Banana Bread Ale

[1776]

Going to try this recipe maybe tomorrow. I'm sure it'll be tasty and well appreciated by friends.

 

[jbsayers]

Wow, this thread has been around for a really long time.

So I tried this a few weeks ago and no luck at all. I just transferred it to secondary today and it didn't taste offensive, it definitely didn't taste good either...nor banana-y. I'll let it clear for a week then bottle it and stick it in the basement for a month and revisit it and see how its changed. I'm not giving up hope that it will turn out decent.

Cheers!

JB

 

[1776]

Wow, this thread has been around for a really long time.

So I tried this a few weeks ago and no luck at all. I just transferred it to secondary today and it didn't taste offensive, it definitely didn't taste good either...nor banana-y. I'll let it clear for a week then bottle it and stick it in the basement for a month and revisit it and see how its changed. I'm not giving up hope that it will turn out decent.

Cheers!

JB

damn this post kind of scares me. Maybe i'd be better off saving these ingredients for another batch

 

[Zaftula]

This whole business sounds awesome. I've had Wells' ale myself and found it a little under banana-ed for my tastes, does anyone have any advice for adding freeze dried or mashed nanners to a Hefeweizen as an adjunct?

 

[jbsayers]

So I transferred this to secondary. Tasted a sample and although, like I mentioned earlier, no banana-ness at all, it tastes like a decent wheat beer. Not my favorite style, but def drinkable.

 

[jbsayers]

Tried it again after it bottle conditioned/carbed. I don't like it at all. I posted in my "2nd batch thread" https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/2nd-batch-under-belt-356396/ about it. Not sure if I should give it more time or if I should just accept that it isn't very good.

I made sure to RDWHAHB the entire time but now I am worried/disappointed.

:-/

JB

 

[DaBunn]

Same here, if you want a Banana Bread beer this is not for you. If you are looking for a Dunkel than give it try. I followed this brew to the letter, we even rigged a chest freezer with a hair dryer to keep to temp up when needed. The aromas of Banana came out during the fermentation, but that's where it ended. No flavors at all.
With that being said this was not a bad beer, it just came out like a Dunkel, and if you compare it with Dunkel recipes its close.

Good luck with everyone's brews!!!

 

[detonate]

Bugger. Pretty keen to find a good clone of Well's Banana Bread Ale, so am still going to give this recipe a crack.
If for nothing else, perhaps it'll be a good base to experiment with.

I'll be sure to post our thoughts/comments on our attempt to the thread.

Just a quick after thought, please correct me if my thinking is incorrect:
I've recently been reading about starters, and I have to admit I've historically always pitched the liquid packs directly into the fermenter. I think I'll start making starters in the future, but for this recipe perhaps under-pitching on purpose to help get those slightly off banana esters.

Am I right in that thinking, or completely off track?

 

[WarrantedFED]

Bugger. Pretty keen to find a good clone of Well's Banana Bread Ale, so am still going to give this recipe a crack.
If for nothing else, perhaps it'll be a good base to experiment with.

I'll be sure to post our thoughts/comments on our attempt to the thread.

Just a quick after thought, please correct me if my thinking is incorrect:
I've recently been reading about starters, and I have to admit I've historically always pitched the liquid packs directly into the fermenter. I think I'll start making starters in the future, but for this recipe perhaps under-pitching on purpose to help get those slightly off banana esters.

Am I right in that thinking, or completely off track?

I intended on three occasions to mimic Wells, and this has been the closest. It was quite good, although after the first four gallons I was ready to be done with bananas!!

 

[detonate]

Excellent, that's what I want to hear!
So you don't think there's any requirement for additional bananariness? (it's totally a word)

 

[WarrantedFED]

Excellent, that's what I want to hear!
So you don't think there's any requirement for additional bananariness? (it's totally a word)

I would urge caution using any more than 6 lbs.

 

[detonate]

I would urge caution using any more than 6 lbs.

6 lbs of banana in secondary?

 

[WarrantedFED]

6 lbs of banana in secondary?

Yes, I apologize for not beimg more clear! I have been able to really pull banana flavor with a 5 lbs of banana and 1 oz rum made into a purée in the secondary.

