fruit extracts / more bananas fosters thoughts

so i have a batch of Weissbier fermenting away, and looking to bottle it maybe this weekend. thinking of splitting the batch in half and enjoying half of is as a proper weissbier, but then the second half, play with the bananas foster ideas as i love all those flavors. my main question... is the banana extract you get at the home brew stores, essentially the same as the McCormick extracts in the grocery stores? none of the local brew stores stock the banana extract flavor and i really didn't want to make an online order just for a little bottle of extract, so stopped by the grocery store and they had the McCormick banana extract, although i did see it says imitation extract on this one. will i be fine using it? same goes with vanilla extract, i got "pure vanilla" extract from the grocery store, figured it's got to be better than the imitation.

thanks for any insight.

also my thoughts on the bananas foster half of this batch (so 2.5 gallons) is looking to add 2oz banana extract, 1.5oz vanilla extract, 1 cup Appleton Estates rum, 3oz (by weight) Maple syrup. done lots of calculations (can write it out if more is interested) and this should give me 3.5 volumes of carbonation for 2.5 gallons. getting excited to try this! measurements sound good?

no info/experience on differences between imitation extracts vs "pure" extracts? just curious and getting closer to bottling day.

thanks!

pure is much better. imitation ones don't taste nearly as well. I'm not sure you really need to add more banana flavor to a hefe tho since the yeast will already add a decent punch of it.

I've actually read a ton of threads on those extracts.

It seems people think the LHBS extracts for some flavors (notably Cherry) are very artificial and harsh tasting and that McCormick's is superior. I personally have no experience with either.

very interesting. thanks for some input. i'll go ahead and give it a shot with what i have then. as far as the extra banana flavor, being its a toy on "bananas foster" i thought i need to kick up the banana up a bit more. i love the banana flavors in the hefe already, just hoping to bring them out more!

i'll report back after experiment is complete

My first hefe fermented out at about 74-75 degrees (I was uninformed about temp control at the time). It turned out freakin' great. Big time nanners coming out of the airlock. The taste was pretty similar. Malty with a prominent banana and clove flavor.

Any update on the use of McCormick's "Imitation" banana extract? Am considering a moderate use of this myself, in case by bottling time my banana brew seems to have missed the mark.

yeah, i would stick to "moderate" use. i fermented the Weisse batch around 68-69 degrees for 7 days... i think next time i will try to up the temps a bit, to bring out more of the natural banana flavors from the yeast vs using the extract. as mentioned in the first post, i split this batch to experiment with the banana's foster idea, and the straight up Weisse Bier turned out great! still enjoying it now and have had great responses to it, but the banana's foster half, is a little too "fake" tasting, and i can't pin point if its the extracts, or maybe the rum not working directly with it, but something in the fosters half came out too chemically tasting or don't know the proper description, but just not a very drinkable beer. what i've ended up doing is mixing half a bottle of the Fosters beer with a straight Weisse Bier, and then its much more drinkable!