Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

5 o'clock wrote:

bluc wrote:Wondering how do We know when the rum is "ready"? What flavors are present when its time to remove the oak. Or is it just a matter of taste it along the way and when happy with the taste then its ready? :-B

The basic rule would be that it is ready when you run out of previous batches and need to start drinking this one. That is why it is good to have a few batches of different ages in the ageing cupboard.

Seriously though, aim for at least 6 months but 12 plus is great. It depends on how much oak you have in the bottle per litre, it doesn't hurt to reduce the oak as time goes on to avoid over oaking.

Lol your basic rule is my current method :teasing-tease: ok so will aim for 12months, thanks :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Well on the side of too much , i cracked open 5L of rum that just hit a year.... its not bad , but i think its over oaked as its starting to taste like bourbon .... i did use "used" bourbon domino's .... might have to start adding more heads and tail if im aiming at year. definately not bad ,,,, but definately not that rummy taste

I just go with 10g per litre of american oak dominoes. Is this too much or too little? I feel I should use more at the start and then taper down to the 10g per litre.

I aim for 12 months but never get there. I am making bigger washes now so I should be able to stockpile more and age some longer.

I think it is subjective how much you use and the species, but less for longer is better, if you can help it :laughing-rolling:

Just taste it regularly to make sure it isnt overoaked. If it gets to a profile you like bottle it.

Last night, i bottled some 1 year old mac rum and found it perfect. I pulled out a litre and diluted to 41%, ended up with 2 bottles for a weekend away. :happy-partydance:

I topped the keg up with a litre of 3 month 100% molly.

I use 7g per litre of french oak. 50/50 medium toast / heavy toast.

I filled my 10l barrel with port let it sit for 12mnths. I emptied it and filled with 50/50 rum with tight cuts. 2mnths on is already coning good. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Nice stuff guys. Guess it is all just a waiting game and up to personal preference. Thanks

I currently am experimenting with some unusual woods. I've done my own research and have spoken to people more knowledgeable than myself in regards to these types of woods. I am satisfied that it should be safe for consumption.

I have toasted red ironbark and yellow box, carved my own staves and have 100g of each in 2L of rum

I will update as it progresses, but the ironbark is acting how any other wood has, but the yellow box when toasting opened up, and has allowed for rapid colour change in the rum. The wood sugars have already imparted a definite aroma and taste, quite sweet. There isn't much impact on the woodiness though. It has been 48 hours since introduction.

I have previously aged rum in redgum, and it is unbelievably good . The vanilla notes are like nothing else.

100g in 2L is a huge amount of oak mate I'd watch it very carefully

I've done 2 rum washes but don't know if I have done something wrong or not. everyone seems to say their rum is delicious.
mine is quite rough off of the still.(bubbler)
tried aging some on oak 10g/L for 3 months but feel like it over oaked it. and albeit tasted slightly better was still not 'great'
have sat some in the back of the cupboard and will see what its like in a years time.
anyone got any tips?

B-Man wrote:I've done 2 rum washes but don't know if I have done something wrong or not. everyone seems to say their rum is delicious.
mine is quite rough off of the still.(bubbler)
tried aging some on oak 10g/L for 3 months but feel like it over oaked it. and albeit tasted slightly better was still not 'great'
have sat some in the back of the cupboard and will see what its like in a years time.
anyone got any tips?

Was it 100% molly ?

My top is give it time. My 100 molly tastes like shit for the first 6 months.

I use 7g per litre at 65% by the way

BigRig wrote:

B-Man wrote:I've done 2 rum washes but don't know if I have done something wrong or not. everyone seems to say their rum is delicious.
mine is quite rough off of the still.(bubbler)
tried aging some on oak 10g/L for 3 months but feel like it over oaked it. and albeit tasted slightly better was still not 'great'
have sat some in the back of the cupboard and will see what its like in a years time.
anyone got any tips?

Was it 100% molly ?

My top is give it time. My 100 molly tastes like shit for the first 6 months.

I use 7g per litre at 65% by the way

Sorry posted in a rush. What i meant to say

The yeast, ferment, abv, wood and time will all effect the taste and no 2 washes / runs will be identical. To get a quality consistent drop consider a solera style setup.

When i started making rum i was doing mac's rum with 50/50 molasses / raw sugar. It was nice off the still and didn't take much oaking to be good but before long i realised it was 1 dimensional, friends and family loved it but to me it was missing something.

I started to experiment and add more molly and reduce sugar to where i now do all molly, take wider cuts and age longer. My oldest stuff is rich, complex and full of flavour. I love it and the same friends and family do too.

This stuff off the still is almost puke worthy, at 6 months its terrible and palatable at 9. At the 12 month mark it was good and getting better each month thereafter.

I have 2 lots side by side 1 has french oak at 7g per litre at 65% and the other has 50/50 french/usa at the same rate and abv for comparison.

