At one time I spent a lot of time and valuable distillate on making homemade rum, but neither the spices used nor the special essences helped me achieve intelligible results.
And then I found out that there is molasses – a by-product of sugar production, on the basis of which real rum is made! And today I will share with you my experience of making rum at home!
This story was submitted by blog reader Michael.
Ingredients and equipment
Since the main ingredient of the future rum is molasses, I will tell you about it in more detail. Molasses or molasses is obtained by processing sugar-containing products.
In my case, molasses came from the production of sugar from beets, which is why it is called beet molasses.
Beetroot flow
Beet molasses is a thick brown syrup flavored with burnt sugar or caramel. This product retains a sufficient amount of sugar, nutrients and enzymes that promote fermentation.
The perfect product for aromatic rum! The color of the drink will depend on the amount of molasses.
Ingredients:
- beet molasses – 5 liters;
- water – 21 l;
- rum yeast – 1 sachet (70-100 g depending on the manufacturer, I used Double Snake Rum yeast);
Yeast Double Snake Rum
- oak chips – 100 g.
Equipment:
- container for heating water;
- distillation cube;
- distillation column.
Then you can start making homemade rum.
The cooking process
To prepare rum from beet molasses, you must proceed in the following sequence:
- Bring 10 liters of water to a boil and add our molasses. Stir until a homogeneous mass is obtained, after which we remove from heat, cover with a lid and leave for half an hour.
- As soon as the mixture cools down to 25-30 C, add the yeast according to the instructions.
- Add oak chips, another 11 liters of cold water and mix. The temperature of the wort should not exceed 30 C.
- Close the container with a water seal and leave the mixture to ferment for 10-12 days.
Molasses mash
- The finished mash is poured into a distillation cube without sediment and sent for distillation in the usual mode without separation into fractions until the strength in the stream reaches 20%.
- The remains in the cube (bard) must be measured and diluted with water 1: 3. The resulting mixture of stillage and water is added to our beet moonshine and sent for re-distillation using a distillation column.
- We collect “heads” of 12-15% of the total amount of liquid in the cube (in our case, about 6 liters).
- We assemble the main body until the fortress in the jet drops to 45%.
At the output, we get 12 liters of homemade rum. Immediately measure the strength and, if necessary, dilute with water up to 40-45%. Next, you need to drain the rum into glass vessels, cork and leave to “rest” for several days.
Result
As a result, we have caramel-brown moonshine without any impurities. The shade of the drink does not depend on the amount of beet molasses, but on oak chips. In addition to color, wood chips add tart woody notes to homemade rum.
Rum has a rich aroma with a caramel aftertaste. Molasses gives the moonshine a subtle sweetness, from which the rum goes very gently both on inhalation and on exhalation.
Let’s calculate the final cost of rum from beet molasses:
- beet molasses – 150 rubles per 1 liter (750 rubles);
- yeast for rum Double Snake Rum 1 pack – 240 rubles;
- oak chips 100 g – 80 rubles.
In total, 12 liters of rum cost me 1070 rubles, the price of 1 liter is 90 rubles.
What to use with
I have been putting off for a very long time the moment when I will present my work of alcoholic art to friends. It was very exciting, because I do not offer them brew, but real rum! And it turned out that I was worried for nothing.
First I want to say that the ladies preferred to drink rum with cola. It’s amazing how these two caramel drinks complement each other! Oranges and chocolate are also great snacks, and my best friend’s favorite snack is nuts (almonds and cashews).
Tell us about your experience with molasses. Did any of the readers get homemade rum? Or maybe you prepared it in some other way?