mendodistilling Posted May 1, 2012 Share Posted May 1, 2012 Has anyone worked with any Yeast companies to try and find what works favorably? What have been your results? What type of yeast strains do you use, beer? If so, what types have you used and your results? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panoscape Posted May 1, 2012 Share Posted May 1, 2012 You can start your research here: http://homedistiller.org/forum/ It would be hard to say, seeing I don't know what flavor profile you want in your end rum. The best thing to do is to try many things and see what floats your boat flavor wise. Try to innovate, not duplicate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mendodistilling Posted May 2, 2012 Author Share Posted May 2, 2012 Just learning, trying to absorb experience to use as a base for my personal ideas. Trying to get conversation started on the subject. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ViolentBlue Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mendodistilling Posted May 3, 2012 Author Share Posted May 3, 2012 Have you played with any beer yeast or only the higher tolerant alcohol yeasts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Morgan Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 Lallemand has several cane/molasses specific yeasts for Rum production. I have used Distilamax RM 493 with great results. See http://www.ethanoltech.com/beverage/yeast.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rumfarmer Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mendodistilling Posted August 28, 2012 Author Share Posted August 28, 2012 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rumfarmer Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winchester Posted September 9, 2012 Share Posted September 9, 2012 Agree with smoogdog that EC 1118 is a good rum yeast, fairly neutral, suitable for clean, white rums. I also like it as a "first" yeast for a new recipe as it tends not to interfere if that makes sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ViolentBlue Posted September 10, 2012 Share Posted September 10, 2012 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rumfarmer Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smaug Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 Subscibed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rumfarmer Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 Testing my new yeast against a control using EC-118. Hope to have a starting Brix at 20 and see where we end up. Will post an update later in the week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonathan Forester Posted September 27, 2012 Share Posted September 27, 2012 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rumfarmer Posted October 7, 2012 Share Posted October 7, 2012 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? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveflintstone Posted October 7, 2012 Share Posted October 7, 2012 I once knew a girl named Leilani. She had a Native Hawaiian yeast once. A quick trip to Longs and seven days later it was gone. fyi, it did not smell nice & I was too afraid to taste it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rumfarmer Posted October 7, 2012 Share Posted October 7, 2012 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? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeekSpirits Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Artisan Still Design Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 I've seen some long fermentation cycles in colder climates. but rarely in warm. could be secondary bacterial fermentation maybe? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rumfarmer Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 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? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Artisan Still Design Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 ya, tried to get it changed in the system but was a no go we're rather pleased with the logo, and I think it'll look quite nice machined into brass Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palmetto Coast Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 For some heavy rums, they use slow fermenting yeast. The longer length of the fermentation allows the ferment to produce more flavors. Todd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Copperstill Posted October 23, 2012 Share Posted October 23, 2012 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rumfarmer Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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