first time rum

[Jpaul]

this is the first rum I've tried and virtually first spirit I've tried.
so it has been about 20 days and the wash which should take between 6 - 14 days to ferment is still bubbling in the fermenter but has a gravity reading of 1.048 the starting gravity reading was 1.092. so should I leave it, transfer it to a secondary fermenter, or distill it as is. I really don't know... I'm just looking for educated opinions.

[adamOVD]

How much yeast nutrient did you add?

[Jpaul]

2 oz I believe to 4.5 gallons wash

[navenjohnson]

Thats a long time to ferment rum. We do one and it completes the ferment in 3 days. 265lbs molassas + 265lbs turbinado + go ferm = fermad K intitially and at 1/3 sugar depletion. 

 

 

[adamOVD]

What was your starting gravity, PH, and fermentation temp? A lot of people use bakers yeast for rum, and it likes it pretty warm. I use about twice the nutrient, along with DAP, but that will change depending on what kind of sugar or molasses you are using. I'd try to get the ferment to finish out before running it, and use it as an opportunity to figure out what needs to change to speed up future ferments by adding nutrient, heat, or repitching yeast.

[Jpaul]

On 12/16/2018 at 12:44 AM, navenjohnson said:

Thats a long time to ferment rum. We do one and it completes the ferment in 3 days. 265lbs molassas + 265lbs turbinado + go ferm = fermad K intitially and at 1/3 sugar depletion. 

 

 

how do you get it to fully ferment so fast? do you have high heat?

[Jpaul]

On 12/16/2018 at 6:04 PM, adamOVD said:

What was your starting gravity, PH, and fermentation temp? A lot of people use bakers yeast for rum, and it likes it pretty warm. I use about twice the nutrient, along with DAP, but that will change depending on what kind of sugar or molasses you are using. I'd try to get the ferment to finish out before running it, and use it as an opportunity to figure out what needs to change to speed up future ferments by adding nutrient, heat, or repitching yeast.

starting gravity was 1.092 I didn't do PH. fermentation temp was 31 C when the yeast went in and has been approximately 18 C throughout fermentation.  
ok it's only at 1.048 gravity rn so it has a ways to go.

[adamOVD]

That's pretty cold for any ferment. Id add more nutrient and try to warm it up, and see if it takes off. Aquarium heaters work well depending on your fermenter size.

[Jpaul]

9 hours ago, adamOVD said:

That's pretty cold for any ferment. Id add more nutrient and try to warm it up, and see if it takes off. Aquarium heaters work well depending on your fermenter size.

ok, thank you! I'll see what I can do!

[Jpaul]

13 hours ago, adamOVD said:

That's pretty cold for any ferment. Id add more nutrient and try to warm it up, and see if it takes off. Aquarium heaters work well depending on your fermenter size.

one more thing, would you add the same amount of yeast used the first time, or a different amount?

[adamOVD]

I'd try just adding heat and nutrient first to see what happens (as long as you pitched the recommended amount of yeast), then repitch yeast if nothing changes. That's just my opinion though, and I don't know your entire process. 

[jenschmunk@gmail.com]

On 12/18/2018 at 7:12 PM, Jpaul said:

starting gravity was 1.092 I didn't do PH. fermentation temp was 31 C when the yeast went in and has been approximately 18 C throughout fermentation.  
ok it's only at 1.048 gravity rn so it has a ways to go.

Did you managed to figure out what went wrong in your procedure? I have an identical situation and have repitched YN, heated up with aquarium heaters AND repitched yeast and have moved from 1.034 to 1.030 in a few days. Tips?

[bluefish_dist]

Sugar washes which include rum without a lot of molasses tend to crash on ph.  That can make them stop early.  You really need to watch ph and keep it above 4 ish.  Add calcium carbonate or other bases to increase ph.  

Rum should easily go from 1.10 to 1.02 ish in 10-14 days with proper nutrients and ph control and 85-90 deg temps. 

[Skaalvenn]

5 hours ago, bluefish_dist said:

Sugar washes which include rum without a lot of molasses tend to crash on ph.  That can make them stop early.  You really need to watch ph and keep it above 4 ish.  Add calcium carbonate or other bases to increase ph.  

Rum should easily go from 1.10 to 1.02 ish in 10-14 days with proper nutrients and ph control and 85-90 deg temps. 

Bluefish is right. A pH meter is an essential tool if you want a distillery that makes money.

It could also be  done fermenting due to the unfermentable sugars in molasses. I have had molasses that wouldn't ferment below 1.035 from a 1.090 start. I thought it was stuck, added heat, added nutrients, added yeast and nothing happened. So as a final test I added raw sugar and it fired off again for an hour or two, so the answer was the molasses.

[Jpaul]

11 hours ago, jenschmunk@gmail.com said:

Did you managed to figure out what went wrong in your procedure? I have an identical situation and have repitched YN, heated up with aquarium heaters AND repitched yeast and have moved from 1.034 to 1.030 in a few days. Tips?

nothing certain.. I believe it was the temperature of my wash when fermenting, as I used bread yeast.
I raised the temperature to about 20 C and was able to get it down to 1.011 gravity, I distilled it at that, I don't know the quality yet, I bottled it with wood chips to try to mellow it, so i will see what it's like in a couple months.
I really don't think I'm the one to ask, sorry.. it could be what they said above. although my wash had no molasses at all and fermented down to 1.011 although it did take about 40 days...