Thinking about making banana beer.

I know this sounds crazy but I've been reading up on wine and there are a lot of banana wine recipes.
So why can't I make a banana beer?
Here's my thoughts so far:
-I'll make a small 1 gallon or so test batch
-The bananas will be very ripe. Wine recipes say to cut them up and use peals and all. I'm not too crazy about the peals.
-Cook the bananas for 1/2 hour in boiling water
-Add the banana water mixture to my mashtun along with more water as needed for a proper mash
-mash some 2 row with the banana. 1 hour at 150 to 152 degrees. Maybe some rice hulls added?
-Normal batch sparge
-1 hour boil with a very light hop schedule.
-a good neutral yeast like 1056.
- a warmish ferment say 70 or so. Talk about banana easters!
Recipe to follow.

I eat a bannana almost every day in my cereal, I do like banannas. Ive had bannana rum and bannana lambic. Based on those two experiences I'd stay away. Let us know how it turns out.

- magno

magno said:

I eat a bannana almost every day in my cereal, I do like banannas. Ive had bannana rum and bannana lambic. Based on those two experiences I'd stay away. Let us know how it turns out.

- magno

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I figure with a 1 gallon batch there won't be anything to lose if I have to dump it.

Just a thought, maybe some 6-row instead of 2-row for a few more enzymes? Bananas are pretty startchy.

Isn't there a banana clovie-ness flavor in a hefeweizen? Is that something to think about?

As far as whether or not it might be drinkable, I say there is only one way to find out and that is the beauty of this hobby--we can make what ever the heck we can dream up.

I say go for it.

Flyin' Lion said:

Isn't there a banana clovie-ness flavor in a hefeweizen? Is that something to think about?

As far as whether or not it might be drinkable, I say there is only one way to find out and that is the beauty of this hobby--we can make what ever the heck we can dream up.

I say go for it.

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I was going to say add some wheat and either a weizen yeast or a belgian yeast, but both of these have already been indirectly mentioned.

:cross:

RichBrewer said:

I figure with a 1 gallon batch there won't be anything to lose if I have to dump it.

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Absolutely. There is almost nothing to lose with a one gallon batch. I didnt mean to sound so negative.

- magno

Why not just drink a young Hefeweizen?

sounds interesting one thing to think about seems like i read that bananas are a high fat fruit.

Hmm...no one's going with the "Banana eater" joke on Rich?

Oh well.

Fruit and beer go together like nuts and gum. Drink hefeweissen and leave the fruit for your health.

Hey I saw that pic of him on his avatar he looks to big to call him a nanner eater

Cheesefood said:

Hmm...no one's going with the "Banana eater" joke on Rich?

Oh well.

Fruit and beer go together like nuts and gum. Drink hefeweissen and leave the fruit for your health.

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I read this and heard Homer Simpson in my head: "MMM nuts and gum"

Weihenstephaner makes a wheat beer that has a lot of clove and banana flavors imparted in it -- I got it as a birthday gift last year and absolutely loved it.

IIRC certain wheat/belgian yeast strains will impart this flavor as well as the temperature that you ferment at.

Yea I was thinking about using a Hefe yeast and fermenting just a tad high.


naner city

I've had a bannana beer before now. It was okay for something different but give me a good ESB or IPA anytime.

If you want to add some extra bananna aroma WLP380 Hefeweizen IV Ale yeast imparts a strong bananna aroma to the beer. My Dunkelweizen is almost too bananna...y

orfy said:

I've had a bannana beer before now. It was okay for something different but give me a good ESB or IPA anytime.

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Right. ESB Extra Special Banana.

Running this through my brain and the batch size keeps getting bigger. I'm thinking the grain bed would have to be pretty deep to prevent a stuck sparge. Maybe a 2 1/2 gallon batch?

One of the most memorable beers I ever had was a banana beer. It was sweet and sour, like a lambic but without the funky horse blanket tones. The banana flavors worked really well with the other flavors. I thought it was great. I too have always thought it would be fun to brew a beer like that

I have no idea whether this will work or not, but props to Rich for thinking outside the box. It'll be interesting to hear how it comes out. Hell, I've got a couple unused carboys; maybe it's time to walk the produce isle a little more carefully...

