whaleShark

Irons, did you try the pump - it looks great on paper and the price is right...except that they don't ship to the US

Shane, ever experiment with different types of malted barley (Otter vs Optic vs ??, roasting level, etc)? whaleShark

I've done (honey + molasses-A) with MW and purified water, no noticable off-odors.

I've had good luck with DAP @ 1g/L but I'm using grade-A molasses & MW yeast, starting brix around 16 with temp around 33.

Sudzie, Thanks for the photo. I'll shoot you an email offline..

So, probably all means the same thing - thanks... Charleston, haven't been there but used to get close. Had family in Coos Bay, would make the drive from Long Beach 'cross the bridge and then head down the coast...good memories...

Are there any distilleries out there still using an actual pot & thumper? As you say, it doesn't seem possible to make the cuts. I have not had the chance to play around with lots of different equipment, so I'm repeating what I've read: For pot still produced whiskeys/etc the size & shape of the vapor chamber significantly affects the flavor of the product. I'm assuming that it would be the same for a heavy-ester rum (either the double-pot or the column-then-pot). If true, shouldn't there be a number of the equipment suppliers offering various shaped chambers? Or is everyone just doing a rectifying column light rum?

When producing rum, how are Dunder, Backset, and Stillage different - or are they?

I'm looking for a recommendation on a pot still and rectifying column small enough that I can perform R&D, but that is scalable to production size while maintaining (roughly) the same flavor profiles. Product: relatively high ester rum Variables: type of molasses, fermentation time/temperature, yeast strain, etc. Budget: $3-5k

jrfalcon, what type of still are you using?

Moc11 - as someone in a similar condition, may I ask what resources are you using for formulating your business plan? What types of equipment have you decided upon? Any idea how much the TTB surety bond will cost? How are you planning on marketing your product? etc. etc.... :-)

I'm in Orlando, so it's mid 70's - just beautiful! I'm originally from Washington State, beautiful in the summer there, beautiful in the winter here :-) What products are you planning on producing? I'm about 2-3 years behind you. I'd like to produce rum, I've met some of the smaller distillers here in Florida but they have financial backers, so I'm basically doing some R&D and looking at various types of equipment that I might be able to afford. I don't yet have a location, or any equipment. This forum looks like a great place to learn from.... bruce

Hello smac105 - How is the weather in MD? I just joined this forum today myself. DO you have a specifi interest?

Hello to all, I'm familiar with small & large scale brewing of beer but interested in learning about spirits, specifically the production of rum. Looking forward to leaning from the experts and learning from making mistakes (it is unaviodable).

Joe (PA_JoeDistiller), what would be a good resource for understanding the differrences in flavor between the choices that you mentioned?