Banana Wine
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Rivenin said:
Did you ever see the bizarre foods episode where they made banana beer in Africa. Looks the same as yours.
Here is the back stage commentary.
http://www.travelchannel.com/video/andrew-brews-beer-in-tanzania-11870
buzzerj
Well-Known Member
Here is my finished product, bottled on Sunday 4/22/12.
This one had about 1lb of golden raisins and 3lbs of dried apricot.
How did your banana wine turn out with the apricot addition? Do you detect the apricots? How does it mix with the banana flavor?
+1 Would love to know how the apricots came out.
timcadieux
Well-Known Member
I was going to.make this but in my preparations I've noticed that the recipe is for only 1gallon? Any particular reason? I find 1-2 years a hell of a long time to wait for what, 2-4 wine bottles worth?
OP
OP
You can multiply by 2, 5, 10, whatever, to make the size batch you'd like.
1 gallon makes approximately 5 bottles of wine.
You must have an extremely efficient harvesting method, or be a little over the 1 gallon mark. 1 gallon = 3785ml or 5.04 750ml bottles. If you can manage to keep your transfer/trub loss to 35ml per batch I would be very interested to know what your methodology is?
OP
OP
You top up at every racking, so there is no volume loss.
Carlo Rossi jugs (my preferred 1 gallon fermenters) are 4L.
timcadieux
Well-Known Member
You say in one of your earlier posts not to top up with water becuase the taste was never quite right?
OP
OP
I said to never top up with water? That doesn't seem right. I must have been drinking.
cardtarget
Member
I just bottled my 3 gallon batch on Saturday (tasted awesome BTW). Two years in bottles is going to be a long time to wait.
I got 12 good bottles and the 13th was about 2/3rds full when I started getting too much junk. The raisins just take up so much space in the carboy. Plan on 4 bottles per gallon.
I got 12 good bottles and the 13th was about 2/3rds full when I started getting too much junk. The raisins just take up so much space in the carboy. Plan on 4 bottles per gallon.
timcadieux
Well-Known Member
I said to never top up with water? That doesn't seem right. I must have been drinking.
Yup, right here (https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f79/banana-wine-33636/index5.html#post1815872)
So, just to be clear, it *IS* ok top top off to the full volume after each racking?
OP
OP
Um, that wasn't me that said that. That was someone else, giving their opinion.
You certainly don't want to add a half gallon of water to a one gallon batch- but for topping up an appropriate amount, water is fine.
Make sure you match your fermenter size to your batch size, so that if you have a three gallon batch you have a 3 gallon carboy.
For larger amounts that need topping up, use a similar wine. Since there are few similar commercial wines, a sauvignon blanc or other dry white wine would be fine.
timcadieux
Well-Known Member
Doh, sorry, you're right, that's what i get for using my phone to visit this site.
dannyhawkins
Well-Known Member
I've got the stuff for a 2 gallon batch. Just waiting for the bananas to get nice and dark. This stuff just sounds so good. See you guys in a few years.
TheManchesterMorgue
Member
Sorry if this is a dumb question but I started two 1 gallon batches of this last night. Just wondering if the raisins take up a lot of space how this balances out with not losing a significant portion of the gallon when using a matched fermenter size?
timcadieux
Well-Known Member
Do the bananas have to be overripe or can ripe bananas be used?
As bananas ripen more of the starch in them is converted to sugar.
dannyhawkins
Well-Known Member
Ok guys its been done and fermenting for a week now, I've got to rack to gallon jugs and let it sit and clear.
Here are the ones I used, the sat out for about a week until I felt they were just a day past edible. There were a few very soft spots but still banana texture overall. They darkened a bit in the freezer as well.
Here is the setup, I ended up boiling in two pots and did 10 minute increments for 40 total between them.
I used a potato masher to really work the bananas over and extract as much as possible.
Here it is, truly disgusting looking just like all the others, but it smelled so good. The brown floating rafts are the tannin I added by the way.
Here are the ones I used, the sat out for about a week until I felt they were just a day past edible. There were a few very soft spots but still banana texture overall. They darkened a bit in the freezer as well.
Here is the setup, I ended up boiling in two pots and did 10 minute increments for 40 total between them.
I used a potato masher to really work the bananas over and extract as much as possible.
Here it is, truly disgusting looking just like all the others, but it smelled so good. The brown floating rafts are the tannin I added by the way.
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Would it be a mistake to start this in a glass carboy with an airlock? Stirring wouldn't be an option, but it's fruit fly season right now and I'm not sure I could keep them out if I just cover a pot with a towel.
OP
OP
That may be the only way to do it, if you have lots of fruitflies!
