Rum Chat

[Rush006]

Not sure if this question is in the right place but was just going to try the mac rum with a few different yeasts and was wondering what quantity of EC-118 to use as they come in little 10g packets. My Rum is coming along quite nicely but wanted to experiment with yeast. Any help would be much appreciated. I did a search of EC-118 but limited info came up.

cheers Rush

[Zak Griffin]

If you rehydrate EC1118 as per instructions, a 10g sachet will be fine.

You'll find that baker's yeast gives you the nicer rummy flavours though, EC1118 is more suited to fruit washes.

[Rush006]

Thanks Zac, No instructions on sachet. just thought id try something different. Has anybody got any tweeks to the mac rum they think is worth trying? I add 50g of rasins and caramel and am really enjoying the different tastes. Mac I see your comment on Vit B is it worth trying? what affect would that have on taste?

[MacStill]

I'll always use vitamin B in my rums, it doesnt effect the final taste :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[Rush006]

I'll always use vitamin B in my rums, it doesnt effect the final taste :handgestures-thumbupleft:

What other little things are not in the basic recipy? come on Mac don't hold out on us. Ha Ha


I can not believe how good this rum is I'm just looking to make the best rum ever and starting to think time is the answer to a lot of my questions. Every little tip from the old and bold can only help get there sooner. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[Rush006]

Ive been putting vanilla beans in my mash to get a vanilla flavour come through the still into my rum and think it is working, but what really blew me away was the feints run of all those washes. I ran the feints run very slow and the smell and smoothness straight off the still was unbelievable. the vanilla smell and taste was fantastic. just need to let it age to see final product. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Does anyone else put other spices in the wash? or does everyone put it in finished product?

[5 o'clock]

Does anyone else put other spices in the wash? or does everyone put it in finished product?

I spice mine after distilling. My thought is that it is more efficient to spice a few litres of known good final product rather than trying to spice 50 litres of wash. I am sure there are benefits either way but for me vanilla beans are like gold so I use them sparingly.

Cheers,

Richard

[thedarkmesh]

Anyone had any experience with using brown sugar in a Rum wash? Going to use 1KG Brown + 2KG Raw Sugar + 3L Molasses. Think the extra molasses will make a richer taste? or did I just piss some $$$ down the drain? or should I just add more molasses lol

[Zak Griffin]

An extra splash of molasses would probably do the same, although I think Mac did a full brown sugar rum a while ago?

[thedarkmesh]

Anyone tried a recipe for rum that included potatoes and a step-fermentation?

This sounded interesting from HD forums. http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=4468

How to make Rum out of Molasses and Brown sugar.

Take 4 gals molasses and 10 lbs sugar. Mix these together in 16
gals water. Now you commence setting mash in large wooden casks
(not in any tin vessels) - only a wooden cask for good results.
Put the above in cask the 1st day then when nearly cool add 1 ale
bottle full of yeast (which is to start mask working).
Remember when you put in the 4 gals molasses and the 10 lbs sugar
into cask - have a little paddle made for stirring and stir
constantly for fully 1/4 of an hour to blend things together, these
will be mixed in hot water (not boiling) but just so as you can put
your fingers in it without getting scalded.
The hot water will melt the sugar and molasses splendidly and will
give you more spirits and better rum.
After you're finished stirring the 1st days lot also boil 8 lbs of
old potatoes in muslin bag and put into the mash with yeast.
And also with the yeast and 8 lbs potatoes you boil about 3/4 of a
milk bucket of old maize in a sugar bag tied like a pudding and dont
forget to drop this in the 1st days mash with the potatoes and yeast
and again stirr well.
This finishes the 1st days mash and dont take them out till the mash
is fit to go into the boiler on the fire for distilling.

Second days setting.
Put another 4 gals molasses and 10 lbs sugar into cask on top of the
1st days setting and stir well for fully ten minutes. This finishes
the 2nd days setting.

Third days setting.
Add another 4 gals molasses and 16 gallons water (no sugar) and
again stir well (this finishes the setting of the mash).

To know when this is fit to put through you will see a little scum
of bubbles will come to the top now and again. This will continue
for two days sometimes three days then when scum is at its highest
and starts to drop (Brew it). Don't forget when you finish the 3rd
days setting to put a bag over the top of the cask then the lid
belonging to cask on top of bag and a weight on top of it to keep
warm and airtight. Have an occasional look at the cask when you
finish setting the 3rd day because it works sometimes in 36 hours
according to the hot or cold weather. In summer time it works a lot
quicker than winter so a good idea is to brew in the summer time and
stow away to get a bit of age so as it will not be too new to the
taste, then sell in winter time when rum is more freely drank.

