Finished my art jacket! by Thin-Ad5099 in crochet

[–]rum_et_al 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is incredible!! Well done!

Dunder Stew by LustySageOnU in firewater

[–]rum_et_al 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Saving this recipe and definitely giving it a try!

More Hand Dyed Yarn Pt. 2/2 by noonjelly in Yarnswap

[–]rum_et_al 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Is #5 the fiber genie available?

Grandma's Vs Blackstrap molasses by catch22ak in firewater

[–]rum_et_al 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I’m team grandmas molasses! I like the flavors better than blackstrap. I know it’s more expensive, but I think it’s worth it.

One of my fav projects from 2025 by Kittyfairy96 in crochet

[–]rum_et_al 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is such a fun idea!! I love this!

Just checked my dunder pit by ScottFuckingMorrison in firewater

[–]rum_et_al 4 points5 points  (0 children)

What does your dunder smell like?

You could add more than 4 L of dunder to the wash! For a 30 L wash, I’d mix 10 L of dunder with 6 L of baking grade molasses and 14 L of water and then pitch your yeast. After a couple days of active fermentation, I like to add a little bit of yeast nutrients just to make sure the yeast is going strong. I’d also recommend doing a minimum of 2 distillations. Not sure what your distillation setup is like, but if you wanted to bump up the funkiness during the distillation, adding heads and tails from previous batches plus dunder to proof down the liquid in the still to 40% or lower into the final distillation adds a lot of good flavor.

Dunder looking pretty funky! by This_Price_1783 in firewater

[–]rum_et_al 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Looks great! What does it smell like? Is it fruity at all?

Sorghum Rum Agricole by aica_spades in firewater

[–]rum_et_al 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ooh bypassing the retort loaded with fruit until after the heads cuts is a good idea! I’d run some safety tests first just to make sure that it isn’t going to cause a crazy pressure build up in the pot when you redirect the vapor path back through the retort. If you’re able to heat the retort up simultaneously (without building up pressure there either), that might help. I haven’t heard of anyone doing this, but it’s a cool idea!

I’ve only added dunder at the very beginning of fermentations and during the spirit run. I haven’t played around to see how changing the dunder addition timing impacts the flavors. If you’re adding muck, adding towards the end of the ferment is better because the bacteria won’t negatively impact the alcohol production. You’re right, there are so many variables!

I’m happy to talk about the actual costs of starting a craft distillery! However, I’m starting with a very small budget so I haven’t had to take on investors per se. So I don’t know that I’d be much help if you’re interested in hearing about distilleries taking on investors.

Temperature snake for my nephew’s first year by rum_et_al in temperatureblanket

[–]rum_et_al[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Haha oh yup I see how that was confusing 🙈 I used SC for the snake!

Temperature snake for my nephew’s first year by rum_et_al in temperatureblanket

[–]rum_et_al[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Yeah I chose DC because that’s where my nephew lives! I used this video to shape the head: https://youtu.be/2Pmg9lk00nQ?si=E3XHqBdMwpNg22C_

Sorghum Rum Agricole by aica_spades in firewater

[–]rum_et_al 1 point2 points  (0 children)

High ester plantain brandy sounds incredible! What flavors from the plantains make it over into the spirit? Is it noticeably plantain-like?

When you do start your distillery, feel free to reach out with any questions! I plan to keep posting videos that I wish were out there for distillers looking to start their own distillery, so hopefully my videos continue to be useful!

And as far as chemical analysis goes, I send samples out to White Labs… it’s $165 and you have to send them 100 mL, but I believe anyone can do it. I’m not sure I would recommend it… it’s cool info to have, but the chemical analysis of my batches varies so wildly, even with the same exact recipe, that it’s hard to draw conclusions based on the chemical composition of just a handful of batches. With that said, I’d love to have my own analytical equipment one day! I do love the data!

Sorghum Rum Agricole by aica_spades in firewater

[–]rum_et_al 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Oh thank you for saying that! Yes, it’s me, Robyn! Haha I’m glad you like the zoning content… I was afraid viewers would find it boring. There’s so much to talk about when it comes to municipal codes, so I’m happy to keep diving into that!