Weissbier "Kick you in the face Banana Hefeweizen

6 # Dry Malt Extract (Wheat)
.5 # Cara-Pils

1 oz Saaz Hops (4.4 oz) @ 60 minutes
1 oz Saaz Hops (2.3 oz) @ 20 minutes

4 # mashed banana's in the primary.
2 # mashed banana's in the secondary

This was originally supposed to be a Chocolate Banana Hefeweizen but you can't taste the chocolate at all. We added 3oz @ 60 minutes. There is a light chocolate smell but that's it. Beer has a very strong banana flavor and taste. Nice and light bodied but still a good mouth feel. This was an instant hit at a party I threw. Next time I brew it, I'm increasing the chocolate.

I am married so maybe I'm going blind from to much masturbation, but I just don't see anything posted that would give the chocolate flavor.

How about using Wyest 3068 for some banana taste?

FSR402 said:

I am married so maybe I'm going blind from to much masturbation, but I just don't see anything posted that would give the chocolate flavor.

Click to expand...

Must be going blind (or I wasn't clear enough):

We added 3oz @ 60 minutes.

Click to expand...

nitrousjunkie said:

How about using Wyest 3068 for some banana taste?

Click to expand...

The place by my house (Maryland Home Brew) only sells White labs yeast. This time I'm adding more bananas. I've got 4 lbs in the fermentor (which required a blow off valve this batch) and I'm adding 3 lbs into the secondary. I’ve decided that this one will be only banana and my next batch will be another try at chocolate banana.

SewerRanger said:

4 # mashed banana's in the primary.

Click to expand...

How did the banana look after they fermented out? Liquified mush?

Also did you have any blow off issues and was syphoning easy?

Curious, 4lbs after they were peeled??

I have this going right now. Banana Cream Ale I'm waiting for this to take off... right its in the 2ndary w/o doing much.

Yeah the bananas were just mush when all was done. It was a bit of a pain trying to siphon as the liquid levels got low. The siphon got clogged once or twice but no big deal.

We had to use a blow off for the primary. We didn't have one at first and when I got home the bucket was ready to explode. The airlock was filled with kreuson and the bucket was actually hissing. I managed to pop the airlock off and a blow off valve on.

It was 4lbs pre-peeled. We peeled, boiled, and mashed them. It took forever for them to get cool in the fridge. I'd suggest doing them first. We made it again with 4lbs in the primary and 2lbs in the secondary. It’s in the bottle now but I tasted some before we bottled and even flat it was fantastic.

SewerRanger said:

It was 4lbs pre-peeled. We peeled, boiled, and mashed them. It took forever for them to get cool in the fridge. I'd suggest doing them first. We made it again with 4lbs in the primary and 2lbs in the secondary. It’s in the bottle now but I tasted some before we bottled and even flat it was fantastic.

Click to expand...

My banana cream ale has done nothing in the 2ndary. Its like dry hoopin' w/ banana's. It smells good and tastes nice. I didn't have much more than a spoonfull. I can't pass judgement until fresh glass get swilled.

Yeah it didn't do anything in our secondary either. At least nothing visible.

1 day in primary and 2 in seconday? Thats it?

Mustangfreak said:

1 day in primary and 2 in seconday? Thats it?

Click to expand...

No this is weeks! - This is a general rule of thumb.

1 week for fermenting.

2 weeks for clearing and in this case time for flavor absorption.

3 weeks for carbing.

6 weeks total

One more n00b question, you boil the bananas and then mash them, and then put them in the fridge? Why do you boil them to begin with?

I was told I should boil them to get rid of any wild yeast or germs that might be living in them. Maybe it doesn't apply to to bananas because of the skin they have, but I'm always overly cautious when I'm brewing. I then throw it in the fridge because I don't want to add that much boiling hot water to my beer.

F--k - God damn chair has pinched my finger again. Its wobblely loose and a pinch hazzard. Frickin' Motel 8....

I didn't bother with my Banana Cream Ale. I added mine in the 2ndary where yeast and abv is king!!!

SewerRanger's recipe inspired me to try something like this yesterday, but I changed quite a few things. Should be done & kegged by Festivus. I'll let everyone know how my version turned out.

What did you change?

Extract w/ grain recipe

.5 lb Cara-Pils
.25 lb Special B

1.5 lbs Wheat DME @ 60 min.
1 lb honey
4.5 lbs Wheat DME @ 20 min.

