StillSmart

I've used bakers yeast from day one, and we all know that there're loads of yeasts out there.
When I make wine I try to use what I think is best for the fruit I'm using.

Rum is my mainstay when it comes to grog, I do a plain sugar wash for vodka, which was what we both drank until I started making rum.

I will not use the Still Spirit rum yeast because from what I've read you have to use carbon.

I've found this from Whitelabs...http://www.whitelabs.com/files/RumTrifol_chart.pdf
I'll have to do a search for the yeasts on the UK market later...unless any of you use any of these yeasts and know where to buy from.

I did read a while back were a guy use a wheat beer yeast in a rum wash, that he said turned out well, maybe worth a try??

I did read a while back were a guy use a wheat beer yeast in a rum wash, that he said turned out well, maybe worth a try??

But if it was his first time bakers yeast would have turned out ok too.



So down to business

Yeast is huge subject AND makes a huge difference - more than people care to realise in WINE.

I cannot speak for spirits 'cept that I have found a good neutral yeast with Fermipan from lallemand.

You've inadvertently answered your own question I think. You select your yeast to your wine based on your fruit. Be careful then..... Rum yeast will assume (I reckon) that you are using cane-based fermentables. Something that works well on that won't necessarily work on say white table sugar and a jar of molasses.

I am a massive fan of lallemand - I import quite a few of their yeasts. Both for wine & Beer.
I would bet my next bacon butty on the fact that they do a rum yeast - and support it with an enormous amount of information.

I think a lot of guys over in the states and down under use EC1118 as a standard distillers yeast, I've often thought of trying some but have never done the research on it so I've stuck with bread yeast

Yeast is huge subject mash, that's what I'm after Lallemand do make a rum yeast but a quick search won't find it on sale in the UK.. yet.

I only use GS for my rum washes so far....my next will have molasses added, so the "rawness" should be there to help, we can only work with what we can source.

@ Anavrin.

I have tried EC1118 in the past with wine, but never in a wash....but has it's easy to get here in the UK it may be worth a punt.

As a brewer yeast is one of the biggest factors in the finished taste of the beer or lager it influences the flavor a lot, a wheat yeast will give banana and clove flavors and I dont know if that will come through in the finished spirit. Beer yeasts will also never finish 0998, I have had a yeast finish at 1.05 but its usually around 1.08 to 1.10 Also if your starting gravity is high say 1.070 the finishing gravity will also finish on the high side so you can actually get a higher alcohol finish in a lower starting gravity that gives you a lower finishing gravity.

Icefever wrote:I will not use the Still Spirit rum yeast because from what I've read you have to use carbon.

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I gave their rum yeast a whirl recently, 1 pack to 50l no carbon, ferment was ferocious, they must put far more nutrients in the pack than my yeast bomb.
Results were good, but its going to be aging until well into the new year, but I'm not put off by anything other than the cost, and the fact there isn't much of a yeast cake so there is no yeast to reuse for the next time.


I usually use 71B-1122 wine yeast for rum wash - you just need to make sure the yeast is tolerant to the temps you will ferment at, and that it can handle the ABV you are shooting for, else you'll kill it off before the wash is dry.