Home Distiller

Howdy Home Distiller Community,

Several of us are paying tribute to the memory of our good friend Ben (Badmotivator) Quady, who left us all too soon in a paragliding accident on July 1st, 2023. Ben was a true pioneer, always on the lookout for innovative approaches in his endeavors.

In the upcoming weeks, several community members will be creating videos and content as tributes to Ben. We want to extend this opportunity to the entire community. If you'd like to craft a tribute rum in his memory, we invite you to join us and put your unique spin on it.

Ben had a deep understanding of barrel aging and wood, favoring Light Toast with a #2 Char for Panela Rums. Nevertheless, don't hesitate to explore your creativity and add your personal twist. Let's celebrate Ben's adventurous spirit by crafting something extraordinary in his honor.

Here's a simple recipe to get you started:

"Ben's Panela Rum Wash"
Ingredients:
Panela: 25 kg (break it down for easy combining)
Water: 100 liters
Rum yeast: Fleischmann's bread yeast
Nutrients (optional): A touch of yeast nutrient or some boiled baker's yeast.
Distillation style: Double distillation with a stripping run and spirit run.

I'm eager to hear about everyone's projects and what you create. Feel free to share your triumphs, but also embrace any setbacks. Ben always found failures very interesting.

-Christopher

I'm in, will probably start a BadMo rum next week

Stay safe
OVZ

Man, I was just looking at the justpanela site...

Alas, panela seems to be prohibitively expensive here in the UK. It's about £15 a kg from an initial search. But I've just happened to have finished a stripping run for a rum (using black treacle and cane sugar) which will go in my recently delivered (this morning) BadMo ex-bourbon barrels (Thanks for that adjustment to the order, Christopher!) once I've done my spirit run and selected the cuts, and so that'll be my tribute to Ben. I'll let it sit for at least a couple of years (will get it hidden out of temptation's way!).

This looks like a "TODAY ONLY" price for Panela on Amazon

I just ordered 5 packs (10 lbs) for $13.20 US, free shipping. I tried to add more, but it has a limit of 5.

I’m in too.

I prefer a little molasses with my panela. 15% molasses and 85% panela gives my drop just a hint of that traditional rum smell. 55 lb panela and 10 lb molasses will give me almost 3 gallons of barrel strength rum after the cut. Ben’s batch will be going into several used 1 gallon Badmo barrels, medium toast/no char. These have been previously used about 2.5 years for previous batches of rum.

Thanks for that link, Higgins. I just ordered some as well.

As it happens, my last batch of Panela rum is ready to strip right now. If anyone has any suggestions on how I can do something special as a tribute to Ben, as part of this project, I’d love to hear it and take part.

I’m in!

44# panela, 4g blackstrap ordered. 5g rumski dunder on hand as well as 3g rumski feints. I’ll make a pot stilled batch and solera on glass I have a badmo #157 M3 currently about 1/2 full of ratbastard rumski that needs topping up

Cheers,
jonny

higgins wrote: ↑Fri Sep 15, 2023 5:10 am This looks like a "TODAY ONLY" price for Panela on Amazon

I just ordered 5 packs (10 lbs) for $13.20 US, free shipping. I tried to add more, but it has a limit of 5.

Thanks! I have 20 pounds on the way. Got my son in law to order some too.

These ingredients all sound fantastic! I'm genuinely excited for everyone's projects.

The Panela I linked to is no longer on sale, but there is another (2 lb cakes for $2.77, limit of 5) that I bought for $15 shipped.
Panela

https://www.webstaurantstore.com/wholes ... 91829.html

Does that look like the right stuff?

Or maybe this one?
https://www.azurestandard.com/shop/prod ... kage=SW034

Edit:
I think this might be the right one to use?
https://www.azurestandard.com/shop/prod ... kage=SW046

The first two are centrifuged it looks like? The last link says "nothing added or taken away".

I’m curious, is there any plan to have any kind of organized tribute, or is the idea simply that anyone who wants to can take part in spirit?

For my part, I intend to take some 2 year old UJSSM out of BadMo #218 and refill it with panela rum.

tombombadil wrote: ↑Fri Sep 22, 2023 5:51 pm https://www.webstaurantstore.com/wholes ... 91829.html

Does that look like the right stuff?

Or maybe this one?
https://www.azurestandard.com/shop/prod ... kage=SW034

Edit:
I think this might be the right one to use?
https://www.azurestandard.com/shop/prod ... kage=SW046

The first two are centrifuged it looks like? The last link says "nothing added or taken away".

I could be wrong here but my understanding is that demerera sugar while natural is missing the process side of what make panela, panela... I think the difference is that the panela sugars are more caramelized and has more molasses.

BTW, love the name... it's good to see another Tolkien nerd in the wild.