.5 oz Sterling & 4 oz cocoa powder @ 60 min.
.5 oz Sterling & 4 oz cocoa powder @ 20 min.

1 t Irish Moss @ 15 min.
.5 t yeast nutrient @ 10 min.

4 lb(pre-peeled) banana's added @ flame out
More mashed banana's in the secondary (maybe)

White Labs WLP300

I did the same thing you did with the bananas...cut, boiled, chilled & mashed. Then added them @ flame out to help bring down temp quicker.

Don't know if I"m going to add more bananas in the secondary...that'll be a decision based on tasting @ 1st racking.

Let me know if you can get the chocolate flavor to come out. I never could. I even ended up dumping a bag of chocolate chips (12oz) @ 60 minutes and still nothing. It tasted so damn good without the chocolate I just gave up.

Will do. I made a Chocolate Stout last year for Festivus and it had a great chocolate flavor...and I only used 6 oz in that batch. It already smells great in the primary...can't wait.

I have this going in my primary now with very little variation. Has anyone ever had a Bananaweisen in Germany where they add the banana syrup to weissbiers? I'm wondering how they compare. I'm making this batch for my wife because she misses those...

Kass_Brauhaus said:

I have this going in my primary now with very little variation. Has anyone ever had a Bananaweisen in Germany where they add the banana syrup to weissbiers? I'm wondering how they compare. I'm making this batch for my wife because she misses those...

Click to expand...

I think you mean Berliner Weisse. These are sour beers that need syrup to cut the sourness.

My guess is no. You would need this yeast strain.

3191 Berliner-Weisse VSS Jan-Mar 2008. Includes a German ale strain with low ester formation and a dry, crisp finish. The Lactobacillus included produces moderate levels of acidity, and a unique Brettanomyces strain from a now defunct brewery in Berlin imparts a critical earthy characteristic that is indicative of a true Berliner Weisse. Generally requires 3-6 months of aging to fully develop flavor characteristics. Apparent attenuation: 75-77%. Flocculation: low. Optimum temp: 55°-68° F

Click to expand...

Kass_Brauhaus said:

I have this going in my primary now with very little variation. Has anyone ever had a Bananaweisen in Germany where they add the banana syrup to weissbiers? I'm wondering how they compare. I'm making this batch for my wife because she misses those...

Click to expand...

That sounds pretty good actually. I never had that in Germany though. I can up with this idea after having a drink in New York where they dropped a shot of 99 bananas into a plain Hefeweizen. I feel in love with that drink and wanted to try my hand at making something that tasted like that.

Pyro,
How'd the beer turn out?

Schlenkerla said:

I think you mean Berliner Weisse. These are sour beers that need syrup to cut the sourness.

My guess is no. You would need this yeast strain.

Click to expand...

Sounds similar, but not exactly the same. I only saw it in a few places in Freiberg, Sachsen, and they definitely didn't call it a Berliner. It was just a run-of-the-mill weiss (not too sour), but they did, in fact, pour copious amounts of banana syrup in it. To me it was waaaaaay too sweet, but she liked it and it seemed to be kind of en vogue.


Still in primary--it smells WONDERFUL though.

Kass_Brauhaus said:

Sounds similar, but not exactly the same. I only saw it in a few places in Freiberg, Sachsen, and they definitely didn't call it a Berliner. It was just a run-of-the-mill weiss (not too sour), but they did, in fact, pour copious amounts of banana syrup in it. To me it was waaaaaay too sweet, but she liked it and it seemed to be kind of en vogue.


Still in primary--it smells WONDERFUL though.

Click to expand...

Did they call it a Radler(sp?)? I was in Frieburg and they made several beer/syrup combos of different flavors and they were all called Radlers.

nitrousjunkie said:

How about using Wyest 3068 for some banana taste?

Click to expand...

SewerRanger said:

The place by my house (Maryland Home Brew) only sells White labs yeast.

Click to expand...

Wyeast 3068 and White Labs 300 are the same. I would jack up the temps to let it ferment in the 72-74 range and you will get a bunch of banana ester flavoring

SewerRanger said:

Did they call it a Radler(sp?)? I was in Frieburg and they made several beer/syrup combos of different flavors and they were all called Radlers.

Click to expand...

