This is an instruction set detailing how to make rum at home. It takes about 4-8 days to complete. This instruction set includes instructions for making rum, a link for making a reflux still of your own, and a link for dilution of the final product. Rum has been in production since the 17th century in the Caribbean, where the majority of rum production still takes place. It was traditionally made from sugarcane juice, but now is usually made from molasses or brown sugar.
This recipe will yield approximately 2-3 L (0.528-0.793 gallons).
Ingredients Molasses or Brown sugar (5 kg or approx. 11.023 lbs.)
Water (20 L or approx. 5.28 gallons)
Hydrated Yeast (1.5 ounces)·
Additional water to dilute final solution
Begin by placing 20 L of water in boiler.
Dissolve 5 kg of brown sugar or molasses in 20 L of water.
Cool solution to 30 °C (86 °F) and add hydrated yeast.
4
Allow solution to ferment at 25 °C until airlock stops bubbling. This should take about 24-48 hours for airlock to stop bubbling. Ferment - the conversion of carbohydrates to alcohols and carbon dioxide or organic acids using yeasts, bacteria, or a combination thereof, under anaerobic conditions. Airlock - one way valve located near top of boiler allowing air out without allowing more air in.
5
Once airlock has finished bubbling, allow solution to sit for 3-7 days.
Place container under distillate valve to catch solution.
Connect water source to coolant input.
8
Now siphon the solution into the still. Siphon - a tube or conduit bent into legs of unequal length, for use in drawing a liquid from one container into another on a lower level by placing the shorter leg into the container above and the longer leg into the one below, the liquid being forced up the shorter leg and into the longer leg by the pressure of the atmosphere.
9
Begin bringing solution to boil and begin running cold water once the solution reaches between 50-60°C (122-140 °F).
10
Once solution has started distilling (solution starts to exit spout into container): Discard first 100mL (3.38 fl. ounces). This is an overestimate and will contain all methanol (warning: methanol is lethal when ingested). Collect the next 2-3 L of distillate (solution exiting spout) Stop collecting once temperature reached 96 °C (204.8 °F)
11
Turn off heat source.
Turn off cold water.
Open lid to still so as to avoid creating a vacuum inside still.
14
Use water to dilute alcohol to expected proof. Depending on reflux still, solution can be up to 95% alcohol-dangerously strong for consumption. Use a dilution calculator.
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Flavors of any other additives can be added to improve taste.
Warnings - Distilling alcohol yourself is both illegal (in the USA) and a potential health hazard if performed incorrectly. For this reason it is recommended that this instruction set be used solely for educational purposes.
Tips
Yeast for making alcohols will not produce methanol. But other bacteria in the air and environment may contaminate the batch (although they are not common in all regions). A clean working environment, sterile gloves and containers for source materials, and pure source materials are essential to ensuring the safety of the batch. Thorough cleaning of the still (even dry sterilization) between uses is essential. Professional production may go so far as to replace the air in the still and aging vat with nitrogen (inert, and a flame retardant) to further limit risks â€" but this is not a cheap or easy thing to do at home. Tossing the early part of the batch has more to do with getting rid of unwanted flavors, but in professional settings this is still lost (in fact considerably more is lost) through safe preheating near but not up to the boiling point of ethanol (~80% .. about 60C) while still in the aging tank (and open to air to allow the material to escape).
Moonshine is not particularly known for its taste, although if you do achieve 95% solution it should be relatively flavorless - see Neutral Spirits. It will mellow considerably when aged in a stainless steel drum (steel drums are the norm for white rum or some spiced rums, oak casks for gold/spiced rums, and a charred oak cask for dark rum, but cask-based aging is a bit of a science in itself). Almost all liquors are aged for 1-2 years (a notable exception being corn whiskey, which may be flavored with sweet corn juice), and many for considerably longer. Filtration through charcoal can also help remove distasteful impurities, although this process is typically used for vodka, not rum.
If you age it at home, it's best to set it in a shed or someplace shaded outside, from after the spring thaw until the first frost of fall. Evaporation rates (the 'angel share') ranges from ~2% in Scotland to ~8-12% from Puerto Rico to the equator. Aging with a tiny amount of glycerin (5mL/L), a common food sweetener and preservative, can help mellow the flavor. You don't need to dilute the alcohol in spring water (some may find distilled water has apparent taste by its lack of minerals, and hard water is healthier) if aging in a stainless steel drum, but if you do dilute it, make sure it is strong enough in the end to have alcohol in excess of the proof you want to achieve so you have room to flavor it at the end (i.e. try to calculate the angel share).
Fractional distillation (the type of still here, a reflux still, is a form of fractional distillation) is normally required to achieve percentages as high as 95%, and is more common to rum specifically. Pot still distillation (as used for whiskey, many other alcohols, and some so-called "full-flavored" rums) is nearer to 70% (in double-distiller process) or 80-88% (in a triple distillation).
Try using a larger pot next time. Other wise you will have one gooie mess. Also a funnel would help when pouring into containers.
Common flavorings used in rums are: coconut extract (clear), sugar cane juice. One common (and perhaps overall the most common) to all but white flavored rums is molasses. A flavoring in gold and spiced rum is often caramel. Spiced rum may have cinnamon extract (certainly tiny amounts), or honey. Another possibility for Haitian-inspired rums might also include tiny amounts of mace extract and/or the flowers of basil.
Source of cold water·
Heat source·
Reflux still (Can either be purchased or homemade)
Container to store final solution (5 L or 1.32 gallons)
How to make Rum part 1: 