Tom, of those choices I'd use the Sucanat. Demerara and Turbinado have been processed to remove some of the molasses. The Sucanat is a raw sugar and has not had any molasses removed. I've read that Demerara has about 3% molly, and raw sugar has about 5% molly, so not a big difference.

There are many names for the same type of raw sugar - Panela, Piloncillo, Rapadura, Muscovado, Gur, Jaggery to name some of them. They are all regional names for their version of evaporated cane juice and have a very similar taste (although I have not tasted Rapadura or Gur). They all have about 5-6% molasses content.

I have 20 lbs of Panela and a gallon of Evolved Habitats Deer attractant molasses from Tractor Supply. I know I want to use some molasses for this tribute rum, but not sure how much. I've made 2 rums so far - my preference for rums is amber to dark and full of flavor.

• The first was 50% Golden Barrel blackstrap molly (food grade) and 50% Demerara sugar (50/50 by weight), OG 1.081, FG 1.005, double pot stilled, and is now 3 yrs old on oak sticks. By itself it is quite nice, smooth, fairly light bodied, but not much like any commercial rum I've had.
• The second was made from 100% GB blackstrap, OG 1.083, FG 1.015, double pot stilled, and is now 2.5 yrs old on oak sticks. It is also quite nice, and has a more 'rummy' character to it with the molasses flavor prominent, and is a bit more heavy bodied.

A 50/50 blend of the two is better than either alone. I'm guessing this equates to a rum with around 75% molly by weight.

And I'm guessing the EH molly will have less sugar content than the GB molly, so will have a higher FG.

I think I'll pick up another gallon of the EH molly for this tribute rum. I plan to age mine in a Badmo clone with a head made from used bourbon barrel staves, scraped and lightly re-charred.

I suggest a community solera. Ship one or two bottles to the next HD'er, take half, then top up with your batch, ship to next HD'er. Rinse and repeat for a few iterations through the group to get a good blend...

Cheers,
j

jonnys_spirit wrote: ↑Tue Sep 26, 2023 7:08 am I suggest a community solera. Ship one or two bottles to the next HD'er, take half, then top up with your batch, ship to next HD'er. Rinse and repeat for a few iterations through the group to get a good blend...

Cheers,
j

I like it!

jonnys_spirit wrote: ↑Tue Sep 26, 2023 7:08 am I suggest a community solera. Ship one or two bottles to the next HD'er, take half, then top up with your batch, ship to next HD'er. Rinse and repeat for a few iterations through the group to get a good blend...

Cheers,
j

I like it. This is a neat idea

I’m in!

Just saw Jesse and Christopher’s pod cast and thought this is the time to finally get making that Rum I’ve always wanted and my neighbors too! They will drink bath water if it’s free!

Picked up 55 lbs of Panela Sugar and got a few more Badmo barrels coming… one is X Bourbon for this run

I’m new to Rum but wanted to be apart of Ben’s tribute so I want to stay close to Ben’s simple wash, But was thinking of adding in some dried fruit into the fermentation. Maybe fig, banana or apricot. Looking for thoughts on this….

I enjoy the medium to dark Rums with fruit notes

Thanks all! Keep the drips flowing

I'm aiming for a spirit run this weekend!

10kg of Dark Muscovado per 60 Liters of water.
Later strips I exchanged 2kg muscovado with 4kg of molasses.

2 teaspoons of fermoplus integrateur

a tablespoon of lemonjuice

a handfull of boiled and crushed eggshells for buffering.

Bread yeast

It's going into a third use medium toast high char barrel.

My second fermentation is on its way, should end up with 30L low wines in total which will give me plenty of spirit after the spirit rum. This is a black treacle and cane sugar rum. The beer/wash smells amazing and the first stripping run I did, the samples I took along the way tasted great so looking forward to this one.

Hopefully get the second stripping run done in a week or so as this fermentation is almost done then after spirit run I have a choice of either a virgin oak BadMo barrel or an ex bourbon BadMo barrel. May end up using the virgin oak barrel and do a second fill of whisky in a few years time. Lots of options thanks to the good work from Chris and Ben! Maybe have some red wine barrels in the future too.

Cheers!

I made mine on Sunday.
20 lb panela
2 gal Evolved Habitats Molasses
1/4 c boiled yeast
1 tbsp yeast nutrient
1 gal hot dunder
pH 4.8

25 gal @ SG 1.074. hung a tea ball with 90 gr oyster shell grit in the fermenter and pitched 1/4 c bakers yeast at 89F. wrapped in thick comforter.

Next morning 99F, so unwrapped and let it go. stayed in low 90s all day, re-wrapped late.

48 hours after pitching, 86F, SG 1.017, pH 5.0, barely fizzing (may just be outgassing CO2). Taste is bitter, molasses, no sweetness.
It will sit for another week or two just to totally finish and clarify a bit.

