Ahaaaa, rum being the nector of the gods, ferment the batch until finished, run sg on it to be sure, remember molasses only is about 38% sugar so you will not get the volumn that you may think, put in still, bring to 76'C, run off the first cup full and return that to the batch, and run unitl the temp starts climbing above 85'c. If you can't hold the temp down anymore, its done for. Age the rum in oak, lightly toasted for a few months and there you go....now for the good rum, to each 750 ml. add 1 teaspoon each, cloves, nutmege, a dash oif cinnomon and a vanilla bean for good measure.. cheers...joimbull

When you say 'run off the first cup full and return that to the batch', I return the cup back into the still, to the batch I'm now distiling? I'm not sure I understand the use?

Any help here?

ok and if you dont have enough sugar you can sub some brown sugar it will fill in for a little of the molasses and fill the amount of sugar you need o ya don't forget get the dark brown sugar and not the light i think dark is more rich with molasses
If any one was wondering.

Pot stills are usually used for making rum because they keep all that good flavor in there. With that said, you could also take the packing out of a reflux still and use it if you wanted to.

The way I have had good luck making rum is this.

Recipe....for a 20L wash

9 pounds fancy molasses
5 pounds white sugar
yeast nutrient after the first use of the turbo yeast
preferred yeast (I use rum turbo)

I get about two gallons of water near boiling and mix in the sugar and molasses until everything is well disolved. I get several uses out of my rum turbo yeast. The first use already has the nutrients added to the pack. All the uses thereafter will need some yeast nutrient added. I use about 1 tablespoon per 5 gal. Molasses already has a lot of nutrient in it, so it's just for good measure.

I then dump it in my fermenting bucket. I top off with cool water to the 5 1/4 gallon mark. When the wash comes down to pitching temperature (under 90F) I pitch the yeast. After about a week when it is done fermenting I transfer to a secondary glass container. I then let it sit another week to let everything fall out. I've found that two weeks is about the minimum wait for this one. Another week will help things clear up a bit.

Then go into the pot and make a stripping run. Turn off the cooling to the column and use the cooling water only to the condenser. Take off the first 150 ml of foreshots (I like to be very liberal here because I'd rather waste a little then not take enough). Then collect everything else up to a gallon. Which should leave you in the low 90s C.

Do this about 3 times and you'll have 3 gallons of low wines. The alc percentage will vary with your still and your method.

Then put those three gallons of low wines in the still and another half gallon or so. I do this so I know that the still won't run dry. This is not really a necessary step.

Turn on the cooling water to the head and condenser. Take off about 100 ml of foreshots. Then run your heads. This is often times by taste, when to cut the heads and start collecting the hearts (good drinking rum.) I find that I'll get about 200ml of heads and then my hearts start. Usually for me, my hearts will start in the 80 C range. Once again, this will vary by your location (altitude), type of still and type of heat you're using.

Then I adjust the coolant to the head until I'm getting a thin stream or basically fast droplets that are constant. I let it run until about 92C. Then I collect some tails in a jar to toss in the next batch and cut it off totally at 96C.

Many people will cut the tails earlier. I like a nice strong flavored rum. So if you like a lighter flavor, I would cut earlier and go about 89 C or so. But once again, your nose and taste should be the guide.

I then mix it down to 85 proof and age on charred oak cubes. After several weeks, I add 2 tablespoons of dark carmel water (carmelized sugar thinned out to a thin syrup). This makes a nice amber rum. If you wish a spiced rum, you can go the route of adding a piece of cinnamon stick, vanilla, clove, ginger, orange zest and lemon zest and let it sit awhile. Then filter it all out. A word of caution though, the zests can get strong fast.

Hope this helps.

cheers

~r~

Bronzedragon, you say two tablespoons, but how much volume of 85 proof are you adding that to? a liter?