StillSmart

First i am a complete novice at this and this is a experimental run
Cocoa Rum 10L wash
Billingtons molasses unrefined cane sugar 1Kg
Red seal Blackstrap molasses 1Kg
essentials brown sugar 1Kg
Chelsea rich chocolate icing sugar 0.375kg

3.375kg to 10L total volume should have an SG 1.129 req 7.91L water should produce a wash of 19.9% alcohol

According to info panel on each item actual sugar content is 2.701 KG

2.701kg to 10L total volume should have an SG 1.103 req 8.33L water should produce a wash of 15.9% alcohol
will be using turbo yeast on first batch
Distilled water
using a Airstill
will post updates as it goes just waiting for current wash to finish

Interesting mix there inks. Hope you keep us posted on result....
Curious as to what part of the country (generally) you might be in?

Will definitely post updates on this as it goes based in pukekohe

Ink..do you not think that the SGs you quote are too high???

Icefever wrote:Ink..do you not think that the SGs you quote are too high???

they are theoretical using a wash calculator
so when i do the wash will be meticulous with measuring and recording the data to
the best of my ability
will also be interesting to see the actual difference in practice

Unless you have really really horrible tap water I would use that. If I really felt it wasn't right. I would use bottled spring water. Never distilled.

Use Baker's yeast. You have some lovely flavours coming through from the sugars - Why ruin it with the off flavours that come with turbos. They are designed for making fast neutrals.
You are trying to get flavour you don't want any off flavours. This wants to be a slightly cooler fermentation 22 ish IMO.

Don't use the freezer to strip it (having said that, I think I'm the only person that does).
Great for neutral, but will not capture all those flavours !!

first batch going to use turbos on the second batch will use bread yeast want to see and taste the differences
think it will be interesting the results from different strains of yeast
not going to freeze dont have the fridge space or inclination to be honest thank you for the advice and feed back from all
should be able to start thee wash on monday so here is hoping for favor from the Rum Gods

Wishing you well with your experiment.
You seem determined.

Robert.

and so it begins
Readings on cocoa rum wash
10L total volume has an SG 1.115
10L total volume has an SG 1.119 using temp adjustment calculator
10L total volume has an SG 1.113 at room temp
Rather high will be interesting to see results after fermentation is complete
total cost $32.91 New Zealand dollars for 10L wash

definitely a novel idea but............

If you read around the home brew world, especially the mead world, there's many who're trying to impart chocolate flavour to many other ingredients.

It seems that it's not an easy thing to do and while some declare good results from various cocoa powder type products, it does seem that cocoa nibs are the way to go.

That said, you will be distilling it and as you've posted it in the air/easy/smart still forum, I presume that is what you're intending to use for the distillation.

The very fact that that distilling removes more flavours from the still charge (irrespective of it's nature), just using the cocoa icing sugar isn't IMO likely to transfer much flavour into the spirit. If you think on the way many whiskies and brandies are distilled, even to get enough flavour across before letting them loose on barrel ageing, they have to include a lot of tails etc in the final cut so that the oak can do it's thing.

I'm thinking that you'd need something infinitely stronger tasting in the chocolate/cocoa department to be able to do that.....

Not trying to put a downer on your post/idea Ink', just give something to think about. Chocolate is nearly as hard to work with as toffee/butterscotch type flavours.......

Aye, you may be right there Phantom, I am a fan of Chocolate porters and Stouts currently available from my local supermarkets.
Maybe one day the free time to quaffing ratio will have me try to find a good chocolate beer brew.

Now to get the flavour through a still does sound interesting.....
Is there something that can be used, in place of, or with oak to do this?
There may well be a comercially available syrup,
But is there something that can be steeped?

Robert.

I wonder if using cocoa seeds would work letting that steep in the alcohol

inksanity wrote:I wonder if using cocoa seeds would work letting that steep in the alcohol

Yup, the same thought occured to me, after my last post here. Maybe even cracking them first?
An interesting one.

Robert.

Chocolate RUM:

Strip you rum untill you have enough for a 35% boiler charge in a 15.5 gallon keg.

Add 2 cups of cocoa powder to the boiler charge...

run it nice and steady taking it off at about 92 abv...

produces a nice chocolate rum...

This was a recipe used by MINIME

for added complexity add a cup of coffee (any grind works) to the boiler as well

both the cocoa and coffee will carry over into the final product

have fun and happy stillin


FS

Sounds good.
I have scaled this down to airstill proportions to give it a go.

1 litre of water
1 litre of spirit
20ml cocoa powder
10ml coffee
Licorice root

30 mins soak before running.