Now to make good rum to sell you want to know when distilling when
to cut off the good rum from the second class stuff and the only way
to do this is to get a hydrometer. (High means good spirits, low
means poor spirits). You place this under the end of the worm in
whatever you are catching the spirits in and as this vessel starts
to get more than 1/2 full this hydrometer will start to float and
register whatever proof the spirits is that you are making.

Now you always want two vessels one to catch the good 1st class
spirits and immediately the hydrometer begins to register too low a
reading pull the 1st class vessel away and pop the 2nd vessel under
in its place to catch the 2nd class spirits. After a good while
just have a teaspoon with you and dip same into the the 2nd class
and throw a spoon full now and again into the fire and if it flares
up like kero or meths that would be thrown in keep on as this is a
sign there is still good 2nd hand spirits in the brew but after a
while when what you throw in fire quenches the fire like water stop
as this is the sign that you have taken all the spirits out of the
mash. Anyhow you can taste it and if it has an alumny taste draw
the charge from boiler and fill up again for another boil up.

Now the 2nd's have to be stowed away to themselves in a vessel and
all the good 1st class stuff put to themselves as this 1st class
brew is ready for sale without further distilling but in order to
bring the 2nd class stuff to 1st class you have to put it through
the still the 2nd time then it is 1st class and can now be stowed
away with the other 1st class brew.

Now the next thing to know is how to do up your white spirits and
tone it up for sale. Here is the rinkle. Aways put your spirits
away in a large cask, or a wine cask is the best as rum and wine
taste alike. Never put rum in a cask that beer has been in or you
will spoil its taste. When you put it in the wine cask leave the
bung hole open for 24 hours and as soon as you put it in the cask
make a small curtain bag and put about a match box full of cloves in
it and let down the bung hole tied with long piece of string so as
you can lift it out. Then get a good well ripened pineapple and
peel it and cut it in narrow strips about the length of a cigar and
twice as thick and poke these down the bung hole, then get about 3/4
of an ordinary teacup full of seeded raisins and put these down the
bung of cask into the spirits with the others, then put the bung
back in cask and stow it away. Then when you are ready to sell your
rum it is in its natural white state. Now you have to colour it for
sale. Now to properly colour rum use white sugar not brown because
it will make the rum too cloudy and dull and dark looking.

So in order to have a good clear clean bright looking spirit in a
glass for drinking always use white sugar for colouring purposes.
Buy a small frying pan for this purpose and dont use it for any
other means \because any greasy sediment will show in the coloured
spirit. To colour say 5 gals rum put about 1/2 teacup of white
sugar to start with in the pan, not over a blazing fire but on red
hot coals; these should not be too strong to overburn the sugar or
your rum will have a bad burnt taste so be careful and burn sugar to
a good clean dark brown bubble. Keep moving the sugar in the pan
with a long stirrer so as to evenly brown every grain then pour a
cup of cold water in the pan on top of sugar at the same time
stirring. When sufficiently stirred pour into a good clean bright
quart bottle for colouring with. Of course you keep on burning
sugar making bottles of the colouring till you have sufficient to
colour your rum as it will keep in a bottle for a long time. The
best guide is to buy a few shillings worth of good rum in a bright
bottle and have this alongside of yours when you are colouring and
you can compare the two so as you will not overdo things in the
colouring or not give it enough colour.

Now everything is ready & OK for sale.

Finally I nearly forgot to mention when you are taking the rum out
of the cask for colouring. When you colour, strain thoroughly
before you put away for sale as the pineapple and cloves and raisins
always leave a sediment and you in order to have a real clean
article must strain real well.

Don't forget to get fully 22 feet of pure tin piping for the worm
and 1 inch which means 7/8 waterway and when the worm is made must
be coiled so as a gradual incline to lead the spirits through and no
uphill position in the making as this means a blockage in flow and
cause the mash to boil over. Get a good plumber to make the worm
for you, should you not be able to get the pure tin you will have to
get copper. But tin is more easy to clean all you have to do with
tin after you finish each brew is to pour a bucket of cold water
through it and it is always bright and clean. Understand when you
are setting worm in cask at bottom it sticks out about fully 3 or 4
inches on a slight slope through a watertight hole through cask into
catching vessel.

