Chocolate/Banana Beer

So I've never put together my own recipe, so I'm giving it a try now. That being said I want to do something like a chocolate stout, with some banana taste thrown in. Here's what I've got so far:

3.3# Dark LME
1# Chocolate Malt
1# Crystal Malt
.5# Roasted Malt
2.5 oz Crystal hops
1 cup cocoa powder
1 cup banana chips
2 tsp cinnamon
Wyeast 3068
1 lb lactose
2lbs bananas
molasses

Throw the malts in with my water as it's heating, pull it right before boiling, then add LME. Return to boil add 2oz hops. Boil 45 minutes, add cocoa, banana, cinnamon. Boil 10 minutes. Add .5 oz hops, boil another 5 minutes and pull it off. Transfer to 1st fermenter, add water/lactose to bring to 5 gallons, add yeast.
After a week or so, rack to second fermenter on top of whole bananas. Ferment another two or three weeks then bottle, with molasses not corn starch.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

My Brother-In-Law used some banana extract in his carribean stout. I don't know about adding any real bananas to the wort, as bananas can turn south pretty fast.

Some others on here have done it. I'd link it but I'm on my phone. It's under 'Banana Cream Ale' I think.

I'm with Deuce. I'd use extract because bananas to tend to ripen quickly.

I'm still fairly new myself so I don't remember specifics but I know that some yeast strains will produce a pretty strong banana flavor from excess esters when fermented in warmer environments. Just a thought.

You can also find a yeast that throws banana flavored esters, which is how I plan to tackle this idea when I get around to it.

I attempted a banana bread beer once. I used 1 bunch of bananas. I added them to my primary fermenter 1 week before I bottled. To prep the bananas, I cut them into small pieces, boiled them for a few minutes, then just dumped them in. The end result was a good banana aroma, but almost no flavor.

I would imagine your recipe will achieve a good banana flavor/aroma. Keep us posted. ^_^

Don't add the banana during primary ferment, the yeast will just turn the sugars in the banana into alcohol and you'll get no banana flavor...

When I do the banana thing (in a week or two), I plan on using one banana per gallon of beer.. I plan to puree the banana and ferment it in the fridge in vodka, then pour it in the carboy a week and a half or two weeks after pitching yeast.... leave it in there on the yeast for a couple more weeks and then transfer to keg to condition some more..

I wont be using chocolate, but instead will be doing this with an IPA...

The problem with banana esters, is that over time, they disappear as the beer gets older.... You can create them by fermenting warm.. That's how I discovered I liked the banana flavor in an IPA... You have to drink the beer green though to enjoy them.. and even then, they disappear entirely within a few days of kegging..

I've heard that the extract is really overpowering, so if you use that, start small.. you can always add more later or on the next batch...