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hi,

I have 2 questions:

I distill rum with molasses, do you do 1 distillation or 2?
for a distillation of 100 liters, how much head do you remove?

Thank you for your answers

This hobby contains so many variables throughout its different processes that most decisions about cuts are left up to individual preference. Just about the only recipe I’ve seen about specific measurements with cuts is OEG and I figure that’s because the cuts are based off a flavor profile and not getting rid of unwanted booze.
Good luck.

fgod222 wrote: ↑Sun Oct 22, 2023 6:42 am hi,

I have 2 questions:

I distill rum with molasses, do you do 1 distillation or 2?
for a distillation of 100 liters, how much head do you remove?

Thank you for your answers

Your rum will always be better if you double distill, that is - strip the wash and then spirit run your low wines. It will still have plenty of molasses character although it will be much more refined, not raw like the molly was.

As far as the “heads” volume from a 100 liter wash, again I advise to strip it all first and collect until the %ABV at the spout is down to 5 or 10%ABV, which is quite low, and then rerun the collection (low wines). Then collect into pint jars (you’ll need a bunch of them) and wait a day after the run to sample each jar.

For the 100 liter wash (@10% average), you can expect roughly 10 liters (maybe 9, actually) at a theoretical 100%ABV. But, you won’t collect “pure” rum. The spirit run collection will range from 75%ABV all the way down to around 10%ABV (measuring the collection jars). I would “guess” the heads portion of the collection to be the first 1/5 to 1/4 of the collection (1.8 to 2.25 liters, or so).

The first jars will be “solventy” with a “paint thinner” smell (and taste, if you dip your finger into it). After that, it will begin to have a “fruity” flavor and aroma, as you get away from the foreshots towards the late heads. Some of these jars will blend nicely with the backend, if you don’t dig too deep into the tails, or late tails. So, I’d keep them aside until you’ve definitely selected your hearts cut.

The hearts will be more neutral, almost without a lot of taste. But you may find some of the rum flavors emerge midway through the hearts however. Collectively, they’ll smell and taste like the rum you’re shooting for.

Again, collect into as many jars as you can on the spirit run. That will give you a finer toothed comb to decide what’s good and what’s not.
ss

There is no single answer to your question. There are just to many variables. A few are

• Was your wash all molasses or did you have other sugars?
  What type of molasses was used, fancy, blackstrap, food grade, animal grade?
  What yeast was used?
  Was the ferment fast or slow?
  Was the wash kept at the idea temp for the yeast?
  Was it a high, medium or low gravity wash?
  How soon do you hope to enjoy this beverage?

All of the above and more can affect the mix of alcohols and other compounds in your completed wash which in turn will influence the % of the resulting distillation that is heads, hearts and tails. Of course the final variable in all of is you personal taste buds. Some people hate any heads and others like the stronger flavors that are in late heads.

Follow your taste buds and your nose. You can even make more than one blend. For example take half of each hearts jar and make a "hearts" blend. Then take the other half and add in a bit of the heads or tails that you think are interesting. Keep good notes and compare in a couple of years. You might find you like one blend early but the other shines after some aging. That is all part of the fun of this hobby.

All great info above. That said, different still types perform with individual characteristics. Can you describe your still's design and capacities? Heat source?

As Twisted has pointed out , it's almost impossible to answer that question without knowing what type if still you are using.