Bananas Foster Creamy Ale (All Grain) **pic intensive**

Can I skip the mash out step and just do a larger sparge?

Reason being, my mash tun is a 5 gallon cooler, so it will not fit 14.00 of grain, 4 gallons for mash-in (16.4 quarts as instructed), and 2.75 gallons for mash-out (10.97 quarts). Sparge is listed through Beersmith at 1.89 gallons using this method.

Instead, I figure I'll still do the 4 gallon mash, then a 4.34 gallons sparge (Beersmith's recommendation).

Would this affect the final output in any noticable way? I intend to brew this tomorrow.

thanks!

Planning on doing this soon, quick question for everyone.

Assuming I shoot for 5g post boil, can I get away with a 5g better bottle for secondary? If not...is 6 ok? I'd prefer not to drop the cash on the glass, plus the safety risks of glass make me nervous.

Thanks!

rifraf said:

Planning on doing this soon, quick question for everyone.

Assuming I shoot for 5g post boil, can I get away with a 5g better bottle for secondary? If not...is 6 ok? I'd prefer not to drop the cash on the glass, plus the safety risks of glass make me nervous.

Thanks!

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There's no law that says secondary has to be done in a carboy. Using a bucket is fine, and just as effective. IMO, of course.

Onlooker said:

There's no law that says secondary has to be done in a carboy. Using a bucket is fine, and just as effective. IMO, of course.

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I though buckets for secondary could lead to oxidation because of head space? Although as I type it I realized that he started fermenting again in "secondary" because of the bananas... So that would probably push the O2 out.

rifraf said:

I though buckets for secondary could lead to oxidation because of head space? Although as I type it I realized that he started fermenting again in "secondary" because of the bananas... So that would probably push the O2 out.

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Yes, this is not just a secondary vessel, it's a true secondary fermentation. That will push out the O2 and the high ABV will fight off a lot. Plus, there won't be much headspace since the banana puree adds volume.

rifraf said:

I though buckets for secondary could lead to oxidation because of head space?

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Well, yeah, that's a consideration. But the point is that you need to take into account the particular circumstances and make a judgment; rather than use a rule blindly.

Some people will put some CO2 into the headspace to mitigate that problem too. Easy to do, especially if you keg.

Just kegged mine.

I added 1/2 lb of midnight wheat. So I call it "Midnight in the Garden of Bananas"

WarrantedFED said:

Just kegged mine.

I added 1/2 lb of midnight wheat. So I call it "Midnight in the Garden of Bananas"

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Not a bad idea to add some malt depth, but I'd recommend Special B...

WarrantedFED said:

Just kegged mine.

I added 1/2 lb of midnight wheat. So I call it "Midnight in the Garden of Bananas"



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look at the head...delicious!

What's the SRM on this? It looks much darker in the pictures than what I come up with in the recipe, which is more like amber. I'd think dark would suit this beer well, brownish.

also how would this be minus the rum?

Grinch said:

also how would this be minus the rum?

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I'm making mine with a Belgian yeast, so there will be plenty of spice notes in that...probably use a clean rum just for soaking the vanilla beans.

tre9er said:

What's the SRM on this? It looks much darker in the pictures than what I come up with in the recipe, which is more like amber. I'd think dark would suit this beer well, brownish.

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It was very light when it first was brewed, but it got darker after the addition of bananas.

tre9er said:

What's the SRM on this?... I'd think dark would suit this beer well, brownish.

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I thought so, too, so I subbed C20 for the C10.

Btw, I just kegged another batch a couple of weeks back. Now waiting for a tap to free up.

one8tvw said:

It was very light when it first was brewed, but it got darker after the addition of bananas.

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THanks. That's what I was wondering because I was coming out under 10 but the pics make it look like a 15+

i finally got to brew this one... its been in primary for a week now and i am moving it into secondary tonight. As always my efficiency came in at 54% so i had to add 1.5lbs of dme to get the og to 1.070. I hope that this will not affect the taste too much. One thing i am still questioning is about adding vanilla beans into secondary... should i do that tonight along with banana pure or in two weeks?

Brewed this 10/7 and just racked onto bananas/rum last night. I bought 10lbs. of bananas (still in skin) for 9g batch. Ended up with about 3.5lbs. per 4.5g fermenter after peeled/blended with rum. I used a belgian trappist yeast, WLP500, and it has nice spice notes already, so I opted to use Bacardi clear rum. Ended up with 4oz. in each fermenter. I also bought two whole vanilla beans and boiled them for 10 minutes, then added liquid and one split bean per fermenter. I had forgot to boil the bean when I brewed.

Airlock activity this AM already from secondary fermentation of the banana sugars. Vessels are sitting at about 68*. I'll check them in two weeks to see if they've dropped relatively clear, then cold-crash if they have. I'll pull a sample at that point for FG and to get a feel for the flavor profile. I may decide to add a vanilla bean or two to the priming solution when I boil it if necessary. I don't think I'll add more rum though. Just a personal taste.

I shot for a lower gravity on this, closer to 1.059. I knew the ABV would be bumped up with the rum additions and banana fermentation, anyway.

so how do we calculate the abv on this? my og was at 1.070 and before secondary with the addition of bananas and rum it was at 1.010. my brew also showed almost immediate fermentation after adding bananas and rum.

drakub said:

so how do we calculate the abv on this? my og was at 1.070 and before secondary with the addition of bananas and rum it was at 1.010. my brew also showed almost immediate fermentation after adding bananas and rum.

