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you'll need to do some test batches and find what gives you the profile you want. many rum producers use ec1118- champagne yeast, but there are many other yeasts out there that can change the character of the spirit significantly.

I've done some experimentation with DanstilL EDV 493, it makes a terrible white rum, but fantastic aged Navy rum, but it does need to age in the barrel longer than a rum made with ec1118.

I've tried different wine yeast variants, and they all work with differing levels of success.

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  • 2 months later...

Done several experiments lately. The EC-1118 is fantastic if you want a clean spirit. My work has all been with cane juice, not molasses. I can say I agree with ViolentBlue on the 493. It was almost sour tasting. Barrel aging some now. I say just go for it with various yeasts and see what you get. I am about to test some yeasts that probably have never been used for rum before. Will keep you posted.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Do you guys ever try and raise the fermentation temp to try and draw out more fruity flavors? I was thinking about the rums ive had and most are a bit more on the wild side than whiskeys, etc. Kind of like mezcals, they all seem to have more natural flavor, i was curious what would come of a higher fermentation like some wineries do for red wines.

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I raised the temperature on my last fermentation from 70 degrees to 85 degrees and it shaved two days off of the cycle. I can't say it had a huge impact on the flavor. I might actually prefer the slower fermented iteration. It had a sweeter finish.

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I raised the temperature on my last fermentation from 70 degrees to 85 degrees and it shaved two days off of the cycle. I can't say it had a huge impact on the flavor. I might actually prefer the slower fermented iteration. It had a sweeter finish.

Higher temperatures will drive the yeast harder, but it can also create some off flavors. you must be using a more temperature tolerant yeast to minimize the impact.

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Great success on my first effort with a very unusual yeast isolated here in Hawaii. I have some more testing to do, and I need to be sure I can create a repeatable process to propagate the yeast cultures in larger quantities, but I might have stumbled into an interesting find. Will tell you more as I test the alcohol tolerance in a 20 Brix solution next time.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I've used the Lallemand rum specific yeast 493 EDV, with good results on a very light white rum. Very creamy flavors, with herbaceous hints, and some light spice notes. Also as mentioned, the Lalvin EC-1118 is nice for its neutrality. I have had amazing results with several wine yeasts, Lalvin 71B is one I remember very well.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I kept 14 liters of my sugar cane juice at 72 degrees for the experiment with the new yeast. My SG was 1.078 to start. After a full 7 days of fairly constant fermentation, the final SG is .992. I took daily samples and had a lab do a count. This is what they got:

24 hr = 7.6 x 10 to 6th cells/ml

48 hr = 8.2 x 10 to 6th cells/ml

72 hr = 4.8 x 10 to 6th cells/ml

96 hr = 6.5 x 10 to 6th cells/ml

120 hr = 5.6 x 10 to 5th cells/ml

144 hr = 7.5 x 10 to 5th cells/ml

168 hr = 3.3 x 10 to 5th cells/ml

I am going to distill the stuff tomorrow, but my initial reaction great. The wine smells really nice. Not yeasty or sour like I've had with other yeasts. Even tastes okay. If this works, I can get exclusive use of this yeast that was isolated by a laboratory for a different purpose, but I will have to pay a small royalty. Is it worth all of this to have a native Hawaiian yeast?

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I am racking my sugar cane wine today, but the fermentation hasn't stopped. My fermentation lock is still bubbling very slowly. SG is just about 0.990 now. Today is the 10th day. Has anyone ever seen a 10 day fermentation cycle?

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  • 2 weeks later...

I am racking my sugar cane wine today, but the fermentation hasn't stopped. My fermentation lock is still bubbling very slowly. SG is just about 0.990 now. Today is the 10th day. Has anyone ever seen a 10 day fermentation cycle?

I actually ran one for 21 days and it was still going. Flavor was pretty decent.

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Thanks for the insight. Did samples and checked the bacterial load under a microscope. My main yeast was still alive, and bacteria count was up, but not enough to be worrisome. Just FYI, I did do this run in a cool climate. It was 72 degrees in the room where I ran the experiment. The production environment will be much higher.

Hey Steve. I love the new logo. Looking forward to seeing it on my still! So you have to be a newbie now that you changed your name and logo?

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Final wrap-up on the yeast. The naturally occurring yeast in the cane vastly out performed the yeast I pitched for the first 48 hours, but it had very low alcohol tolerance. As it died out, the new yeast took over and continued to ferment for 11 days. The pitched yeast had excellent alcohol tolerance, too, and I am very happy with the flavor profile. I intend to use it in my production if I can work out a reasonable agreement with the laboratory that isolated the strain. Thanks for all the input.

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