Banana/Chili Wine

[WoodHokie4]

I've been toying around with brewing wine and reading some recipes to get an idea of how it varies from brewing beer. I've got a ton of Serranos and several bananas in my freezer, just waiting for something to be done with them, so I thought, Hey...wine!

If anyone has any comments or suggestions on this, Please let me know!

Banana/Chilli Wine -1 gallon

10 Serrano chillies, roasted and finely chopped.
50 grams raisins chopped
3 bananas boiled and strained discard solids
.5 tablespoon of pectic enzyme
.5 teaspoons yeast nutrient
sugar.. enough to lift SG to 1.070
2 cups boiling*water
.5 gal apple juice
1 campden tablet
5 whole cloves
3" stick Ceylon Cinnamon

put peppers, raisins, crushed campden tab, spices, and banana juice in a bucket. Pour 2 cups boiling water over it. Leave to cool. Add 1/2 tablespoon of pectic enzyme leave 24 hours, strain solids out of must and add liquid to primary. Add juice, check SG and add sugar to bring the reading up to 1.070. Stir well, add yeast and nutrient.

Airlock it and let it ferment out.

 

[WVMJ]

No point in adding boiled water, you already have a camden in there, the camden is sulfite and will knock out contaminating bugs. You seem to be making a spiced cider, why are you not using all the liquid as cider for a better taste? Are you peppers green or red? The green ones will give your wine a "green pepper" taste combined with those spices might be a little weird, but if you have nice red serranos this is going to turn out really well. The bananers will give you some body, the yeast will really like the apple cider. Good luck, WVM

 

[WoodHokie4]

This was based on several recipes I bastardized together, most of which referenced using the spices and sounded pretty tasty to me.

Good point about the juice/cider over the water. I never really gave it much thought as to why water over juice, and decided to go with apple over white grape for my own preferences. I guess the only point to boiling the water would be to help the sugars dissolve, but i guess if it sits for 24hours, they should dissolve readily.

I have a mix of red and green peppers. I know that red peppers tend to be a bit sweeter in general, as they have had time to allow their sugars to mature, but these little buggars are tricky; one will be sweet and have a great flavor and the next will light your @$$ on fire! All from the same plant, mind you.

Thanks for the tips!

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[WVMJ]

We are making a mead from roasted mex peppers, not trying to make it very hot but instead making it taste like ripe peppers. WVMJ

 

[WoodHokie4]

I think I want a decent amount to heat, but not so much its undrinkable. I'll probably have to take a taste of each pepper to determine how much heat I'm putting in to be safe

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[WoodHokie4]

So finally got around to making this last night. I varied up the recipe a tiny bit, but overall was the same.

Banana/Chilli Wine -1 gallon

10 Serrano chillies, roasted, seeded, and finely chopped.
50 grams flame raisins
1.75 lbs frozen bananas, (boiled in 1gallon of water and strained, discarding solids)
1/2 tablespoon of pectic enzyme
1/2 teaspoons yeast nutrient
2lbs sugar
1/2 gal apple juice
1 campden tablet, crushed
10 whole cloves
3" stick Ceylon Cinnamon

Boil bananas in 1 gallon of.water for 45 minutes, strain off liquid and discard solids.

Roast peppers for 30minutes at 350*F. Remove, allow to cool before removing seeds and chopping.

Pour hot banana liquid over sugar in primary. Add peppers, raisins, crushed campden tab, spices, pectic enzyme, yeast nutrient, and juice. Leave to cool for 24 hours before pitching yeast.

 

[WVMJ]

I think way to many cloves, you would be able to taste 1 ok, 10 going to be overkill, going to have numb toungue! WVMJ

 

[WoodHokie4]

I made a mulled cider with twice this many cloves that I got from here:
http://nomilknosoynoproblem.com/mulled-apple-cider/

The cider was great and I didn't feel like there was any problems with any overpowering flavors. I could be way off, but only time will tell.


I went down to check on it and was a little disappointed that my bubbler had no activity. Peeking in the lid, there is certainly healthy fermentation occurring, so I'm guessing a small air leak is the culprit...i just hope I can keep positive pressure in the vessel to keep any nasties out.

 

[WoodHokie4]

So, I was getting nervous about the lack of pressure from my primary bucket and decided to transfer the wine to the secondary after 2-weeks. It smells like a crisp chardonnay and has an amazing flavor. The banana really shines through and has a nice spicy kick at the end. The cloves and cinnamon certainly add to the overall flavor, but don't overpower anything at all.

I suppose my next question is: How long do you typically let wines sit before they're "Good" ? I know with beer, it depends a lot on abv and style, but in any case, it's a minimum of 2 weeks to carbonate.

 

[WVMJ]

That one looks really nice, good color, now you got to let it clear, how clear is up to you, if you are in a hurry to drink it it might only need to be clear enough to see a spotlight thru it, if you wait until you can see your fingerprint on the other side it will be much better, nanner usually doesnt take to long to clear, go make something else to occupy yourself while this is clearing WVMJ

 

[Oneoffcustom]

Nicely done. Sounds good.


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[schoch79]

Ok so I have a question about making banana wine. Can I just puree the bananas and boil it or is it better to just slice them? I would think pureeing them would help impart more flavor and sugars

 

[WVMJ]

How much sediment do you want? Leaving the skins on, fully ripened helps get more flavor. WVMJ

Ok so I have a question about making banana wine. Can I just puree the bananas and boil it or is it better to just slice them? I would think pureeing them would help impart more flavor and sugars

 

[schoch79]

I was thinking puree them skins and all. As for the sediment I'm not too concerned with the initial load as I would assume it would all settle out. I really just don't know...that's why im asking here.

 

[WVMJ]

No need to puree, you would get like 50% fluffy sediment, they can be kept in slices skins and all, adding a little amylase also helps break it down a little more. WVMJ

 

[WoodHokie4]

I was thinking puree them skins and all. As for the sediment I'm not too concerned with the initial load as I would assume it would all settle out. I really just don't know...that's why im asking here.

I read about leaving the skins on vs removing and got that it would lend a more intense banana flavor with the skins on. The only reason I chose to remove the skins on my batch was that I already had the slices de-skinned in the freezer.

As for pureeing, I don't have a technical opinion, but personally, I would think it would make a big mess to have to clean up might clog up the nylon bag and/or siphon.

 

[WoodHokie4]

A quick update on the batch...

I checked on the batch the other day and all the sediment has dropped out and it is crystal clear!

As for the flavor...wow! Crisp and rich and hardly any burn (a little disappointing). I was initially a little worried that 10 serranos was too many.

I will definitely be making a 5-gallon batch of this soon!

 

[Oneoffcustom]

Pics


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[WoodHokie4]

Not sure if the lighting is best for this or not, but its still beautiful