TBag

Recipes 

oh so you just put all the mulch in? no kind of filtering?

ScottConklin

Recipes 

No sir, the cheesecloth will come later. I like the idea of all the plant material adding its flavors and whatnot.

I reckon the tribesman don't worry over it it all that much. I read they use banana leaves to get the goo out

Right now it has seperated into three sections, floating goo, sinking goo and hazy bubbling liquid.

Tommorow afternoon it will have been fermenting solidly for 24 hrs, which is the traditional time for bottling/drinking. Doesn't sound like enough time to me but it is supposed to be sweet and low in alcohol.

Still smells like banana bread.

ScottConklin

Recipes 

Alright, this morning it is bubbling like mad! One of the most violent fermentations I have ever seen....will taste this afternoon...

TBag

Recipes 

hmmm i'l probably want mine to ferment for a bit longer and be less sweet
suppose i could rack it off the sludge after a few days
just worried about things beginning to rot

ScottConklin

Recipes 

Yeah its a weird beverage, you drink it "live" while the yeast is still active and it is only mildly alcoholic. A lot of folks around here drink cider "live", during all stages of fermentation so it isn't that unusual I guess.

I'll be straining it through cheesecloth and a fine strainer today. I actually make a lot of wine with all the fruit pieces intact during early fermentation and I've never had one go bad. Stuff like raisins and apples will just kind of dissolve and settle with the yeast cake at the bottom.

TBag

Recipes 

hmm id probably have to let it ferment out, id like to bottle it
any idea how well it ages? im all for drinking it live but itd be nice to have a few bottles put away for friends and the like.

and as for leaving fruit peices in primary, dthink they add extra flavour?
thanks for all the info btw

ScottConklin

Recipes 

Well after a few weeks it would turn to wine. I've never made it but from what I gather banana wine can be either delicious or terrible, depending on how well it is made. It needs to age or it can be harsh.

Peices of fruit/grains in the primary will definitely change the flavor, I'm all for it! You get the entire fruit fermenting, not simply its juice. A lot of wineries put the entire grapes in the vat to ferment.

No problem, as you can see I am new to this forum as well.

ScottConklin

Recipes 

Ok, I found a site from Rwanda that says they ferment it for 3 days in a hand dug pit. So depending on the locale, they ferment anywhere from 24 hrs to several days.

I can't find much on the Asian banana beer, I know the variety of banana/cereal is different but I wonder if the process is the same

ScottConklin

Recipes 

It seems that the Vietnamese variety is fermented longer, more like a wine..

PhilOssiferzStone

Recipes 

This is a fascinating thread to stumble into. The Arawak Indians of the Caribbean made banana beer too, and the 17th century buccaneers who sampled it found it 'very light and nourishing.' Their method was simply to mash up the bananas and put them in a hide bag with some water and honey for the better part of a week. Then they'd dig the sludge out of the bottom, make it into little sun-dried cakes, and pound it up for flour so you could have banana bread to go with your banana beer. Waste not, etc.

Up until this moment I had no idea people all over the *world* were making the stuff. Please keep us posted. Inquiring minds want to know. So do historical reenactors...