Banana Stout

Parker36 · 01-14-2009, 05:36 AM

So I have had a bunch of questions about my Banana Stout, so I figured I throw out my recipe/impressions here:

Partial Mash
5.5 gallon boil
Efficiency: 70%
OG: 1.074 FG: 1.020

Mash @ 154*
3 lbs 2-Row
1.5lbs Flaked Barley
1 lb Choc Malt
.5 lb Dextrine
.5 lb Roasted Barley
.5 lb Flaked Wheat

60 min Boil
Single Hop additon
Chinook (11.9%) @60min
6.5 lbs Pale LME (late addition)
Irish Moss @15min

Wyeast 3068

I let this guy ferment fairly warm (72*) to draw the banana esters out. Thing stank of bananas for the first week of fermentation. Kegged and carbed.

Drinking it warm right now, very good stout, the banana isn't really coming through to much - the dark malts are really overpowering, especially at room temp, but the banana is definitely there in the background. I'll have to throw the keg somewhere cool and give you better feedback at proper serving temps.

UPDATE: had it chilled and properly carbed last night. Very rich, tons of flavor and sweet. May be a little under attenuated, but still very good. The banana flavor is not in your face, but is definitely there and adds a nice layer of complexity. Next time I do it, I will ferment warmer - start at 73*, let it rise to 76 and use a bigger starter to try to get slightly better attenuation, I think the residual sweetness, while still delicious in its own right, is taking away from some of the banana flavor.

count barleywine · 01-14-2009, 05:17 PM

Ive been contemplateing a similar recipe as I has two Hef cakes going right now. Mine would not be as big, and my typical stout calls for 1lb of roasted barley as far as roasted malt goes. What if I replaced half of the roasted barley with 0.5lb carafa? This may knock down the roastiness and allow the nanner goodness to come through.

**Saccharomyces** · 01-14-2009, 05:31 PM

Yeah you could use carafa, or you could simply drop the roast malt altogether and use British chocolate which is roasted darker than domestic chocolate malt (a trick I plan to employ next time I brew my Imperial Porter).

Parker36 · 01-14-2009, 08:19 PM

I would say for the first time, just use your standard stout recipe with a hefe yeast, see how it turns out, and make adjustments for batch #2