Banana Flavor

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

rick3696

Active Member
Joined
Mar 11, 2010
Messages
26
Reaction score
0
Hey all,

Got a great honey lager waiting to be popped, but looking for somethng different to brew. Was thinking about a hard iced tea or something with a light banana flavor, mild but still there. Any suggestions? The hard tea sound real interesting to me. I have tied some commercial stuff and I LIKED it. Sound off,please.....................................
 
I'll similarly echo what southerncomfort said, banana would fit best with a style already having banana flavors. Thus I think it best to do a 'Banana Hefe' or some such. Might be interesting to do a banana brown ale/banana stout with nice chocolate flavors. I've had a well crafted banana bier in a pub before, but it's not something I'd want more than 1 or 2 of... per week, and I love bananas, banana bread, banana pudding, banana sandwiches, etc.

Schlante,
Phillip
 
Second the Belgian. Had a "Belgian Dark Stong Ale" at one of the local craft brews the other day and had a distinct banana flavor. I'm not very big on banana flavors but this worked great. Said to have "chocolate and figs" in the recipe. Not exactly a hard ice tea recipe and at 7.8% ABV wasn't a swiggin' beer but tasted great.

Actually found this by accident while searching out "yeast nutrient"...

Hard Ice Tea Recipe
 
Certain yeasts at the right temps will create a def. banana flavor. Usually hefes (wheats), but they also usually have a clove flavor too. Some really like it. Not sure how to separate the two flavors from each other.
 
+1 on the Hefe ideas here.

Make sure you use a Bavarian Wheat Yeast and not the American Wheat yeast.

Also, to increase the banana flavors a bit, you can underpitch a little and/or ferment at the higher end of the temp range for the style of yeast.

this produces more esters and phenols, which will increase the flavors that the yeasts are known for.
 
Thanks all,

Will definetly try the heffe way. Sounds just like what I want. Don't remember the banana favor from the commercial heffes I have had, but don't think I was looking at the time. Think I will do a Hard Iced Tea at same time. Got a few recipes I found on the forum.
 
Back
Top