Banana Wine

WesleyS said:

I made mine with the skin on because that's what the recipe in the original post called for. I froze my bananas for a few days before I made the wine and the skin was black, but the fruit inside was still golden yellow. There weren't any off flavors from the black skins when I tasted the must before pitching or when I tasted it when transferring to secondary. So, I don't think there are any bad effects from leaving the skin on.

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Yep, that's how I do it too! It looks terrible when you do it, but it tastes awesome so I wouldn't change it! It turns into a beautiful golden wine in the end, and I love the recipe and wouldn't deviate from it.

I had a problem with this recipe. It didn't make a full gallon of wine? It only filled up 3/4 of my gallon glass container when I switched from the primary to the secondary.

Yooper said:

Yep, that's how I do it too! It looks terrible when you do it, but it tastes awesome so I wouldn't change it! It turns into a beautiful golden wine in the end, and I love the recipe and wouldn't deviate from it.

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Yes, it's amazing how this:



Gets this clear in just under three months



This reminds me I need to add my raisins! I've let the time get away from me.

I bottled 2 gallons of this today. I guess the two year clock starts now? No credit for the 7 months it took to get in the bottle?

LabRatBrewer said:

I bottled 2 gallons of this today. I guess the two year clock starts now? No credit for the 7 months it took to get in the bottle?

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How's it taste? Mine was pretty good going into the bottle, but was a bit "hot". It definitely improved with age, and I wish I would have aged it more before drinking so much of it.

If yours is really good now, try a bottle in 6 months and see how it is then.

My husband always gets into our wine way too early, and he likes it anyway. I have one "aging rack" that is totally off-limits so I can always put a few bottles there to age appropriately. (Of course we have 300+ bottles in our cellar, so he doesn't miss 75 or so ).

You could do the same- put the majority far away in a cool dark place and have a few "samples". That's considered research, so you can drink the wine at its peak and not all of it before!

Thanks Yooper, I'll hide it way in the back of the closet behind the JAOM. It tastes very hot, but the banana smell is very nice. I just brewed your house ale this weekend. Its looking like all Yooper here.

I just racked my two gallons this weekend. I think it's going to be good but I'm trying to be very patient with it.

just knock up 6 gallons of this (wanted a gallon to top off 5 gallon carbar). The SG was 1.080 with no temp correction. Man all I have to say is that if this stuff keep the nose and taste that it has now it is going to be so good. Wife asked me how long we had to wait, after telling her 2 years she said that she don't think she could wait. The only different that I did was added 6 campden tabs to it because it just seems right after squeezing the juice out of the bag by hand. Also forgot to buy the yeast while at the LHBS so really need them 12hours of lag time.

22 lbs of really ripe bananas
12 lbs of sugar
7.5 tsp of acid blend
1/2 tsp of pectic enzyme only call for 1/4 tsp for 5 gallons
1.5 tsp of tannin
6 campden tabs crushed

would do yeast and nutrient tomorrow once I get back from LHBS, any sugestion was thinking of Lalvin D-47 which is what I'm using for the strawberry mead that I'm making also tonight. :rockin:
oh by the way these are my notes

Long time lurker, first time poster, with a couple of questions: since where I am I can't find any acid blend or pectic enzyme, what can I use to substitute them? Or can I avoid to put them in the mix? And, as for the yeast, I only have Lalvin EC-1118 or a White Labs WLP-550 [regained from a belgian style beer I made], is any of these two more recommended? Thanks in advance, and, BTW, this forum is great

Kihoju said:

Long time lurker, first time poster, with a couple of questions: since where I am I can't find any acid blend or pectic enzyme, what can I use to substitute them? Or can I avoid to put them in the mix? And, as for the yeast, I only have Lalvin EC-1118 or a White Labs WLP-550 [regained from a belgian style beer I made], is any of these two more recommended? Thanks in advance, and, BTW, this forum is great

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There isn't any sub for pectin enzyme. It just helps break up the pectin so the wine clears better and the bananas break up better. For acid blend, it's added for some tartness. It's a blend of malic, tartaric, and citric acid. You could leave it out, and then try some lemon juice later on if you feel it needs some aciity.

The EC-1118 would be great for this wine.

Kihoju said:

Long time lurker, first time poster, with a couple of questions: since where I am I can't find any acid blend or pectic enzyme, what can I use to substitute them? Or can I avoid to put them in the mix? And, as for the yeast, I only have Lalvin EC-1118 or a White Labs WLP-550 [regained from a belgian style beer I made], is any of these two more recommended? Thanks in advance, and, BTW, this forum is great

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Was told by my LHBS that it could be found at Walmart (they was out). It is used to make jam I think so look for it in the canning section. Hope this help. I'm speaking of the pectic enzyme.

joetownhound said:

Was told by my LHBS that it could be found at Walmart (they was out). It is used to make jam I think so look for it in the canning section. Hope this help. I'm speaking of the pectic enzyme.

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Actually, it's NOT used to make jam! It's the exact opposite of what they put in jam. They want the pectin in jam to thicken it, so they add pectin. Pectic enzyme breaks that pectin apart, and is used for wine making.

You can leave out the pectic enzyme, but do NOT sub it with pectin, no matter what!

Also, just a note for everyone else. Raisens expand, possible causing a mess. How would I know? ....

Next time I would do a 5 gallon batch...its like someoneonce told me, why only do 1 gallon in case its really good....so I did 2.....but thats only 8 - 9 bottles

Yooper said:

Actually, it's NOT used to make jam! It's the exact opposite of what they put in jam. They want the pectin in jam to thicken it, so they add pectin. Pectic enzyme breaks that pectin apart, and is used for wine making.

You can leave out the pectic enzyme, but do NOT sub it with pectin, no matter what!

