Notice: I'm going to be running a new version of this wine within the next couple of months. I believe the new approach I am planning will totally wipe the floor with the recipe below, so you might want to wait a little bit while I get things put together.
I've been looking at banana wine recipes. To frank, I'm just not willing to wait two years for it to mature. So, I thought I'd put together something similar with a few changes I'm hoping will shorten the aging time it needs. This is a little bit of a cider approach as opposed to a more classic wine approach.
This recipe is designed to be made in a fermenting bucket.
Fast Banana Wine
Batch size: 5 gallons
OG: 1.100
FG: 1.000
ABV: 13.3%
Estimated time to maturity: 6 months
10 lbs of bananas. (18-20 bananas, usually. Slightly overripe is preferable.)
1 tbs pectin enzyme
2 tbs citric acid powder (You could use acid blend, or even a 1/2 cup of lemon juice if you prefer. I just have this on hand all the time.)
Water to a total volume of 5 gallons
Sugar to a gravity of 1.100, about 9 lbs
1 tbs and 3/4 tsp bentonite powder
1 gallon pasteur champagne starter
A couple of days before you plan on brewing: Make your starter. Mix water and table sugar to gravity of 1.020 to a volume of 1 gallon. Add all of the yeast nutrient and yeast energizer to it. Add 1 5 gram packet of dried pasteur champagne yeast to it. It's best to use something that has a lid you can seal so you can shake this up periodically. Do not install an airlock, cover with aluminum foil. We want oxygen to get in.
Add citric acid and about 1 gallon of water to a non-reactive pot. Stir until dissolved. Peal and slice bananas, adding immediately to the pot of water as each batch is sliced.
Heat the pot on medium until it comes to a bare simmer. While the pot is heating, add your spice blend and mix until it's completely integrated. Turn down the heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from heat.
Add about 6lbs of sugar to your fermenting bucket. Pour the hot banana mix onto it. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Add cold water to about 3 gallons total volume. Cool to pitch temperatures. This is a good time to use a wort chiller if you have one. Using ice instead of cold water also works well. Add pectin enzyme. Add your starter. Add sugar and additional water until you reach your desired gravity and 5 gallon volume.
After about 3 weeks in primary: Take gravity readings over three successive days to verify the batch has finished fermenting. If it hasn't, you will want to wait until it has to proceed further. Mix bentonite powder with about 8 oz of the must in a resealable container. Shake periodically until all the lumps are broken up. transfer off of the lees into secondary. You may need to fish out floating banana pieces with a slotted spoon. Mix bentonite slurry with the batch.
After another two weeks in secondary: The batch could be bottled at this point. However, I would recommend aging to the full six months in bulk if feasible.
At bottling time: Taste the wine. Did I really have to tell you to do that? Decide if you wish to back sweeten, or add additional acid at this point. If you decide to back sweeten, I would recommend pasteurizing the bottles.
When you wake up the next morning hung over and smelling of banana bread: Drink more, and start baking. I am not responsible for your inability to stop drinking this delicious stuff, or any injuries or marriages that may result from your drunken behavior.
If you are familiar with banana wine you probably noticed the omission of the tannin. Tannin produces some wonderful complexity, but it also takes years to do so. The spices should lend the wine a needed level of complexity, without taking the kind of time tannin needs. It won't, of course, be the same flavor.
The second thing that stands out is the high level of nutrients. I don't know what exactly the yeast are getting out of the bananas. Therefore, I estimated the nutrient additions based on a nutrient devoid sugar solution and the desired ABV. With these nutrient levels we shouldn't have any undesirable fermentation by-products from nutrient deficiencies. That means we shouldn't have to wait for them to age out.
This recipe also leaves the banana solids in for a lot longer. The idea being to extract as many of the flavor from them as possible. Hopefully that will result in a stronger banana flavor, and make the aging until apparent alcohol flavor has disappeared less important.
I also intend to leave banana solids in each bottle, to be stirred back into suspension just before the wine is served. That should bump the banana flavor, and improve the mouth feel. It will also make the wine look bad, though I'm not sure exactly what it will look like at this point. I believe the acid solution was successful in breaking down the oxidizing enzyme in the bananas, though only time will tell.
Actually specifying a starter in a recipe is a little odd. The other option would be to pitch 16 grams of dried yeast. That seems a bit excessive to me, hence the starter.
The first batch made this way went into my fermentor about an hour ago.
Comments, questions, any personal experiences you would like to share with something similar, they are all welcome.