 

[saxowam]

So really good beer to start with, but if you want some true bananariness I recommend 5 lbs of bananas. We peeled the bananas, cut them length wise into quarters and syphoned over them for secondary, but maybe blending would have been better as WarrantedFED recommends. Also, did tertiary to avoid getting banana chunks in keg. Looks and tastes beautiful and SWMBO can't stop drinking it.

 

[beer_doc]

Just brewed my first Banana Bread Dunkle (actually, first Dunkle in general). I used this recipe as a base, then modified the #'s a little to work with my equipment (Electric HERMS system with a cooler mash tun) and took some advice from "Designing Great Beers" by Daniels.

Beer Smith attached at bottom
Also, picture of the beauty fermenting in my ferm chamber

Recipe:
Banana Bread Dunkle Dunkelweizen
Type: All Grain
Date: 2/27/2013
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.50 gal
Boil Size: 7.18 gal
Boil Time: 60 min
End of Boil Volume 5.98 gal
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 %
Final Bottling Volume: 5.00 gal
Est Mash Efficiency 73.2 %
Ingredients
Grains
Amt Name
5 lbs 12.0 oz White Wheat Malt (2.4 SRM)
2 lbs 8.0 oz Munich Malt (9.0 SRM)
1 lbs Oats, Flaked (1.0 SRM)
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM)
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM)
6.2 oz Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM)
4.0 oz Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM)

Hops
1.00 oz Styrian Goldings [4.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min
0.75 oz Goldings, East Kent [7.20 %] - Boil 5.0 min
Yeast - Hefeweizen Ale (White Labs #WLP300) [35.49 1.0 pkgYeast ml]

Beer Profile Est Original Gravity: 1.052 SG
Measured Original Gravity: 1.049 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.013 SG
Measured Final Gravity:
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 5.2 %
Actual Alcohol by Vol:
Bitterness: 18.0 IBUs
Calories: 162.7 kcal/12oz
Est Color: 19.5 SRM

Mash Profile Mash Name: Temperature Mash, 1 Step, Medium Body
Total Grain Weight: 10 lbs 14.2 oz Sparge Water: 5.08 galGrain Temperature: 72.0 F Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F
Tun Temperature: 72.0 F PH: 5.20
Mash Steps Step
Saccharification: Add 13.61 qt of water at 164.8 F153.0 F
Mash Out: Heat to 168.0 F over 10 min168.0 F
Sparge Step: Fly sparge with 5.08 gal water at 168.0 F

View attachment Banana_Bread_Beer_Recipe.bsmx

 

[philnutz]

Looks pretty awesome - how'd it turn out??

Just brewed my first Banana Bread Dunkle (actually, first Dunkle in general). I used this recipe as a base, then modified the #'s a little to work with my equipment (Electric HERMS system with a cooler mash tun) and took some advice from "Designing Great Beers" by Daniels.

Beer Smith attached at bottom
Also, picture of the beauty fermenting in my ferm chamber

Recipe:
Banana Bread Dunkle Dunkelweizen
Type: All Grain
Date: 2/27/2013
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.50 gal
Boil Size: 7.18 gal
Boil Time: 60 min
End of Boil Volume 5.98 gal
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 %
Final Bottling Volume: 5.00 gal
Est Mash Efficiency 73.2 %
Ingredients
Grains
Amt Name
5 lbs 12.0 oz White Wheat Malt (2.4 SRM)
2 lbs 8.0 oz Munich Malt (9.0 SRM)
1 lbs Oats, Flaked (1.0 SRM)
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM)
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM)
6.2 oz Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM)
4.0 oz Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM)

Hops
1.00 oz Styrian Goldings [4.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min
0.75 oz Goldings, East Kent [7.20 %] - Boil 5.0 min
Yeast - Hefeweizen Ale (White Labs #WLP300) [35.49 1.0 pkgYeast ml]

Beer Profile Est Original Gravity: 1.052 SG
Measured Original Gravity: 1.049 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.013 SG
Measured Final Gravity:
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 5.2 %
Actual Alcohol by Vol:
Bitterness: 18.0 IBUs
Calories: 162.7 kcal/12oz
Est Color: 19.5 SRM

