Marrow Rum

Homebrew, cordials, cheese, dehydrating, smoking and soap making. An area for all problems to be asked, tips to be given and procedures shared.
Shirley
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Post: # 34582Post Shirley »

hmmm that's what I thought.. I thought it was a squash but the lady said it was a marrow... David said it is a marrow too....

I'll take a pic :)
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Marrow Rum

Post: # 38619Post Chocobed »

Ok, started one about August with biggest marrow I've ever grown!Bought a lot of demerara sugar and stuffed the seed-free body, then sealed the top. Stuffed the whole thing(with difficulty) into a pair of old tights and hung from a roof beam in the attic with a bucket under and pierced the end with a knitting needle. The liquor ran out very quickly and I topped up the sugar after a week. By the end of the month i replaced the marrow with a smaller one as the original had given me about 5 pints of sticky, very sweet liquor. As I had a bag of sugar left, I set up the second and have again found the shell collapsed after a couple of weeks.
The liquor was transferred to a small bin with a lid and yeast added. For a few days nothing happened but when I moved it to a warmer room a thick creamy head soon appeared. This has continued for a few more weeks now, giving a very pleasent aroma and a still thick and sticky but so far no alchoholic mix.
Total time spent now 3 monthsish.
Whatever happens, I'll have a sweet sticky something!

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Post: # 38764Post Shirley »

Sounds good so far - I wonder why it's not alcoholic though.

How is yours coming along Muddy??
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Post: # 38775Post Muddypause »

Not at all sure about it, Shirlz.

It's still got a bit of a head on it, smells like the pub toilets on a friday night, and is a murky, muddy-puddle colour. The sort of muddy puddle you get outside the cow shed after a week of rain. One which might not have much actual mud in it, if you see what I mean.

Despite all this, and in the name of human advancement and science, I pulled out a teaspoonful to see what it tasted like.

Rough, I think would be an appropriate word. Not altogether unpleasant, though. Or at least not if you are used to being strung up by your fingernails and thrashed with barbed wire. Comapred to that, not altogether unpleasant.

I think I may give it a while longer yet.
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Post: # 38831Post Wombat »

:salute: Sir!

I salute your hardihood! You've impressed me (no mean feat!)

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marrow syrup?

Post: # 39462Post Chocobed »

Ok, tasted the concoction.Still doesn't smell alchoholic but think that's just me because she who cooks tells me it does. Also tells me it has a dessert wine taste, alchohol but not the blow yer head off type! I remember ,though how defeats me, a liqueur a friend made which tasted like orange syrup and very smooth, so smooth you didn't know it was a spirit until you stood up and your legs didn't!
Seems it may be the same result here with the marrow syrup/liqueur.
Will strain some off(the 'head' has started to receed) and trial it on unsuspecting family.

Results to be posted pending any accidental poisonings! :dave:

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marrow Bubbly

Post: # 41759Post Chocobed »

Ok, starting to get odd now!The stuff hasn't killed anyone yet.
Left a few bottles for a while longer, just checked them today and they fizz like champagne when you open them! Smell is strongly alchoholic now and constitution is thinner tho still a bit syrupy. Taste is getting better. Still like a sweet cough syrup but a bit more recognisable as alchohol now.Damn stuff is subtle tho!The brown/demerara sugar used has given it a teak brown appearance which doesn't improve its appeal!
Think i will research this veg/wine/beer topic further for next year. Some friends made a lot of parsnip burgundy type stuff years ago that crept up and mugged you so will ask them.

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Re: Marrow Rum

Post: # 124016Post confused »

hi, what was the end result,?? drunk? or non alocoholic??

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Re: Marrow Rum

Post: # 124038Post Chocobed »

Keep trying it, keep finding it syrupy and sweet but nothing noxious or alchoholic. Maybe I'm hardened to it or it just didn't ferment correctly. I plan on leaving it for a few years. It may improve with time, if not, I'll have some good creosote substitute!
I started out with nothing and I still have most of it left....