I should get enough to fill a Badmo clone, which has a head made from used bourbon barrel staves, scraped and recharred #1.

I really want to do this but an all panela rum is so boring. My last one was so underwhelming I cant bring myself to waste the panela... sorry Ben your contributions to the community will have to be honored in another way at least in my home.

Bolverk wrote: ↑Tue Oct 10, 2023 3:43 pm I really want to do this but an all panela rum is so boring. My last one was so underwhelming I cant bring myself to waste the panela... sorry Ben your contributions to the community will have to be honored in another way at least in my home.

I don’t think you are required to use Ben’s recipe in order to participate. My tribute batch has 20% molasses with 80% panela. Make yours all molasses with 40% goat head dunder. Do your own thing and enjoy the project.

Bolverk wrote: ↑Sat Sep 23, 2023 5:21 am

tombombadil wrote: ↑Fri Sep 22, 2023 5:51 pm https://www.webstaurantstore.com/wholes ... 91829.html

Does that look like the right stuff?

Or maybe this one?
https://www.azurestandard.com/shop/prod ... kage=SW034

Edit:
I think this might be the right one to use?
https://www.azurestandard.com/shop/prod ... kage=SW046

The first two are centrifuged it looks like? The last link says "nothing added or taken away".

I could be wrong here but my understanding is that demerera sugar while natural is missing the process side of what make panela, panela... I think the difference is that the panela sugars are more caramelized and has more molasses.

BTW, love the name... it's good to see another Tolkien nerd in the wild.

I believe there is no molasses added to Pamela/piloncillo. At least here in Mexico.
Tōtō

Tōtōchtin wrote: ↑Thu Oct 12, 2023 8:35 am

Bolverk wrote: ↑Sat Sep 23, 2023 5:21 am

tombombadil wrote: ↑Fri Sep 22, 2023 5:51 pm https://www.webstaurantstore.com/wholes ... 91829.html

Does that look like the right stuff?

Or maybe this one?
https://www.azurestandard.com/shop/prod ... kage=SW034

Edit:
I think this might be the right one to use?
https://www.azurestandard.com/shop/prod ... kage=SW046

The first two are centrifuged it looks like? The last link says "nothing added or taken away".

I could be wrong here but my understanding is that demerera sugar while natural is missing the process side of what make panela, panela... I think the difference is that the panela sugars are more caramelized and has more molasses.

BTW, love the name... it's good to see another Tolkien nerd in the wild.

I believe there is no molasses added to Pamela/piloncillo. At least here in Mexico.
Tōtō

It’s not about adding molasses rather the opposite. Panela is a sugar cane product that goes through non-centrifugal processing and thus has not had all the molasses removed. So it’s sugar and molasses in a single product.

Edit: adding link to a longer explanation: https://justpanela.com/blog/2019/7/19/what-is-panela

Sugar cane juice has about 3% molasses. Not much for flavor.
Tōtō

higgins wrote: ↑Tue Oct 10, 2023 3:38 pm ...
I should get enough to fill a Badmo clone, which has a head made from used bourbon barrel staves, scraped and recharred #1.

I reserved 5 gal (19 L) of wash, stripped the rest in 2 runs to get 5 gal low wines. I combined the LW and wash for a 10 gallon spirit run thru 3 sieve plates. I ended up with almost exactly 2 gallons (7.6 L) after it was proofed down to 125. 226 oz (6.6 L) in a badmo clone, 30 oz (880 ml) in a quart jar with 1 used bourbon stick.

This one tasted just a bit rough white, but I think that is due to using the deer attractant molasses ... I had been using food grade blackstrap in my previous rums. I'm sure the white oak will do its magic and it will be great.

My batch of Badmo tribute rum has been barreled in Badmo #43 and it’s all done but for the wait.

Panela/Molasses 80%/20% by weight to ~9% ABV
Bob’s Red Mill bakers yeast (nutrients and ferment)
Stripped to 28% low wines
Pot still Spirit run was 3/4 low wines, 1/4 fresh ferment (~23%)
Product was collected at an average ABV of 64%, perfect barrel strength.

The spirit run was done just the way Ben liked to do it, Fast. Run time was roughly half my normal run time, twice my normal production rate. Ben swore there was no need for a slow spirit run and we debated that more than once. I’ll have to say, there is not much difference that I can call out on this run. I think the cuts were a little bit harder to find and the yield was about the same. This is your tribute Ben, so I’ll say it now: You were right.

#43 had been used previously for 24 months (12 months for Bourbon, 12 months for a Panela rum) so it should be worn down just right for a really tasty batch of panela rum. I expect this will age for at least 1.5 years, and I’ll start checking it in 6 months to see how it progresses. I’ll let you know when it’s time for bottling.

RIP Ben