Banana wine attempt by a newbie

Good evening all!

I'm new here (and new to home brewing) so I apologise for any silly questions and short fallings in lingo.

I was recently given a lot of bananas and decided (after having eaten my body weight in banana bread over 48hrs) to make wine with them, I am following the recipe from a book by CJJ berry.

The wine is now a few weeks old, and is starting to clarify slightly, I fermented in a bucket for 10 days and transferred into 1gal demijohns with water airlocks. All as per recipe.
However the book does not mention racking until around the two month mark but I already have about a half inch of sediment at the bottom and fermentation seems to have all but finished over the last couple days.
I have read many places about the sediment and dead yeast ruining the wine. My question is this, do I rack it at the weekend? Or may this harm the wine?
My feeling is that maybe this is an obvious step that may not have been included in each recipe of the book. As there is a write up at the start of the book which refers to ruining of wine by the sediment. I'll try to upload a photo so you can see for yourselves.

Many thanks in advance, any tips would be great!

I generally rack whenever I have lees 1/4" thick or more, or after 60 days if there are any lees at all.

If you just racked very recently, I'd wait. I don't think there is any advantage to racking until 30-45 days have passed, as the yeast will compact a bit more and not cause off flavors that soon.

Hi MeinWine, I think the only problem is if you rack too soon and so rack your wine off the yeast and so there may be insufficient yeast in the secondary carboy or container to allow the fermentation to continue without stalling. That is why it is always better to rack not after a certain amount of time has passed but when the specific gravity of your wine has dropped close to 1.000 (some folk say when it reaches 1.010. I prefer to wait until the gravity drops to around 1.005).
Yooper's point is in direct response to your question. My post is about racking from the primary to the secondary.
PS banana wine can taste really delicious. I've made this wine but without any grape juice (Berry's recipe p136) and I used acid blend rather than oranges and lemons. Tastes a little like a sauterne.

Thank you both for your replies, good information there. Bernardsmith I hadn't thought of testing with a hydrometer so I just have and the reading has thrown me even more. It reads 994 at 17 degrees Celsius.

And yes I have at least that amount of lees at the bottom so I think I'll rack it off this weekend to be sure.
This is not going as I'd expected I just hope it turns out ok as I've planned on giving bottles for Christmas next year!

Thanks again for replying.

Photo as promised.

It smells very strong in the test jar!!!

Not clear what you might have been expecting but a gravity reading of .994 tells me that all the sugar in your wine has fermented. Your banana wine simply needs to quietly age. Yooper may have another suggestion but if that was my wine I would simply rack onto K-meta every three months (the equivalent of 1 Campden tab for every gallon of wine - this to inhibit oxidation). That said,
Two quick points.
1. Your carboys have enormous amounts of head room. This is not beer and you need to be prepared to age the wine for months - not weeks - so there is a risk of oxidation. I would make sure that at least two of those three vessels are filled into the neck of the mouths of those carboys, and I would look for some way to top up the third vessel with a wine of a similar flavor or sanitized marbles (not steel , unless you want to risk scratching the inside of your glass carboy). Alternatively, you might go to your LHBS (local home brew store) and pick up banana flavor additive (it'll cost around $6.00) and dissolve some with additional water to top up the carboy. The addition of the additive will mean that you are not diluting the flavor when you add the water. The secret (OK one of the many secrets) of wine making is that you ignore the idea that a gallon measure reaches the shoulder of your carboy. For you a "gallon" means that your wine must fill up at least an inch or more into the neck of the mouth of the carboy.
The other point I want to make is that banana wine clears completely if you have the patience to wait and your technique was solid. My bottled banana wine are absolutely clear although they have a lovely golden hue. By clear I mean that you can read the smallest print through the bottle.

Wow, great tips thanks BernardSmith. I will sterilise some marbles to eradicate the air in the top. Good idea!
The recipe calls for blended sultana at the two month point, (I suppose as a way to add more sugar?), I wonder if there's any yeast left by then or this is a means of sweetening?
If these sultanas are for the yeast I wonder if I should add it early to stop the yeast dying off? I suppose I mean how quickly does yeast die with no food?
Thank you for your time and replies,
this is a steep learning curve but I'm enjoying it a lot. And it's great to pick the brains of more experienced winemakers, especially seeing as you've made banana wine before.

Your description of the clarity of your wine has made me hunger for perfection even more!

I'm a contrarian and am always skeptical about the value of recipes. I prefer principles and techniques. The addition of raisins (or sultanas) is usually for one or two reasons. They add nutrients and they improve the mouthfeel (the viscosity) of the wine. If the sultanas are to add nutrients then the addition so late in the recipe makes little sense. If they are to add mouthfeel - in my opinion, banana wine has a good mouthfeel without the addition of anything else. (By mouthfeel I mean that the liquid and flavors coat your mouth and remain after the liquor has gone down your throat. Compare that to water which does not "coat" your tongue or mouth).
If the idea of adding sultanas was to increase the sugar content then why not add them to the primary. Any sugar the raisins have will be converted to CO2 and alcohol by the yeast (which will be plentiful enough even months after the active fermentation has ceased), and so you will simply be increasing the ABV and not the sweetness. Others on this forum may have a better understanding of why a recipe would call for the addition of raisins after two months, but I cannot see the benefit.

Very interesting thoughts BernardSmith, it seems I may end up with either of two things, an over sweet wine, or an over strength wine!
Seeing as I have 3 demijohns on the go, and I am a keen on experimentation I'll try one with raisins now, one with raisins at two months and maybe a control with none.

I will keep you posted.

Thanks again

Meinwine said:

Very interesting thoughts BernardSmith, it seems I may end up with either of two things, an over sweet wine, or an over strength wine!
Seeing as I have 3 demijohns on the go, and I am a keen on experimentation I'll try one with raisins now, one with raisins at two months and maybe a control with none.

I will keep you posted.

Thanks again

Click to expand...

I am a social scientist and while we cannot do experiments in my field for ethical reasons I am at heart a natural scientist and experimentation is dear to my heart so really looking forward to hearing about your results

It was time for another rack in the week so during which I sampled "a little".

It has transformed from what it tasted like in the first rack. (Newbie wine maker nerves)

It still has a nasal "heat" to it but when exhaling the banana notes really come through.

Really pleased so far!