Mash Profile Mash Name: Temperature Mash, 1 Step, Medium Body
Total Grain Weight: 10 lbs 14.2 oz Sparge Water: 5.08 galGrain Temperature: 72.0 F Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F
Tun Temperature: 72.0 F PH: 5.20
Mash Steps Step
Saccharification: Add 13.61 qt of water at 164.8 F153.0 F
Mash Out: Heat to 168.0 F over 10 min168.0 F
Sparge Step: Fly sparge with 5.08 gal water at 168.0 F

 

[beer_doc]

Not so great :-( temp control was great but it just tasted too yeasty. Had a little banana. It tasted like an expired wells banana bread ale. I'm on vacation so I've been gone for a bit. When I get back in town I'll taste it again and see if age has treated it well

 

[sfgoat]

Just bread this about a month ago and I think it got stuck OG was 1.054 currently at 1.029. I used the wyeast hefe yeast. I did have to top up the boil by about a gallon. Any have thoughts on my stuck fermentation. Was probably just going to repitch a new starter in and let it go a while longer.

 

[yeastforbrains]

I have brewed 3 wheat beers using the Fermentis Munich wheat beer dry yeast. The only time I got LOTS of lovely banana was the batch I fermented during winter at ambient 64°f. Banana was evident in the airlock, and during bottling, my kitchen smelt like a banana bread bakery. The other 2 batches fermented during summer at ambient mid seventies, produced no banana, and did not taste nearly as good. Jamil also says (in the jamil show) you get the best esters from your wheat yeast by keeping the fermentation temps relatively low. In my experience, he's right.

 

[LiquidFlame]

So really good beer to start with, but if you want some true bananariness I recommend 5 lbs of bananas. We peeled the bananas, cut them length wise into quarters and syphoned over them for secondary, but maybe blending would have been better as WarrantedFED recommends. Also, did tertiary to avoid getting banana chunks in keg. Looks and tastes beautiful and SWMBO can't stop drinking it.

I know it's been awhile, but can I ask how long did you have it in the primary and secondary and at what temps? Also did you use DeathBrewer's recipe on the first page, or did you modify it?

Thanks.

 

[avjacobs]

What was your fermentation schedule like? Particularly temperatures.

There is a homebrew competition coming up near my area in which we must brew with a particular secret ingredient. This year the ingredient is chocolate. The catch is they have a purity law. Only barley, hops, water, and yeast may be used, the exception being the secret ingredient. I was considering making a chocolate banana beer, but it's important that the banana comes through, without covering up the chocolate

 

[fords4life]

My take on this just went into secondary on Monday night on top of 5lbs of bananas. Nothing crazy for bubbles in the blowoff yet, but definitely moving. It is in a bucket so can't tell if it's just CO2 or active fermentation. I used the Dunkel recipe below from my LHBS and added the 0.5lbs of biscuit malt and used the WLP300 yeast. Fermented right around 70-72 with temp dropping to 68-69 overnight. It was in the primary for 2 weeks, OG was 1.064 SG after primary was 1.012, roughly 6.8% and tasted pretty good for 2 weeks old. All banana notes and no clove which is what I was hoping for. We'll see how it looks in 2 weeks when I pull it out of secondary.

Recipe (Partial Mash)

Original Gravity (est): 1.056 ABV (est): 5.5%
Final Gravity (est): 1.014 IBU (est): 16.3

Extract 5 lbs Wheat Liquid Malt Extract
Grain 1.25 lbs German Pilsner
1.25 lbs White Wheat Malt
0.5 lbs Dextrine/Carafoam
0.5 lbs Carared
0.33 lbs Chocolate
0.25 lbs Carafa I
0.5 lbs Biscuit Malt

Hops 0.5 oz Tradition(sub'd Hallertauer) (60 minutes)
0.5 oz Tradition(sub'd Hallertauer) (15 minutes)
1 oz Tradition(sub'd Hallertauer) (0 minutes)
Yeast WLP300

Mash grains for 60 minutes at 150 degrees.

 

[chichum]

How did it turn out?

 

[rjmc64]

*BUMP*

fords4life... how did your Banana Bread attempt come out?

 

[fords4life]

Sorry guys, been very busy and haven't been on the forums much. Beer turned out awesome. Not too sweet(neither the wife or I like sweet beers) and very hefty banana aroma. The banana flavor was much stronger right after bottling, but is definitely still present. The wife is definitely a fan of this one and I will brew again once she drinks it all. The dunkel recipe alone is a pretty solid dunkel.