When distilling the 2nds in the white spirits state be careful not
to have too strong a fire as this is very inflammable and will blow
up so be carefull.

Say you have 5 gals of 2nd class brew cut off from the 1st class.
When you put this into the boiler to distil put about 1/2 gal clean
water in with it and it wont blow up, the water wont harm the brew,
it will be of benefit to it and the rum wont be so fiery to taste.

For any second treatment the putting through of white spirits a
person really wants a very much smaller boiler as the 50 gal boiler
is too big. You only really need about a 10 gal boiler and you can
have one made at the same time to just have the same size neck so as
to fit the lid & pipe & worm & all and when boiling a mash use the
50 gal boiler, you never want to fill the boiler with mash - only
slightly over 1/2 full or it will boil over in spite of you as it is
just as hard to keep from boiling over as milk.





CUT: Above was as GGGD wrote it, Below is Harrys take on it.






I've done it in a 60 lt fermenter with it scaled down by percentage
(25%, divide everything by 4), except for the yeast. You'll need a
bit more yeast than percentage-wise to do it right. Use your
judgement & knowledge of yeast being stackable or not (this works in
reverse also). I used 200gms dried baker's yeast (Lowan) for a 60
lt ferment, and I also added 1 t/sp citric acid each day as molasses
today can be a bit alkaline simetimes due to the lime used in the
sugar manufacturing process.

Another thing that will worry you is after you add the second day's
set, you'll think the available sugar/water ratio is too high.
Don't worry about it, as the yeast will already have used a lot of
the first day's sugar. Step-fermentation is a bit different to
single fermentation. It's nearly impossible to gauge what is too
much sugar, but this recipe seems to be about right, although by my
reckoning the osmotic pressure is borderline. At least I haven't
had a stuck ferment.

Reverting to scientific calculations, this is what I worked out...

Constants:

Volume...
1 cubic metre = 1,000 litres
1 imp.gal. = 4.54 litres

Density...
1 lt water = 1 kg
1 lt molasses = 1. 6 kg (1600 kg/m3 ie cubic metre)

Sugar value...
Blackstrap Molasses = 46%
................... = 3.34 kg in 4.54 lt
==========================================

GGGDad's Recipe:

1st day's set...
Molasses = 18.16 lt = 13.36 kg sugar value
Brown Sugar = 10 lbs = 4.54 kg sugar value
Total Sugar value = ~18 kg

Water = 16 gals = 72 lt

Sugar/water ratio = 1:4
------------------------

2nd day's set...
Molasses = 18.16 lt = 13.36 kg sugar value
Brown Sugar = 10 lbs = 4.54 kg sugar value
Total Sugar value = ~18 kg

Water = nil

Sugar/water ratio is now = ?:4 (unknown, but most of the 1st day's
sugar has been used.)
-------------------------

3rd day's set...
Molasses = 18.16 lt = 13.36 kg sugar value
Brown Sugar = nil
Total Sugar value = ~13 kg

Water = 16 gals = 72 lt

Sugar/water ratio is now = ?:4 (again unknown, but because the mash
is now complete, we can give a TOTAL.)

TOTAL:
Sugar = 49 kg
Water = 144 lt (or kg)
Therefore sugar/water ratio = 1:3 (rounded)

Which is about the maximum concentration that can be used, and in
fact will leave a slightly sweet finished ferment, around 1.005 SG.
However, with step-fermentation all bets are off, as the stronger
yeast cells (more alcohol & osmotic tolerant) tend to dominate and
the weaker ones get cannibalised to provide nutrients. Ain't nature
clever at this recycling thing? This process is similar to how
different strains of Saccharomyces Cerevisiae are selected for
propagation. Force-feed 'em, fine-tune 'em, just like an athlete,
then multiply the survivors.
----------------------------


So having suitably confused everyone, using the above you should be
able to build a step-fermentation of any size.

[bluc]

Wondering what amounts people are getting of final product from a run. I get 10l lw and about 3l final product out of 46l wash (2x25l ferments), just curious how this compares with others?. And if this sound about right, and if its low yield what do i do to improve it. I use the mac rum recipe. Cheers

[thedarkmesh]

Wondering what amounts people are getting of final product from a run. I get 10l lw and about 3l final product out of 46l wash (2x25l ferments), just curious how this compares with others?. And if this sound about right, and if its low yield what do i do to improve it. I use the mac rum recipe. Cheers

I use a pot still in 25L boiler so 23L @ 40% for the spirit run. I normally get 2-3L @ 65% worth of final product. I do like a bit of tails in my rum, I'm strange like that... I'm not sure what is right or what but I just sniff to make my cuts and normally take the middle 1/3rd.

