Jump to content


Photo
- - - - -

Rumbullion


  • Please log in to reply
No replies to this topic

#1 SchwanzBrewer

SchwanzBrewer

    Grand Duke of Inappropriate Announcements

  • Patron
  • PipPipPipPipPip
  • 34299 posts
  • LocationKnee deep in business plans

Posted 18 December 2012 - 12:45 PM

I am trying to find a traditional beer that the settlers of my area of Florida would have drank back in the early 1800's. What I have come up with is that the crops they would have grown are maize, sugar cane, various vegetables, wheat and barley, but grain is tougher to grow and only grows in the winter. So it would have been ready for harvest in early summer, which is the worst time to brew. So unless they saved some grain for winter brewing, normal english style beers would have been tough to make.That leaves me with sugar cane and maize (corn). The biggest clue I have is that the "cracker country" exhibit at the FL State Fair features an old style sugar cane mill. That leads me to believe that molasses productions probably out paced grain production since the climate is much more suitable for it year round. If the settlers had a lot of molasses it seems likely that they would have made Rumbullion, which is the precursor beer to rum. The name is debatable since many believe "rum" is short for rumbullion. Since there are a lot of spanish influences you have Ron XXXX types of rum everywhere.So how do you make Rumbullion? It seems that it is made almost exactly like mead - with water and molasses. Some sources I have seen say to use apple juice instead of water because it has sugar in it and makes the final product tastier. Everything I've read so far says that it takes around 3 months to ferment the rumbullion, and then another 9 months for it to age. The initial fermented product is supposed to be really tart and it sweetens with age.So I am going to do a couple 2 gallons batches to see what I get. I've been told to use grade A molasses because it has more sugar in it. The first batch will be a 7# molasses to 2.5 gallon of water and I'll shoot for a specific gravity of 1.126. The second batch will be 7# molasses to 2.5 gal apple juice for a SG of around 1.134 ish.Couple questions...What type of apple juice should I use? I know I should avoid anything with preservatives. Any brands I should look for?Any suggestions?Cheers,Rich


0 user(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 0 guests, 0 anonymous users