Well, there are a couple things that come to mind for me.

1- banana wine. Actually tastes very good- smooth and rich with a hint of banana. A good white wine with a good amount of body and just an aroma of banana. Not at all sweet.

2- Banana beer. Well, I don't like hefes, wheat beers or fruit beer, so maybe I'm prejudiced. But it sounds.....icky.

3- Pina colada- I had a banana colada in Belize last year. It was great. So, banana has great potential. Rum and banana = heaven

But what is your goal? A hint of banana? Aroma of banana? Or mucha banana? I think a hint MIGHT be ok. Maybe a "banana beer" would be good. Do you want it slightly sweet to bring out the banana, or a little sour tasting?

I think it's got potential. I don't know how malty/banana would go together. But it's interesting, that's for sure!

Lorena

lorenae said:

Well, there are a couple things that come to mind for me.

1- banana wine. Actually tastes very good- smooth and rich with a hint of banana. A good white wine with a good amount of body and just an aroma of banana. Not at all sweet.

2- Banana beer. Well, I don't like hefes, wheat beers or fruit beer, so maybe I'm prejudiced. But it sounds.....icky.

3- Pina colada- I had a banana colada in Belize last year. It was great. So, banana has great potential. Rum and banana = heaven

But what is your goal? A hint of banana? Aroma of banana? Or mucha banana? I think a hint MIGHT be ok. Maybe a "banana beer" would be good. Do you want it slightly sweet to bring out the banana, or a little sour tasting?

I think it's got potential. I don't know how malty/banana would go together. But it's interesting, that's for sure!

Lorena

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I'm going to make banana wine!
I'm not big on fruit beers but for some reason this sounds good.
My goal? I was thinking of a nice banana aroma with a noticeable banana taste with out being over powering.
I'm thinking slightly sweet but I'm not really sure.
I guess I'm about to find out how they go together.

I'm going to try it with a neutral yeast. I want to know what the banana does to the beer on it's own. I'm going with 2 1/2 gallons because I want to mash 4 pounds of grain so there is a deep grain bed. I also want it very lightly hopped for the same reason listed above. I will simmer the bananas in water for 1/2 hour before they are added to the mash. I will add a water foundation to my mashtun and add the grains for a temp of 152 degrees. I will cool the banana mixture to 152 degrees and add to the mash. ( I need to time this so the banana can be added right away) I figure a batch sparge will work good for this one. A one hour boil then press on like any other brew.
Very simple and plain.

Here's a preliminary recipe:
2 1/2 Gallons

4.00 lbs. American 2-row
1 1/2 pounds very ripe bananas

Hops

Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
0.25 oz. Cascade Whole 5.80 13.0 60 min.
0.25 oz. Cascade Whole 5.80 5.2 25 min.
0.25 oz. Cascade Whole 5.80 2.2 5 min.


Yeast Safale us-56

lorenae,
Do you know why most banana recipes call for using the peal? This just doesn't sound very good to me.

Well it's in the fermenter.
Right off the bat I'm thinking I need twice as many bananas. I don't think 1 1/2 pounds is enough. I can't detect any banana at all when I tasted the wort.
I screwed up and had a very thin mash. I used 1/2 gallon of water to boil the bananas. I should have calculated that into the total for the mash. I ended up with 2 gallons of water for 4 pounds of grain and the bananas. It converted just fine but I have no idea how my efficiency was. It seems ProMash doesn't have bananas in their ingredient database. My OG is 1.048 which seems pretty good to me.
Time will tell now.

I used my 3 gallon cooler/tun for this and it worked great. I will be using this in the future for smaller test batches.

Sounds interesting! I like the idea of using the bananas in the mash, rather than trying to doctor up a beer after the fact with banana flavor.