Hopefully someone with more XP can answer this better.

[bluc]

Wondering what amounts people are getting of final product from a run. I get 10l lw and about 3l final product out of 46l wash (2x25l ferments), just curious how this compares with others?. And if this sound about right, and if its low yield what do i do to improve it. I use the mac rum recipe. Cheers

I use a pot still in 25L boiler so 23L @ 40% for the spirit run. I normally get 2-3L @ 65% worth of final product. I do like a bit of tails in my rum, I'm strange like that... I'm not sure what is right or what but I just sniff to make my cuts and normally take the middle 1/3rd.

Hopefully someone with more XP can answer this better.

So 23l of low wines you get 2-3l end product? I end up with 3l @65% from 10l low wines. My last run I kept 4l at 65%....and ditched about 1.5l into the feints jar. and I thought i was taking fairly strict cuts.. :geek: :think:

[Undertaker]

Yeah 2-3 lt from 23 lt sounds a bit slim. I get 12-14 lt from 40-45 lt on a strip run and 10-15 lt from a spirit run on potstill mode. i like my tail end cuts too. Theres some nice flavours in there. On a low wines run in reflux I get 12-14 lt of good spirit

Cheers Phil

[thedarkmesh]

Wondering what amounts people are getting of final product from a run. I get 10l lw and about 3l final product out of 46l wash (2x25l ferments), just curious how this compares with others?. And if this sound about right, and if its low yield what do i do to improve it. I use the mac rum recipe. Cheers

I use a pot still in 25L boiler so 23L @ 40% for the spirit run. I normally get 2-3L @ 65% worth of final product. I do like a bit of tails in my rum, I'm strange like that... I'm not sure what is right or what but I just sniff to make my cuts and normally take the middle 1/3rd.

Hopefully someone with more XP can answer this better.

So 23l of low wines you get 2-3l end product? I end up with 3l @65% from 10l low wines. My last run I kept 4l at 65%....and ditched about 1.5l into the feints jar. and I thought i was taking fairly strict cuts.. :geek: :think:

Maybe next time I won't be so tough on my cuts, I do save all the left overs for a feints run and got a fair amount of product from that run 3L (prob due to making extreme cuts before)

[bluc]

Yea i have 5l feints will do a quick run with.. cant belive how much difference some oak makes to this. White dog is ok and very drinkable but after some oaking its delictable :mrgreen:

[bluc]

Been reading about distilleries using caramel to add flavour. Wondering is this added to final product? Wondering what toffee in the fermenter would taste like .... macrum 3l molasses 3kg caramelised raw or brown sugar cooked to soft crack think "lock jaw toffee" then dissolved back into water.

Would caramelising the sugar do anything funky to it so it didnt ferment properly?

Might be nice as a dessert rum sweeter/caramel/scorched sugar flavoured end product?

[thedarkmesh]

Been reading about distilleries using caramel to add flavour. Wondering is this added to final product? Wondering what toffee in the fermenter would taste like .... macrum 3l molasses 3kg caramelised raw or brown sugar cooked to soft crack think "lock jaw toffee" then dissolved back into water.

Would caramelising the sugar do anything funky to it so it didnt ferment properly?

Might be nice as a dessert rum sweeter/caramel/scorched sugar flavoured end product?

I personally don't add anything after oaking unless doing spiced rum. (mostly due to restricted sugar intake and personal taste) I know some people caramelise sugar to give it extra sweetness. I'd let it age awhile before making that call to add extra sweetness to the mix. Also normal macrum tastes a little sweet as it is.

[Clickeral]

I have 6L coming up on a year of aging on 15g L (about 3 dominos per jar)

3L on french oak and 3L on american dark toasted

The colour and smell difference is amazing willhave to post pics :)

Trying to leave it longer :(

[bluc]

I have 6L coming up on a year of aging on 15g L (about 3 dominos per jar)

3L on french oak and 3L on american dark toasted

The colour and smell difference is amazing willhave to post pics :)

Trying to leave it longer :(

Well done :handgestures-thumbupleft: the first 3l i made didnt even make 2 months :oops: and i only normally drink 2-3l per year lol couldnt leave it alone :D . Going to get some on oak this time round though. :happy-partydance: