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I've got a rum recipe that uses molassed aquired at a feed store. I picked up a jug and when I got it home I was suprised at the ingredients in the stuff, such as vegatable fat, phosphoric acid, propionic acid, propylene glycol, lots of different vitamins and other things too numerous to mention. I don't know if I want to use this stuff. I've already got it working off though. Anyone else seen or used such a recipe. Kazoo

I have seen that stuff at most feed stores also. It is not what the recipes calling for feed grade molasses are talking about. You need to call around to find someone that carries the other. It is pure cane molasses but it is the dregs after all the edible stuff is used. I assume they also don't worry about sanitation at that point either.
The two places that I have found in my area both have it in large tanks out back. They buy it by the tanker truck and fill their tanks. You have to bring your own bucket and they fill it for you. One of the stores says it will contain preservatives in the summer to controll mold but not in the winter. (I don't buy from them)
I don't think you are going to have much luck with the stuff you have there.

RumBull describes exactly the mollasses I get from my feed store--$18 for 5 gallons if I bring my own bucket. Guy at the store said no preservatives but might have a bit of dirt in it. It's whats left over after they take the sugar out of the cane. I add a few multi-vitamins and a pinch of epsom salt --sugar and water. Ferments like crazy and makes a passable Rum.

I'm with smoker. I alway get my molasses from the feed store and it makes a nice rum. I just don't look at whats in it.

blanik

You don't say where you are located. Makes it a little hard to give recomendations.
If you are in the U.S. or Canada, look for Land-O-Lakes Molasses. It usually comes in 5 gallon/50 lb buckets. Nobody in my area has the bulk tanks anymore.

The stuff I get from the local stock suppliers is supposed to be just molasses. It certainly ferments well, and is actually pretty good tasting. Lot of hobby riders and weekend farmers buy there, and I think they are pretty fussy about what they feed their critters, so the store tries to get the best. I hope so coz it is pretty expensive, $50 for 20 litres. But it is the only source around here. so I gotta buy from them or not at all.

Thanks for the info guys. The stuff I bought was 12.50 for a 40lb. jug and came in a box with a printed label on one sid. It read, Kar O Lass liquid molasses product, then had a list of ingredients. Didn't see the label till I came home with it. I hate to pour it out, but I'm not going to use the crap. I've got corn mash that will be ready in a day or two and had planned to try the rum in another week or so. kazoo

HookLine wrote:The stuff I get from the local stock suppliers is supposed to be just molasses. It certainly ferments well, and is actually pretty good tasting. Lot of hobby riders and weekend farmers buy there, and I think they are pretty fussy about what they feed their critters, so the store tries to get the best. I hope so coz it is pretty expensive, $50 for 20 litres. But it is the only source around here. so I gotta buy from them or not at all.

That's my reasoning too, hook. Farmers and horse breeders around here are a bit fussy about their stock and if it's good enought for them, it's certainly good enough for me. Besides, we only drink the vapour.

blanik

kazoo wrote:I've got a rum recipe that uses molassed aquired at a feed store. I picked up a jug and when I got it home I was suprised at the ingredients in the stuff, such as vegatable fat, phosphoric acid, propionic acid, propylene glycol, lots of different vitamins and other things too numerous to mention. I don't know if I want to use this stuff. I've already got it working off though. Anyone else seen or used such a recipe. Kazoo

Sorry, friend, but propionic acid is a preservative and it's added to prevent fermentation (credit to muckanic for info). Propylene glycol is the active ingredient in automobile antifreeze - what it's doin' in molasses I don't know. Not using it (as you mentioned above) is best because you won't get it to ferment.

Buy the "Land o' Lakes" label , 5 gall bucket. Fermented out just fine for me. I actually just finish the last bottle from this summer and I should say, it 's improves after 6 month's or so. Have to work up a new batch.

I-GOR wrote: ... Propylene glycol is the active ingredient in automobile antifreeze ...

Christ, that explains why I've been so hot this year. I thought it was the weather, but my anti freeze has gone crazy. I'll just suck on a rum.

blanik

Propylene glycol is food grade antifreeze... If it is present in farm grade molasses it is probably there so that when mixed in sweet feed the grain doesn't freeze and cause shear pins in augers and conveyors to fail... I doubt that it's added for nutritional value... At any rate it's non-toxic...

Thanks for the info on the propionic acid, and the propylene glycol. I did dump the stuff. It was foaming and seemed to be working but it smelled mediciny, probably due to all the vitamins that were in it. I started another batch with food grade molasses from the grocery store. I've also got a batch of corn mash that I ran a little too early the first time. It was a 5 gallon batch. My still holds 2 gallons up to the vapor cone, so I'll get two runs from a batch. I added more sugar and a little more yeast four days ago and its still bubbling a little. I've borrowed a hydrometer from a beer brewing friend and if I adjusted for the water temp correctly it only read about 5% potential alcohol on the latest reading, where it had been at 6% earlier so I may need to go ahead and run it. Also, I don't have anything covering my buckets except a cotton cloth. Do I need a set up like my beer brewing buddy with a lid and the vapor lock gadget or whatever it is?Again, thanks for the info on the preservative and the food grade anti freeze.

kazoo wrote:Also, I don't have anything covering my buckets except a cotton cloth. Do I need a set up like my beer brewing buddy with a lid and the vapor lock gadget or whatever it is?Again, thanks for the info on the preservative and the food grade anti freeze.

IMHO, the importance of conventional airlocks is overrated, at least during the active phase of distilling ferments. (Probably much more important for beer and wine ferments.)

As I have said before. I live in the deep tropics, with sometimes weeks of warm-hot and very humid monsoon weather when mould grows of everything in sight (like it is now ). I ferment in the bathroom, right next to the toilet, and just cover the fermenter with a new piece of clear plastic food wrap, held on with a string of rubber bands, and with a small slit (8-10 mm) cut in the middle of the plastic to let the CO2 out.

When the ferment has completely finished bubbling and has started to settle and clear, I replace the food wrap with a new piece without a slit in it.

If anybody was going to get infected ferments it would be me. Never had an infection yet (touch wood).

If you use a good ferment recipe, start clean, get it going quickly, and have some sort of basic lid on it, then in my experience you are unlikely to have a problem with infections.

I think I've passed this idea on before but here it is again. I'm a baker by trade and get my molasses by the 5 gal bucket from the food distributor. It's usually pretty cheap per pound. If you know someone that works in a restaurant kitchen, there's a good chance they can slap a bucket on the week's order for you. You may have to be friendly with a couple pints though.

As far as airlocks go, I am a homebrewer so I have a good selection of fermenting vessels and usually use bubblers on my beers. But when I started doing high gravity washes and mashes, I had to switch to a blow-off tube because often times the fermentation is so vigorous.

Cheers.

~bd~

As been mentioned, it's pretty hard to get an infection and more importantly, to get an infection that will effect the taste of the steam.
That being said, I have tasted my cousins hubby's stuff once that had a vomit smell. Turns out it was something I can't pronounce or even remember the correct name (Lacto bacillious)? Anyway, I'm not sure what he did wrong, whether ingredients, temp, cuts (there were none, he never heard of cuts and he's been doing it for 40 years never had a problem yet) but anyway it made a horrible tasting shit you had to gag down. I think if it was rerun and proper cuts made it probably would of cleaned up ok.
My point is though, to make alcohol, any fermenting pile of goo will make alcohol, to make safe DRINKABLE alcohol requires a bit of skill/knowledge.

I wouldn't use it.