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I started a 2-gallon batch in a 3-gallon carboy, so there's lots of headspace. It's been fermenting furiously, but I'm going to put it in gallon jugs in a couple days once it settles down. There's a thick layer of floaties on top, should I try to stir it in? I can see how it's a concern in an open container, but is it a problem in a carboy with an airlock as well? Not sure which would potentially be more harmful, to disturb it by opening it up to air or just leave it alone...
Im one day into a 1 gallon batch and I did not get the sugar dissolved very well. There is a solid 1/4 inch of sugar stuck to the bottom of the glass jug. Since I am at the Stir every day phase, would it hurt to shakee the hell out of it to release the block of sugar? o2 would be okay currently, yes?
OP
OP
You can stir, but I wouldn't worry too much about it. I'd be more concerned about the darn fruitflies so if it's fermenting, I"d probably leave it be.
You can shake it up. The yeast should find the sugar anyway, but you can stir/shake it up to dissolve it better as well.
Thanks Yooper
timcadieux
Well-Known Member
Just realised it only says 'wine yeast'..can u be more specific?
OP
OP
It doesn't really matter- just about any wine yeast will do just fine.
buzzerj
Well-Known Member
With a banana wine starting at 1.095, you are looking at about 13% ABV so a yeast like Montrachet would be a good place to start. A Côte des Blancs yeast may be fine for this also or my favorite a Lalvin ICV-D47 (Côtes-du-Rhône) to ensure the fruit flavors are best maintained. All of these yeast strains should be more than adequate to do the job and my preferences would be one of the latter two yeasts. Alternatively, you can really scour this with a strong fermenting Lalvin EC-1118 or Premiere Cuvee (Prise de Mousse) but personally I'd hold off on those choices unless I was really afraid of suffering a stuck fermentation. That notwithstanding, although I suspect Yooper may have used Montrachet, my choice would be my stand-by Lalvin D47.
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I used EC-1118 in mine. Definitely overkill, but I can't believe how fast it starts. It was foaming within 10 minutes. It's only on day 5, but a lot of the yeast has dropped out and the lees are compacting, and it's surprisingly clear and showing a golden color already. Wish I had tried it in my zucchini wine, it's still a chalky mess after several weeks.
timcadieux
Well-Known Member
I've also got EC-1118 but I was thing D-47???
TedLarsen
Well-Known Member
Just like everyone says, I can't believe the swill that I started with ends up looking like this. It's liquid gold, man. I bottled it this week -- now comes the two year(ish) waiting cycle. It's very hot, right now, but I trust it will mellow nicely.
OP
OP
That's beautiful! Thanks for the photo.
timcadieux
Well-Known Member
When to add the chopped raisins? Not in the first post.
** EDIT **
Sorry, I decided to actually read the entire first post and now I'm a little less stupid. Thx
** EDIT **
Sorry, I decided to actually read the entire first post and now I'm a little less stupid. Thx
OP
OP
Stovetop535
Well-Known Member
I see the original recipe was posted in 2007, anyone have any bottles that old? This wine is cheap enough to make, and if I am going to invest 2 years I want to have plenty to bottle and age. I just picked up some 13 gallon food grade buckets and I think this would be a great way to fill one of them.
So I just bought the Bananas to make a 5gal batch of this next weekend. The only quick question I have is, I have a plastic wine fermenter 25L Wide Neck Fermenter and was wondering if I can use this as a secondary? I have a 5 Gal primary but don't have a 5 Gal Glass Carboy (they are quite expensive here).
buzzerj
Well-Known Member
I'm a real proponent of using a secondary fermenter with as little head space as possible. So I have a range of sizes of carboys including a lot of 1 gallon jugs (empty Carlo Rossi ones are the best). I know here that the PETG Better Bottles (http://www.better-bottle.com) are less expensive than glass carboys. They come in a range of sizes and they are expressly meant for fermentations. The website showed 6 different Better Bottle distributors in the UK. I presently have glass carboys but I used to have a 5 Gallon Better Bottle that I used for a secondary for batches of beer. I personally think they are great containers for secondary fermentations. Although you need to handle them a bit differently than glass carboys as the walls are not as rigid so there are tricks you need to do to move them around. I do like the versatility of having one gallon glass jugs for secondaries for different size batches.
With the 5 Gal fermenter I would be able to manage the headspace appropriately. Appreciate that BetterBottles are popular (none of the places mentioned I think actually sell 'The BetterBottle', they all sell a UK version) but they are also very expensive at around ⅔ the price of new Glass.
That being said, can I use my fermenter? I do I need to take the plunge and buy glass? Bearing in mind that the Banana wine may need a good bit of ageing in the secondary.
That being said, can I use my fermenter? I do I need to take the plunge and buy glass? Bearing in mind that the Banana wine may need a good bit of ageing in the secondary.