Ah, no. But I was in FreiBERG, not FreiBURG (Freiberg is the smaller of the 2 and over in Saxony near the Czech border). I'll ask the wife though--she actually speaks German instead of my pretending.

hey all,
Ive been checking this thread for a while, and trying to formulate my own. I wanted to add some vanilla flavor to it also, so im throwing in 2 split vanilla beans into the secondary. Also, I have some nottingham sitting in my freezer and wanted to see how that'll work out...much higher abv im sure, but also allow for the varying flavors to shine through. Let me know what you think.

Bananilla ale​

-10lbs pale LME
-4oz biscuit malt
-4oz crystal 10
-6oz roasted barley
-.27 oz magnum (14.4aa) at 60mins
-.5 oz perle (8.2aa) at 20mins
-1t irish moss at 15mins
-1T yeast nutrient at 0mins

-nottingham yeast

-4lbs banana in primary for one week

-2lbs banana in secondary with 2 split vanilla beans for 2 weeks

carb with 3/4 cup corn sugar

cheers

Sounds tasty, let me know how it works out.

How long did you steep the grains?

I always do 2 steepings for 15 minutes each. Makes sure to get all of that good flavor out...sorry for the long delay in the response.

So I bottled a couple weeks back, but tried one maybe 2 weeks after bottling, and it really needed more time to carb, and for the flavors to soak in.

I do want to express though that I was expecting more banana flavor...BUT, I did something very different that might have affected the banana's play in the brew. In the secondary, While the banana floated at the top of the carboy, I gave the entire carboy a couple good spins, kind of swooshing it all around and down. I did this maybe 2 times a day, sometimes everyday, sometimes every couple of days. But I noticed that right after swooshing it around, the yeast started feeding like crazy and the banana started fizzing, bubbling through the airlock crazy-like for another 5 minutes or so. Eventually, after a week or so, it was as if the yeast was completely eating up the banana, as the volume of banana floating at the top considerably decreased by the end of the secondary.

So here was the final recipe

Bananilla ale

-10lbs pale LME
-4oz biscuit malt
-4oz crystal 10
-6oz roasted barley
-.26 oz magnum (14.4 aa) at 60mins
-.5 oz perle (8.2aa) at 17mins
-1t irish moss at 15mins
-1T yeast nutrient at 0mins

-nottingham yeast

-4lbs banana in primary

-2lbs banana in secondary with 2 split vanilla beans

Sg: 1.072
Fg: 1.016

But the alc. Is probably much higher because the added bananas seemed to act as extra sugar for the yeast, especially during the secondary where the banana was reduced to pulp from constant mixing/swooshing. Though the banana from the primary was no less banana-like.

white labs hefe IV and a 75F fermentation will get all the bananna flavor you want without putting mooshy crap into your beer.

Add the chocolate in the last 5 minutes of the boil and you will get more chocolate flavoring. I see no reason to boil it for longer than that, it will only realease flavors and scents the longer you boil.
I have added chocolate this way to a Porter and a Mint Stout. Chocolate came through nicely.

I'm going to be brewing a hefe tomorrow and thought about do the banana a a prep today. Would the bananas go bad if I did them today, or should I just wait until tomorrow during the mash to prep them?

Looking forward to this beer! Just brewed 2 days ago and fermenting is out of control.

Let me know how it turns out for you John. This was the first beer recipe I ever came up with all on my own (wasn't a clone/change to someone else recipe). It warms the cockles of my heart to see someone else wanting to brew it.

Hoping someone responds quickly. I am racking into the secondary and I am wondering if I over did it with the banana flavors. Should I continue to plan to add bananas to the secondary? How much banana is in the final taste profile?

It had a really nice banana flavor to it when I made it last. Not overly done, but you could taste them. Putting them in the secondary doesn't add much flavor, but intensifies the smell and bumps the ABV a bit.

Highly recommend this!!

All my kits have a similar heaviness / taste but this is unbelievable. I believe it got up to 6% which was great but surprising.

I left the secondary bananas out and still had a great light refreshing smell and aroma.

nerdyJON said:

Highly recommend this!!

All my kits have a similar heaviness / taste but this is unbelievable. I believe it got up to 6% which was great but surprising.

I left the secondary bananas out and still had a great light refreshing smell and aroma.

Click to expand...

Did you follow the original recipe and fermentation times in the first post?

3 weeks in secondary and no bananas in secondary.