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Re: Marrow Rum

Post: # 124073Post MKG »

You're all incredibly brave. However, it has to be said that the "traditional" marrow rum recipe (stuff with brown sugar, leave hanging to rot, catch the crap and bottle it) DOES NOT WORK AND CAN NOT WORK. The only way it would ever produce alcohol is by catching a couple of passing yeast cells as they blew by. And, of course, there are other organisms around which would set off a fermentation-type of process, but not necessarily with friendly results. Without that yeast, the best you can end up with is super-sweet gloop. The safest thing is to add your own.

Having said that, there's no way that the concentration of sugar would allow fermentation to begin within the marrow - you'd have to wait for it to rot a bit to release its fluids, at which point it all falls out of the bottom anyway. But why on earth are you all trying to poison yourselves in creative ways?

If you must do it, chop up a marrow, stick about three and a half pounds (or even four) of brown sugar onto it and then put the whole mess into an airtight container for a couple of weeks to break down. Stick some yeast on that (and a bit of acid e.g. lemon juice) and it will ferment (outside the artight container in a demijohn). You'll end up with something of between 15% and 18% alcohol content - nowhere near rum unless you buy one of the super yeasts - which will taste vaguely rum-like because of the brown sugar. Can anyone tell me what a marrow tastes like? Water. Rotten marrow wouldn't improve anything. In fact, the marrow does bugger all - best leave it out altogether and replace it with a lot of yeast nutrient (in which case you're making a version of alcoholic water) or add raisins (in which case you're following a classic old recipe which DOES work.

Forget the marrow - it's a waste of a vegetable which tastes OK after being roasted with garlic.
The secret of life is to aim below the head (With thanks to MMM)

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Re: Marrow Rum

Post: # 124080Post Chocobed »

So my resulting sweet sticky poison can't be put to any good use then?
I'm loathe to waste stuff but if it's not going to produce anything regardless then I will at least save the empties.Raisin wine...?
Sounds good!
I started out with nothing and I still have most of it left....

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Re: Marrow Rum

Post: # 124388Post confused »

I once made rice+raisin whisky, but i have'nt a clue now what the mix was ,i just remember my hens were falling all over the shop when i threw the rice+raisins in the run for them!!

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Re: Marrow Rum

Post: # 124460Post Jimmy »

If the juice hasn't made alcohol, but is still edible, i would suggest using this "syrup" to add to other wine making projects.

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Post: # 124492Post Rod in Japan »

Muddypause wrote: It's still got a bit of a head on it, smells like the pub toilets on a friday night, and is a murky, muddy-puddle colour. The sort of muddy puddle you get outside the cow shed after a week of rain.
Surely at this point, the "Ish" philosophy comes into its own and you say, "Sod this foul smelling muck, let's go down the offie and get some proper rum to drink".

I think that while you aren't yet proficient at making alcoholic beverages, your descriptive powers are admirable.

This whole thread reminds of a book I recently enjoyed immensely, "The Joy of Drinking"
by Barbara Holland. She has descriptive powers too. When I showed the book to me missus, she pointed out, not without justice, that I already know what the joy of drinking is.

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Re: Marrow Rum

Post: # 128642Post djindivik »

Hello to you all, I am a new guy onto this site & have read all your posts about marrow rum. It's something i have been meaning to try for 50 yrs now, I'm 69 in December. So, bighting the bullet, i bought a marow from Sainsbury's today, only a small one, about 12" long, scooped all the seeds out, as best i could, but not sure i got them all. Filled the marrow with demerrara sugar taped on the top & pierced a hole in the bottom with a knife sharpening 'steel'. It started dripping almost immediately, & now 4 hours later I have about 4 fl os of a dark brown liquid in the jar. Ok so far, then i read all of your posts. Some mention the addition of yeast, but dont say where to put it, or how much, do i mx it in with the sugar, or put it into the liquid that has dripped out, or what ? I doubt that it will produce alcohol without the yeast, so your comments will be much appreciated. Thanks in advance for any help. Hope this thread is still 'live'. Ray Huxley, Coventry. UK :?

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