Molasses wine

I am aware molasses is regularly fermented for distillation purposes, both for fuel and rum, but I was wondering if anyone knows why it doesn't seem to be a popular non-distiller fermented beverage.

Has anyone tried a molasses wine?

It is cheap, plentiful, very flavorful, chock full of nutrients and fermentables.

I regularly use it in my darker beers to bump the ABV and FG, and the taste really coincides with chocolate malt and roasted barley. It would seem like it would be good for wine making too... Comments? Experience?

I've only ever seen it in beers. I wonder if it would provide enough of a flavor to be tasty after the yeast has at it?

I personally don't like molasses, but I especially dislike the taste of fermented molasses. (I call it mole asses ).

Picture molasses, but without the sweetness. It's not a great flavor to me. That's probably why no one wants to do it.

I've had some fermented molasses flavor when I've used brown sugar in an apple wine, and disliked that, but it was very subtle so it wasn't to bad. I think an unsweet molasses would be terrible, but it's just my opinion,

I've had some of Washington's recipe for molasses beer. There was very little in the beer besides molasses and it was vile.

I like molasses, molasses cookies, molasses in spice cake, even on pancakes. But used it once in a beer and never will again.

Out of molasses? I think the general consensus is that you shouldn't do it. I guess if you have an excessive amount of molasses...

My original thought, which I have been dissuaded from, was to pour about 14 lbs of molasses into a sanitized carboy, top up with water, add some spices, some nutrient, shake the bejesus out of it, and pitch a packet of neutral wine yeast.

I repeat, I'm not going to do this. If Yooper and David both say its a bad idea, I generally listen... That philosophy saves me much time and money.

Cheers

I think I understand the logic behind molasses being a pretty gross ingredient in fermentation, but it's my understanding that (at least in the short term) honey is also. It just takes honey a long time to actually taste good. For those of you with more experience (hopefully experience with fermenting both honey and molasses), do you think that molasses's grossness could possibly be cured with age, or is it an inherent property that will always be a part of molasses?

I'm drinking a batch of a ginger wine right now where I used a fair amount of molasses, sucanat, dark brown sugar. Granted it's quite young at only about 2 months. At first I thought ACK this is terrible. But after I got through a gallon of it, I find I really really like it now. It is definitely a sharp taste (no doubt made even worse by it being so young). But - I would not describe it as a bad taste. I'm definitely going to make more. It seems to taste best cold over ice.

SnupDave said:

I think I understand the logic behind molasses being a pretty gross ingredient in fermentation, but it's my understanding that (at least in the short term) honey is also. It just takes honey a long time to actually taste good. For those of you with more experience (hopefully experience with fermenting both honey and molasses), do you think that molasses's grossness could possibly be cured with age, or is it an inherent property that will always be a part of molasses?

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I made a porter with molasses about 6 years ago. It still has a strong molasses flavor.