I've been looking at banana wine recipes. To frank, I'm just not willing to wait two years for it to mature. So, I thought I'd put together something similar with a few changes I'm hoping will shorten the aging time it needs. This is a little bit of a cider approach as opposed to a more classic wine approach.
This recipe is designed to be made in a fermenting bucket.
Fast Banana Wine
Batch size: 5 gallons
OG: 1.100
FG: 1.000
ABV: 13.3%
Estimated time to maturity: 6 months
10 lbs of bananas. (18-20 bananas, usually. Slightly overripe is preferable.)
1 tbs pectin enzyme
2 tbs citric acid powder (You could use acid blend, or even a 1/2 cup of lemon juice if you prefer. I just have this on hand all the time.)
Water to a total volume of 5 gallons
Sugar to a gravity of 1.100, about 9 lbs
1 tbs and 3/4 tsp bentonite powder
1 gallon pasteur champagne starter
About 1lb of sugar
5 grams of dried pasteur champagne yeast (1 packet)
2 tbs and 2 tsp yeast nutrient
1 tbs and 1 tsp yeast energizer
Spice blend5 grams of dried pasteur champagne yeast (1 packet)
2 tbs and 2 tsp yeast nutrient
1 tbs and 1 tsp yeast energizer
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp ground gloves
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp ground gloves
A couple of days before you plan on brewing: Make your starter. Mix water and table sugar to gravity of 1.020 to a volume of 1 gallon. Add all of the yeast nutrient and yeast energizer to it. Add 1 5 gram packet of dried pasteur champagne yeast to it. It's best to use something that has a lid you can seal so you can shake this up periodically. Do not install an airlock, cover with aluminum foil. We want oxygen to get in.
Add citric acid and about 1 gallon of water to a non-reactive pot. Stir until dissolved. Peal and slice bananas, adding immediately to the pot of water as each batch is sliced.
Heat the pot on medium until it comes to a bare simmer. While the pot is heating, add your spice blend and mix until it's completely integrated. Turn down the heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from heat.
Add about 6lbs of sugar to your fermenting bucket. Pour the hot banana mix onto it. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Add cold water to about 3 gallons total volume. Cool to pitch temperatures. This is a good time to use a wort chiller if you have one. Using ice instead of cold water also works well. Add pectin enzyme. Add your starter. Add sugar and additional water until you reach your desired gravity and 5 gallon volume.
After about 3 weeks in primary: Take gravity readings over three successive days to verify the batch has finished fermenting. If it hasn't, you will want to wait until it has to proceed further. Mix bentonite powder with about 8 oz of the must in a resealable container. Shake periodically until all the lumps are broken up. transfer off of the lees into secondary. You may need to fish out floating banana pieces with a slotted spoon. Mix bentonite slurry with the batch.
After another two weeks in secondary: The batch could be bottled at this point. However, I would recommend aging to the full six months in bulk if feasible.
At bottling time: Taste the wine. Did I really have to tell you to do that? Decide if you wish to back sweeten, or add additional acid at this point. If you decide to back sweeten, I would recommend pasteurizing the bottles.
When you wake up the next morning hung over and smelling of banana bread: Drink more, and start baking. I am not responsible for your inability to stop drinking this delicious stuff, or any injuries or marriages that may result from your drunken behavior.
If you are familiar with banana wine you probably noticed the omission of the tannin. Tannin produces some wonderful complexity, but it also takes years to do so. The spices should lend the wine a needed level of complexity, without taking the kind of time tannin needs. It won't, of course, be the same flavor.
The second thing that stands out is the high level of nutrients. I don't know what exactly the yeast are getting out of the bananas. Therefore, I estimated the nutrient additions based on a nutrient devoid sugar solution and the desired ABV. With these nutrient levels we shouldn't have any undesirable fermentation by-products from nutrient deficiencies. That means we shouldn't have to wait for them to age out.
This recipe also leaves the banana solids in for a lot longer. The idea being to extract as many of the flavor from them as possible. Hopefully that will result in a stronger banana flavor, and make the aging until apparent alcohol flavor has disappeared less important.
I also intend to leave banana solids in each bottle, to be stirred back into suspension just before the wine is served. That should bump the banana flavor, and improve the mouth feel. It will also make the wine look bad, though I'm not sure exactly what it will look like at this point. I believe the acid solution was successful in breaking down the oxidizing enzyme in the bananas, though only time will tell.
Actually specifying a starter in a recipe is a little odd. The other option would be to pitch 16 grams of dried yeast. That seems a bit excessive to me, hence the starter.
The first batch made this way went into my fermentor about an hour ago.
Comments, questions, any personal experiences you would like to share with something similar, they are all welcome.