I suspect that the aroma will come through just fine, but maybe not so much flavor. Ever noticed that if you store something like bread near bananas, it tends to pick up the banana smell? Something about banana aroma is very pervasive. They use banana oil to check for leaks in gas masks, because the smell just seems to get everywhere.

SwAMi75 said:

Sounds interesting! I like the idea of using the bananas in the mash, rather than trying to doctor up a beer after the fact with banana flavor.

I suspect that the aroma will come through just fine, but maybe not so much flavor. Ever noticed that if you store something like bread near bananas, it tends to pick up the banana smell? Something about banana aroma is very pervasive. They use banana oil to check for leaks in gas masks, because the smell just seems to get everywhere.

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Now that you mention it, I dumped the spent grains in the trash because I can't get to my compost pile. When I went out to the garage later I could smell banana.

I decided to put the banana in the mash to try and convert the starches. I thought about adding them to the boil but figured it might cause problems

What is the base beer you're working from? I was thinking of a porter with a couple loaves of banana bread thrown into the mash.

I'd call it Banana Hammock Porter.

Catfish said:

What is the base beer you're working from? I was thinking of a porter with a couple loaves of banana bread thrown into the mash.

I'd call it Banana Hammock Porter.

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No recipe or style in mind. Just a simple 2 row beer lightly hopped. I wanted to know what the banana did to the beer without any distractions.
I came up with a name for it.
If this ever works out I'm going to call it Banana Cream Ale

That would make an interesting Porter. I'm not so sure about the banana hammock thing.

I just now saw this thread!

In this month's "All About Beer" magazine, they have a label for a "Banana Nut Bread" beer. It was a beer from England, so it is quite possibly the one orfy has tried. I thought it sounded awesome!

RichBrewer said:

lorenae,
Do you know why most banana recipes call for using the peal? This just doesn't sound very good to me.

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I think it's just for the extra flavor. Bananas have really very little flavor in wine, but great body.

Let us know how this turns out- it's very interesting!

Lorena

lorenae said:

I think it's just for the extra flavor. Bananas have really very little flavor in wine, but great body.

Let us know how this turns out- it's very interesting!

Lorena

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It will be interesting to see what the mash will do to the banana. Probably more alcohol and less body.

I'll update this as it progresses.

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=554492

Sprecher Brewery in Milwaukee annouced two African beers hitting the market in the Milwaukee area as a test. One of which uses bananas! I think I'll have to try to find one.

By the way, how was your banana mash? Did it smell like bananas at all or just the malt? Keep us posted!

From the number of google hits, it's been talked about a few times anyway! Along with recipes...

[ame="http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&aq=t&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLD,GGLD:2004-48,GGLD:en&q=banana+beer+recipe"]http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&aq=t&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLD,GGLD:2004-48,GGLD:en&q=banana+beer+recipe[/ame]

may I remind you fellas that the man law clearly states "There is no fruit in beer!"


but let me know how it turns out....I may have to break the law

The Banana bread beer I had was more of an aroma than taste thing.

A banana beer I once tried had quite a spicy twang to it, but it didn't really have a major banana flavour, more of an aroma. I've found banana and alcohol does work quite well together, I make a banana liqeur by steeping mashed banana in half a bottle of vodka, leaving it for a month, filtering it and topping it up with boiled sugar water. Lush

Just to show you guys the sacrifice I am willing to make for the forum, I am going to drink this now. It's in the glass.



Link to larger picture : http://bp2.blogger.com/_Ywp8W3upUhs/RbEm8CqDe3I/AAAAAAAAANE/Ne47FjtSdiM/s1600-h/PICT0003.JPG

orfy said:

Just to show you guys the sacrifice I am willing to make for the forum, I am going to drink this now. It's in the glass.

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We truly appreciate your 'sacrifice'

orfy said:

Just to show you guys the sacrifice I am willing to make for the forum, I am going to drink this now. It's in the glass.

Link to larger picture : http://bp2.blogger.com/_Ywp8W3upUhs/RbEm8CqDe3I/AAAAAAAAANE/Ne47FjtSdiM/s1600-h/PICT0003.JPG

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So how was it?