by DaveZ » Sat Sep 15, 2018 3:41 pm
I made some rum about 18 months ago, pretty standard 50/50 mix of molasses and raw sugar, fermented with bakers yeast. Distilled with 3 plates on the bubbler, cuts made, aged with a few charred oak dominoes in each 2L glass bottle. Was a bit rank for the first 6 months but became my favorite drink soon after that.
Anyway, I've been slack/busy and haven't made any for ages, so consequently my stores are all gone :scared-eek: I mixed up a 50L batch using just molasses, (about 12L), fermented and stripped it, mainly to get some dunder to try some generations, which I didn't have much luck with last time. I've got the second gen bubbling away at the moment, using the yeast cake from the original ferment, another 12L of molasses and about 8L of dunder. Seems to be fermenting OK at the moment. The 3rd gen always seems to be where I strike trouble in getting the ferment going, even if I adjust pH I just couldn't get it to start last time. I'm thinking this time around I will use the same amount of dunder and molasses again, but ditch the old yeast and pitch fresh Lowans and see if it gives me any more success.
I've put away 10 or so litres of dunder in a bucket as a dunder pit, with the hopes of using some live dunder in the process somewhere. No idea where that road is going to lead me but keen to experiment and see what happens. Been reading as much as I can on the subject and will soon jump in head first I think. I was going to wait for warmer weather but I think I'll just get an aquarium heater and get a head start that way.