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Thinks for the correct information have to inform the girl at the LHBS of her misguided information.

Yooper said:

There isn't any sub for pectin enzyme. It just helps break up the pectin so the wine clears better and the bananas break up better. For acid blend, it's added for some tartness. It's a blend of malic, tartaric, and citric acid. You could leave it out, and then try some lemon juice later on if you feel it needs some aciity.

The EC-1118 would be great for this wine.

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Oh well, in this case I think I can only wait more time to let it clear... There is not a single shop that sells pectin enzyme in my area. And thank you for the fast answer, your recipes rock

Ps. I've read that someone put some campden tablets in it, are those necessary?

Yooper, or other experienced person,

I lost track of time with my wine and haven't added raisins. It's been three or more months. Should I still or ride it out n see what I get? I did rack a third rime.

Swifty said:

Yooper, or other experienced person,

I lost track of time with my wine and haven't added raisins. It's been three or more months. Should I still or ride it out n see what I get? I did rack a third rime.

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You could see how it is. I talked to Homercidal, and once he added the raisins, fermentation didn't restart. That would be my only concern with adding them this late- that fermentation wouldn't restart.

I made a three gallon batch of this last Sunday and just racked it. I used 8 pounds of sugar for three gallons, so slightly more than in the recipe... Champagne wine yeast. Tasted it after a week and I don't think there is a chance I'll be able to wait two years. It tasted pretty decent after a week!

It's in secondary now. Thanks for the recipe!

Just made 3 gallons yesterday and pitched ec-1118. Smells delicious.

For those that are adding raisins late I would still add them, if fermentation doesn't continue you can always restart it. Look up jack keller's instructions for doing so.

I would caution to use golden raisins however. I used normal ones and the wine ended up tasting like raisins. I have aged it and think that taste dissipates with age but still lingers.

Yooper said:

You could see how it is. I talked to Homercidal, and once he added the raisins, fermentation didn't restart. That would be my only concern with adding them this late- that fermentation wouldn't restart.

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Well, to be honest, it wasn't all that late IMO. But I want to try again. I might even try and do something with this carboy full of wine and raisins. I really hate to just throw it out. Maybe tonight I'll play with it again. I need the carboy one way or the other.

Kihoju said:

Long time lurker, first time poster, with a couple of questions: since where I am I can't find any acid blend or pectic enzyme, what can I use to substitute them? Or can I avoid to put them in the mix? And, as for the yeast, I only have Lalvin EC-1118 or a White Labs WLP-550 [regained from a belgian style beer I made], is any of these two more recommended? Thanks in advance, and, BTW, this forum is great

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In regard to pectic enzymes....unripe papaya has a natural enzyme, called papain, which will work. No idea how you go about using the unripe papaya to act as pectic enzyme. And then there is bromelain, from a pineapple I think?

You can always order pectic enzyme, comes in powder or drops, online and have them sent.

So, I have ten gallons sitting in two carboys. does this benefit from bulk aging like this or should I get it knocked down to smaller bottles?

Thoughts?

Swifty said:

So, I have ten gallons sitting in two carboys. does this benefit from bulk aging like this or should I get it knocked down to smaller bottles?

Thoughts?

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As long as it's topped up, that's great.

So my wine has been in the carboy about three weeks (3 gallon) and it's REALLY clear now and has a good inch plus of lees on the bottom. Should I still wait the full two months? That much lees won't hurt it?

cardtarget said:

So my wine has been in the carboy about three weeks (3 gallon) and it's REALLY clear now and has a good inch plus of lees on the bottom. Should I still wait the full two months? That much lees won't hurt it?

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With that much lees I would rack it.

johnnync said:

With that much lees I would rack it.

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With the raisins? Or just a separate racking?

cardtarget said:

With the raisins? Or just a separate racking?

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Have you added the raisins?

No, haven't added them yet. Was going to wait the full two months in primary... but it seems clear enough now to do it. Just not sure if I should rack once more without raisins and then wait a month or if I should add them now and start the next step.

cardtarget said:

No, haven't added them yet. Was going to wait the full two months in primary... but it seems clear enough now to do it. Just not sure if I should rack once more without raisins and then wait a month or if I should add them now and start the next step.

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I'm in the same situation. I think I'm going to rack it onto the raisins. What did you decide?

cardtarget said:

No, haven't added them yet. Was going to wait the full two months in primary... but it seems clear enough now to do it. Just not sure if I should rack once more without raisins and then wait a month or if I should add them now and start the next step.

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dale1038 said:

I'm in the same situation. I think I'm going to rack it onto the raisins. What did you decide?

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I would go ahead and rack and add the raisins. Don't forget to top up.

Ok then, I'll rack it onto the raisins tonight. That stuff looks SUPER hot right now... could probably run a car engine off of it.

I racked it onto the raisins today. I didn't chop them up, as I was a bit limited on time. I'm guessing the yeast will chew threw them just fine.

I racked onto chopped raisins tonight. I only needed about 4-5 cups of water to top off after all the raisins for my 3 gallon batch.

have made this a few times now. with minor tweaks each time and has been awesome every time. just wondering if anyone has tried just bananas and sugar, without the raisins, acid blend etc? have two 5 gallon batches going right now thinking about skipping the raisins for a lighter bodied wine..

Anybody have an idea how I would scale the fruit if I were going to use strawberries as well? Or have a strawberry-banana recipe? Thanks


CHEERS!

Could probably leave it as is and add strawberries to secondary. Or cut back by 1/2 lb per gallon and add strawberries to primary recipe. I would opt to add puree to secondary forgoing the raisins. I think with strawberry added you would want a lighter body wine..

I would probably get the large container of frozen sliced strawberries and put in primary. In a bag, 5 days, drain don't squeeze. One container per gallon.