 

[ratinator]

I finally had Well's Banana Bread Beer and I thought it was really good and im interested in a clone. I'm going to build a recipe in the next week hopefully for a clone based on some of the comments in this thread and my knowledge from wells and tasting. I read the back of the bottle for ingredients: malted barley, bananas, maize, banana flavor. I have made a strawberry banana ale last summer using 4lbs of both in the secondary. The strawberry flavor was overpowered by the bananas, and I got lots of flavors from using real bananas in secondary. So this is what i'm going to shoot for:

1. Use Maris Otter for a base Malt
2. Probably use Crystal 60/Victory/Chocolate Malt/Flaked Corn/Carapils
3. Will be using Safale S-04 yeast (wont be getting my banana flavor from the yeast)
4. Will be using bananas in secondary (more than likely 4lbs)
5. Will add banana extract at kegging if im not happy with the banana profile

 

[slumslum]

Giving this a go in a 10 gallon batch. Does anyone have any input with this build off of the original recipe?

Also, can someone tell me if my Mash in and Sparge volumes and temps are good? I am still learning that part and it's always nice to have someone look it over for me. I use BeerSmith2, but I'm not sure if I am using it correctly. I'll be using a starter as well.

Boil Size: 13.96 gal
Post Boil Volume: 11.96 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 10.50 gal
Bottling Volume: 9.75 gal
Estimated OG: 1.057 SG
Estimated Color: 15.6 SRM
Estimated IBU: 29.1 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 78.9 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name
11 lbs 8.0 oz Wheat - Red Malt (Briess) (2.3 SRM)
7 lbs 8.0 oz Munich Malt (9.0 SRM)
2 lbs Oats, Flaked (1.0 SRM)
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM)
8.0 oz Carapils (Briess) (1.5 SRM)
8.0 oz Chocolate Malt (450.0 SRM)
3.00 oz Styrian Goldings [5.40 %] - Boil - 60.0 min
1.00 oz East Kent Goldings (EKG) [5.00 %] - Boil - 5.00 min
1.0 pkg Hefeweizen Ale (White Labs #WLP300)


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Light Body
Total Grain Weight: 22 lbs 8.0 oz
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperature Step Time
Mash In Add 29.00 qt of water at 165.6 F 154.0 F 60 min
Mash Out Add 18.00 qt of water at 199.3 F 170.0 F 10 min

Sparge: Fly sparge with 6.00 gal water at 168.0 F

 

[Pluxx27]

Hey DeathBrewer sorry for dragging this up again.
Can you give me the specifics on the mashing, the exact amount of water and for how long? I see it's listed but don't understand it. Thanks

 

[ratinator]

Hey DeathBrewer sorry for dragging this up again.
Can you give me the specifics on the mashing, the exact amount of water and for how long? I see it's listed but don't understand it. Thanks

Im not deathbrewer (obviously) but people hit it with 1.25-1.50 quarts per lb of grain for water and almost every single mash is 60mins. If your ever not sure just go with 1.33 lb/g and 60mins and youll be fine

 

[Cerveza23]

This thread has been around for quite some time now and I am going to keep it going.

In two weeks I plan to brew the original recipe posted by DeathBrewer w/ some minor tweaks. Two weeks because I plan to brew my Blacklight Milk Stout this weekend and next weekend I am traveling. My recipe below:

6lbs American Wheat Malt
4lbs Munich Malt
1lbs Flaked Oats
4oz Cara-Pils Dextrine Malt
4oz Crystal 60L
4oz UK Chocolate Malt
1oz Golding Hops - 40mins
1oz Golding Hops - 20mins
Mangrove Jack's Bavarian Wheat M20 (LHBS does not carry White Labs, but I think this will be an excellent alternative)

Mash @ 155°F (1.5quarts per lbs of grain)
Sparge out @ 170°F

I'm anticipating a 7 gallon pre-boil w/ a 1.057 OG and end at 5.5 gallons w/ a 1.016 FG. Should end around 5.37% ABV.

I am hoping this beer will turn out like the "Banana Bread Ale", but lucky for me I love dunkels too.

If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask me.