Banana Nut Bread Mead?

[luda007]

I'm contemplating a banana bread mead.
Probably a 1 gallon batch to start off with.

I have a few questions.

1. I've heard that the brown sugar taste doesn't transfer after fermentation. What would work?
Back sweeten with it instead of primary?

2. What yeast? I've only ever used lavlin d-47 or lavlin ec-1118. D-47 would be sweeter or is there a better option?

3. What to use for nut flavor?

My recipe so far that I have devised (not tested)

Primary:

3 lbs frozen, then thawed, mashed bananas added to the carboy
3# honey
Brown sugar???
Water to fill
1 vanilla bean
Toasted nuts???
Packet d-47
Energizer
Nutrient

Ill wait until the secondary to see if I need more banana flavor.


Any all suggestions are appreciated!

 

[bernardsmith]

Hi Luda007, I gotta say that I think that it is a myth that certain yeasts ferment 'sweeter' than others. The sweetness is a result of residual sugar and no wine yeast has any trouble fermenting bone dry any normal starting gravity (from about 1.090 to about 1.100). Now some yeasts are better are neutralizing acids (say malic) than others but that has nothing to do in any explicit way with "sweetness" although if the amount of acidity (TA) or the strength of the acidity (pH) was lower then the same level of sweetness would taste different.
The thing about nuts is that they contain fats and fats can become rancid over time... You may want to see if you can find a nut flavored extract or syrup (hazelnut?)

 

[luda007]

I was contemplating an extract.
Was even thinking of a butter extract towards the end as well.

Thanks!

 

[lifesnotfare]

I've actually done something very similar to this and it cam out pretty good. I'll have to go back and take a look for specifics. But off the top of my head, sliced bananas, froze, boiled in muslin to make an ugly gray extract, added to primary, cleared up great. Racked onto some practically crushed and toasted pecans. I was a big fan. Good Luck.

 

[lifesnotfare]

Reviewed some specifics that I had jotted down when making up the batch. Apparently I was going for a Bananas Fosters feel. it was about 2.5 pounds of honey, 1 pound of maple syrup, and a few pounds of bananas sliced frozen and extracted in half a gallon of water on the stove. I went with the extract due to the nightmares of clearing out bananas from other users. this is definitely the way I would do it any time I'm looking to add bananas. I was planning on keeping with the D47 (Sweet for the wife), but I severely underestimated how much I would pull from the bananas and ended up with an ridiculous OG of 1.140. This prompted me to go with the EC1118, which ended up working out perfect. It cooked enough of the sugar off to bring it to a reasonable sweetness (can't recall FG).
NUTS- I went with pecans. I broke them into pieces, let some of the oils air dry out overnight (paper towel layers), and then toasted them in the oven, to help pull more of the oils out, then I rack onto the toasted nuts. The nuts gave the finished product and incredible mouth feel.
That was my experience with bananas and nuts. Your recipe looks like a rock solid start though. Might not need the brown sugar with a full 3 pounds of honey, and 1 whole vanilla bean might be a lot for one gallon batch (depends on your taste).
Sorry for the long winded answer.

 

[luda007]

Thanks!
Did you wait for the bananas to brown slightly?

I bought some and am waiting for that but if you didn't and it worked out I might just freeze them and go for it.

 

[lifesnotfare]

I think they were slightly browning a little. If I recall correctly we were eating a lot of bananas, and then we weren't. So, we started freezing them before they went bad for smoothies and crap like that. It's definitely not something that you want to do if you intend to let the actual fruit participate in fermentation as the short shelf life of the banana is already reduced, and it could go bad. But, if I understand correctly if they're browning out the starches in the fruit are already breaking down sugar which is why it can taste sweeter. So, f you make the extract the way that I did (which I assimilate to a grain Brew In A Bag), you're pulling starches out to break into sugar for the yeast to eat. But you can also over cook some of the sugars into not being able to be eaten by the yeast.
I remember watching a video on a particular user submitted video website (don't think I can mention by name, but trust me you know the one) of a guy making an all banana wine. I didn't catch the video until after I had made mine, but it should help you get some pretty good visual references. You won't be needing nearly as much as that guy used though.
Oh, and you don't have to freeze them. I did because we were trying not to waste food, plus I've read several places that it breaks down the walls of the fruit making the extraction process easier/more efficient.

 

[luda007]

So I started mine tonight and the og was 1.130.

I mashed 3 bananas and threw them in the pan with 1 cup light brown sugar and 3# mesquite honey. Also have 1/2 a vanilla bean that I split.

I put it all in the carboy.
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1468815694.443205.jpg

 

[lifesnotfare]

I would've strained out the bananas but I like the recipe. Good luck.
if there's not enough vanilla after primary you could always rack it on the other half of the been for a week or so.
did you decide on nuts yet?

 

[luda007]

I thought about it and did start by straining it. My screen is too fine. It was clogging it.

I figured id put some more bananas in after racking to get the taste if it isn't tasting like I want.
Still haven't decided. Thinking about trying the real nuts but also have extract in case.

 

[lifesnotfare]

There's a natural banana extract without preservatives available on amazon