BigRig wrote:

BigRig wrote:

B-Man wrote:I've done 2 rum washes but don't know if I have done something wrong or not. everyone seems to say their rum is delicious.
mine is quite rough off of the still.(bubbler)
tried aging some on oak 10g/L for 3 months but feel like it over oaked it. and albeit tasted slightly better was still not 'great'
have sat some in the back of the cupboard and will see what its like in a years time.
anyone got any tips?

Was it 100% molly ?

My top is give it time. My 100 molly tastes like shit for the first 6 months.

I use 7g per litre at 65% by the way

Sorry posted in a rush. What i meant to say

The yeast, ferment, abv, wood and time will all effect the taste and no 2 washes / runs will be identical. To get a quality consistent drop consider a solera style setup.

When i started making rum i was doing mac's rum with 50/50 molasses / raw sugar. It was nice off the still and didn't take much oaking to be good but before long i realised it was 1 dimensional, friends and family loved it but to me it was missing something.

I started to experiment and add more molly and reduce sugar to where i now do all molly, take wider cuts and age longer. My oldest stuff is rich, complex and full of flavour. I love it and the same friends and family do too.

This stuff off the still is almost puke worthy, at 6 months its terrible and palatable at 9. At the 12 month mark it was good and getting better each month thereafter.

I have 2 lots side by side 1 has french oak at 7g per litre at 65% and the other has 50/50 french/usa at the same rate and abv for comparison.

Just a macs rum with 50/50 molasses / raw sugar. only done a couple of runs and then being unimpressed I haven't done anymore since.
fermented it hard and fast with lowans yeast. aged with french oak.
ran through 4" bubbler no packed section.
do you keep the 7g/L in it for the 12 month++ or take it out at some point and let it age on its own there after?
think I had it at 50% abv when oaking.
too much other stuff to still atm so will look at rum next year again maybe...

cheers

B-Man wrote:

BigRig wrote:

BigRig wrote:

B-Man wrote:I've done 2 rum washes but don't know if I have done something wrong or not. everyone seems to say their rum is delicious.
mine is quite rough off of the still.(bubbler)
tried aging some on oak 10g/L for 3 months but feel like it over oaked it. and albeit tasted slightly better was still not 'great'
have sat some in the back of the cupboard and will see what its like in a years time.
anyone got any tips?

Was it 100% molly ?

My top is give it time. My 100 molly tastes like shit for the first 6 months.

I use 7g per litre at 65% by the way

Sorry posted in a rush. What i meant to say

The yeast, ferment, abv, wood and time will all effect the taste and no 2 washes / runs will be identical. To get a quality consistent drop consider a solera style setup.

When i started making rum i was doing mac's rum with 50/50 molasses / raw sugar. It was nice off the still and didn't take much oaking to be good but before long i realised it was 1 dimensional, friends and family loved it but to me it was missing something.

I started to experiment and add more molly and reduce sugar to where i now do all molly, take wider cuts and age longer. My oldest stuff is rich, complex and full of flavour. I love it and the same friends and family do too.

This stuff off the still is almost puke worthy, at 6 months its terrible and palatable at 9. At the 12 month mark it was good and getting better each month thereafter.

I have 2 lots side by side 1 has french oak at 7g per litre at 65% and the other has 50/50 french/usa at the same rate and abv for comparison.

Just a macs rum with 50/50 molasses / raw sugar. only done a couple of runs and then being unimpressed I haven't done anymore since.
fermented it hard and fast with lowans yeast. aged with french oak.
ran through 4" bubbler no packed section.
do you keep the 7g/L in it for the 12 month++ or take it out at some point and let it age on its own there after?
think I had it at 50% abv when oaking.
too much other stuff to still atm so will look at rum next year again maybe...

cheers

Yeah mate all stuff still has oak in it and stays in it. I noticed the booze tastes over oaked early on but other "magic stuff" seems to happen afterwards which balance out the flavour as it ages longer and longer.

I replicate what Andrew is doing and i have spoken with him about this and he has stuff which is a lot older than i do and he leaves it on oak and only decants out what he needs then tops his kegs up. Guessing some of his dominos are years old so the oaking is reduced compared to virgin oak and gives a more rounded product.

Rum benifits from used oak like scotch.for a milder oak profile.
Burbon is oak candy and benifits from virgin.oak.. hence why big boys do burbon first then scotch rum.
Wine is much lower abv so new wood does not impact it as much as it does spirit. But I believe wine growers scrape and re use new barrels a few times..

Without reading other people's opinions, we all have things that work for us and might not work for other peoples taste.

I age my rum with a lot of heavy toasted and medium chared oak for a month or more until it gets a strong tannin flavour, then I pull the oak and put in toasted apple wood.
The apple wood goes great with the rum and as the oak tannin breaks down it develops into a very nice smooth flavour.
I also like to add citrus peel and coconut chunks when I add the apple wood, then remove them after a week or so depending on the flavour.
It ages really well for a year with the apple wood and then gets bottled.

IMG_1401.JPGIMG_1400.JPGHave been playing with temp cycling for the last few weeks
rum has been down 18 days
agave spirit 7 days

Just popped the ends on a couple of barrels and fitted stainless taps, two down two to go