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eh, guesstimate. Some have said 0.5% ABV from the 'nanners, then there's some from the Rum...maybe add 1%. I don't really care. The taste of the ABV is what matters, that it's balanced.

tre9er said:

eh, guesstimate. Some have said 0.5% ABV from the 'nanners, then there's some from the Rum...maybe add 1%. I don't really care. The taste of the ABV is what matters, that it's balanced.

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I do agree with you there... i personally don't care but it seems that the first question that comes out of people who try is about the abv....

I'm going with an 8.5:rockin:

just give a range... "somewhere between 8 and 9 percent", "around 7.5%", etc.

sweetcell said:

just give a range... "somewhere between 8 and 9 percent", "around 7.5%", etc.

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That's what I do. I don't even comment on the ABV unless it's north of 6-7%, so people know not to swig them down in a hurry, if they're not big drinkers.

usfmikeb said:

Not a bad idea to add some malt depth, but I'd recommend Special B...

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I second the Special B. That's what I use and it adds great flavor and color to my Banana Bread Beer

Well, I kegged this today and am pissed that I got some green apple notes. Not too bad, but sounds like acetaldehyde. I fermented for 8 days, krausen had long fallen off, then I secondaried on the bananas/rum/vanilla bean mixture for 22 days. Primary fermentation was controlled the entire time in chamber in the mid 60's (WLP500 trappist yeast, high alcohol tolerant, happy in that temp range). Secondary temps were ambient basement temps, mid-sixties, pretty constant.

I've never had acetaldehyde, despite brewing several imperials and a wide range of beers, some young, some aged longer, etc. I kinda wonder if the secondary fermentation (introduction of banana sugars) caused stressed yeast due to racking off the cake prior to adding the bananas, though I know this is what everyone else is doing too.

At any rate I will give it a try once it's carbed and if I still detect green apples I will set the keg back out at room temps for a few weeks to a month then try again.

i got mine in bottles finally and it looks and tastes great. For all of you who have been thinking about doing this i would highly recommend it as overall it is an easy brew with amazing results.

PS> make sure to use a 6gal carboy for the secondary... i learned it the hard way.

drakub said:

i got mine in bottles finally and it looks and tastes great. For all of you who have been thinking about doing this i would highly recommend it as overall it is an easy brew with amazing results.

PS> make sure to use a 6gal carboy for the secondary... i learned it the hard way.

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Oops... Hope you had a wet/dry vac!!

dongemus said:

I second the Special B. That's what I use and it adds great flavor and color to my Banana Bread Beer

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So I bought all the grains for this - including 1 lb of special b. So my question is should I just add some of it? how much? or should I sub the crystal with the special b? any thoughts?

I've no plans to brew this beer... but I read the entire thread anyways... and I'm super curious how it fared in the competition?!?!

Grinch said:

So I bought all the grains for this - including 1 lb of special b. So my question is should I just add some of it? how much? or should I sub the crystal with the special b? any thoughts?

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I use it instead of crystal. I'l try to get a picture of what my BBB looks like in a week when it's ready.

I wasn't sure what to do so I just added 1/4 lb of special b. Everything was going good until the fryer would hardly get a boil going. Very frustrating. So I gave up on it and gave it a go on the stove top over 2 burners. I got it up to a boil, but not a rolling one. Then remembered I had to sanitize my wortchiller somehow. Ended up with more beer than the carboy could handle and the OG was 1.075. Keeping my fingers crossed. It did smell great!

Does anyone know how long these have to sit in a bottle to be ready?

Have it here in the primary, about to go into the secondary. That's ~10 lbs of banana in the trub. I'll upload a full post on how I made this if it turns out good.

This sounded too interesting to pass up.

I brewed this about 9 days ago. Ended up 1.080 OG. I followed the OP's recipe other than using Capt. Morgan and my Saaz were lower in AA.

I dont really drink rum so I didnt feel like spending the money on a 5th Sailor Jerry when all I need is 4 shots. I bought a half pt. of Captain instead. I am gonna split another vanilla bean and scoop out the inside to the banana/rum mush. Here goes nothing!

All set, fingers crossed..

So there is an issue with my banana beers. They were placed in bottles over 3 weeks ago and while trying two of them they are way over carbonated ... actually to a point of exploding when opened. Will this carbonation come down with time or did i do something wrong? I did use dark brown sugar when bottling rather then light brown sugar. Everything else was done according to the recipe.

Ok, so yesterday - after a three week primary I racked to secondary with the bananas... but now that it's in secondary it's not picking up like I thought it would. It is a little cool in the basement (60's) Should I pitch some more? I've got some washed yeast in the fridge.. I didn't take a gravity reading because I didn't want to waste any...

drakub said:

So there is an issue with my banana beers. They were placed in bottles over 3 weeks ago and while trying two of them they are way over carbonated ... actually to a point of exploding when opened. Will this carbonation come down with time or did i do something wrong? I did use dark brown sugar when bottling rather then light brown sugar. Everything else was done according to the recipe.

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the carbonation will not come down with time. only way it will come down is to release it. chill the bottles, gently transfer to counter, pry off cap just enough to let the pressure escape (a long slow hiss would be ideal), once all the pressure is gone rip of the cap and re-cap with a new cap. do not re-use the old one as it is now bent and won't hold pressure.

as to why this happened: maybe fermentation wasn't complete. maybe you added too much sugar (weighing accident, had less volume so same amount when further, etc). dark vs. light brown sugar shouldn't make a difference.

anyone with any ideas about repitching?

SWMBO wanted a cherry wheat... I didn't want to waste a whole batch on cherry wheat so brewed a wheat and split it into 2 batches and definitely stole the bananas/rum/vanilla idea from you for half of it. This is brilliant. I can't wait for it to be done!

Subscribed! Looks great!