Banambic?

[womencantsail]

So, I was eating a banana for breakfast this morning and thinking about beer (as I often do). Being a sour beer lover in general, and having just recently tried the New Glarus Cran-bic, the idea of a "Banambic" popped into my head.

I know it's certainly not a traditional lambic fruit, but I was wondering what success (if any) people have had using bananas in beer?

I would be making a 1 gallon batch of this, as I don't want to go too crazy with such an experimental beer. Here's what I was thinking:

1.5 lbs Pale malt
1.0 lb Flaked wheat

0.25 oz of low AA hops (I'll have to see what I have, probably Willamette)

A cocktail of bugs and yeast

As far as the fruit, for such a small batch of beer, I was thinking maybe only 2 or 3 bananas, but I'm obviously open to any suggestions.

 

[nealf]

I say go for it... I am about to bottle a mango lambic.

 

[carnevoodoo]

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/190/5358

**** is gross. Hopefully yours will be better.

 

[brandonjonesVW]

Maybe a bugged banana hefe. Sour, banana & clove notes sounds kind of tasty to me.

 

[womencantsail]

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/190/5358

**** is gross. Hopefully yours will be better.

That does indeed sound pretty gnarly. The benefit of making this beer is that if it turns out awful, it probably will cost less than a bottle of that stuff.


The idea of infecting a Hefe sounds interesting, but I think I may go with a "traditional" lambic type recipe and just add the bananas to it. Or, maybe pitch some German Hefe yeast along with the funky stuff.

 

[ryane]

most if not all of the esters produced froma primary ferment will be broken down by the brett/bacteria in there so if you were to use a hefe yeast etc I dont think youd get much character from it

 

[womencantsail]

Excellent point.

I plan on making this in the next few weeks. I just need to get my one gallon jugs--a Christmas present from the girlfriend--and have a little extra time.

Not as though that matters all that much, since this could end up being a 1-3 year project. I'll try to keep this thread up to day with any news, if I can remember.

 

[ryane]

rather than having her buy 1gal jugs for ~$5 a pop, just go to a whole foods etc, and get a 1gal jug of apple juice

knudsen and other brands all bottle in them and they are about $6, so for an extra buck or so you get a gallon of apple juice

 

[womencantsail]

They're already purchased and set to arrive tomorrow.

I considered doing something like that, but I'm not really the biggest fan of apple juice (or Carlo Rossi, etc.).

 

[ryane]

make them into a cider or a cyser