in glass instead of dumping another wine barrel because I want to switch back to HBB for awhile not shoot to fill another 5G ;). Will need to decide if I put it on oak or just leave it white.
- should I stay with the same recipe and keep the solera “pure” or switch it up and bring in some different flavors from other recipes.
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Re: Panela Rum with Molasses Recipe and Ratios

Post by NZChris »

They are all questions that I have to consider in my own shed.

I age in glass but the same questions apply. If the wood from an emptied Whiskey demijohn might make make a nice contribution to a rum, I add it. My rum wood never gets put into whiskey, so I don't have experience with the results of doing that.

No flavored product gets stored in glass after aging in my shed. Aging in glass continues on the wood until the last bottle is proofed for the drinks cabinet, then a decision has to be made as to where the wood should go next.
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