Banana Cream Ale

[shek]

I've got a bunch of bananas from my backyard and I think I'm going to try something like this (mostly b/c I'm too impatient to make banana wine, and I'm not a fan of hefes). Has anyone else tried this over the last year?

 

[Schlenkerla]

No that I have heard. Make a standard cream ale then wack it with bananas in the 2ndary.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZ2HcRl4wSk]YouTube - You can do it montage.[/ame]

 

[bmckee56]

Bananas are used in wine making and add body to the wine, so I would expect it would do likewise with a beer. The recipes I have encountered in making wine have indicated that you should boil the bananas and skim off the scum that forms on top then cool the mixture and use this in the batch.

I would expect you would have some significant sediment from using raw ripe bananas in your beer, but can not state that in fact. I made up a batch of Chocolate/Banana wine and still have it aging in my cellar. It has been a year now and it is just now getting to the point of being a good wine.

I hope your Banana Creme Ale comes out well and look forward to seeing your sample post soon.

Salute!

Edit: Unripened or under ripe bananas are more starch than sugar. Banana's convert starch to sugar as they ripen. I think this is true, but can't be absolutely certain. It's late and I am at work.

 

[bmckee56]

Can ya tell I am bored at work tonight?

A few good reasons for adding bananas to your beer!

Bananas can help cure or prevent hangovers. The main causes of hangovers are dehydration and depletion of potassium, both direct results of alcohol consumption.

Bananas are an excellent source of potassium (second only to the avocado) with over 450 mg. per one banana serving, as well as being high in magnesium, which can help relax those pounding blood vessels causing that nasty hangover headache.

Bananas also contain tryptophan, the same amino acid found in turkey that makes you sleepy, as well as high amounts of vitamin C.

So, if you're out partying and want to avoid a hangover, drink sixteen ounces of water and eat a banana before heading for bed for a good night's sleep.

Salute!

 

[Schlenkerla]

Can ya tell I am bored at work tonight?

A few good reasons for adding bananas to your beer!

Bananas can help cure or prevent hangovers. The main causes of hangovers are dehydration and depletion of potassium, both direct results of alcohol consumption.

Bananas are an excellent source of potassium (second only to the avocado) with over 450 mg. per one banana serving, as well as being high in magnesium, which can help relax those pounding blood vessels causing that nasty hangover headache.

Bananas also contain tryptophan, the same amino acid found in turkey that makes you sleepy, as well as high amounts of vitamin C.

So, if you're out partying and want to avoid a hangover, drink sixteen ounces of water and eat a banana before heading for bed for a good night's sleep.

Salute!

I will fix this for you!!!!

So, if you're out partying and want to avoid a hangover, drink sixteen ounces of "banana cream ale" before heading for bed for a good night's sleep.

​

 

[Jewrican]

will a 7 gallon plastic bucket be enough for a 5 gallon batch plus the bananas?

I guess i will lose a little pulling the beer of the yeast cake too

 

[Schlenkerla]

will a 7 gallon plastic bucket be enough for a 5 gallon batch plus the bananas?

I guess i will lose a little pulling the beer of the yeast cake too

That should be plenty of space.

 

[Jewrican]

schlenkerla, one more ? for you... can you give me an idea of which hops would be appropriate for a beer like this?

VCCA uses a few - what would you suggest?

1 oz Cascade (6.9%) - added during boil, boiled 60 min
.25 oz Perle (6.1%) - added during boil, boiled 40 min
.5 oz Czech Saaz (5.0%) - added during boil, boiled 20 min
.5 oz Tettnanger (4.5%) - added during boil, boiled 5 min

I will use beersmith to get the IBU you suggested, i am just looking for which types of hops. Should i follow a hop schedule like the one above or add all at once? Hoping to brew this sometime this week... hope my schedule allows for it.

 

[Schlenkerla]

One of the German varieties would be the best choice. They are pretty neutral taste-wise. Target a 18-25 ibu with a 60 min bittering. Thats it.

 

[ramthebuffs]

When making banana bread you should let the bananas go black....

 

[Schlenkerla]

When making banana bread you should let the bananas go black....

We are not making bread! You are in the wrong forum!!!

 

[Jewrican]

i have this in primary right now and am about to move to secondary ( i hope LOL). Is the final gravity BEFORE adding / fermenting out the bananas or after?

if after, what was yours before you racked ontop of the bananas.

 

[Schlenkerla]

i have this in primary right now and am about to move to secondary ( i hope LOL). Is the final gravity BEFORE adding / fermenting out the bananas or after?

if after, what was yours before you racked on top of the bananas.

I didn't check it. I don't think it matters. Make sure to let it sit 3 weeks on the bananas. If you have the extra fermentor, I'd rack it back to one to make sure its all puttered out. No gas passing. FG of 1.008-.012 is prolly about right. I don't know how much sugar gets extracted from the bananas. My beer was good but it was way over carbed. It wasn't quite done when I bottled. I didn't have bombs but I had to vent the beer slowly and let it breath for a bit before I poured the beer.

Definitely use a 3rd fermentor!

 

[Jewrican]

okay i will definitely do that then. I think my fing notty ****ted out on me. I am still at 1.032 in primary at two weeks. I am ticked. I had some s-04 which i pitched last night so hopefully this thing ferments out all the way.

I am an impatient brewer LOL. I dont even drink that much homebrew, but I just like instant gratification. wrong hobby i know lol.

my blonde is running low in my keg, so i need to get another ready and this two week delay doesnt help.

 

[Jewrican]

just wanted to give an update. This came down to 1.016 or so but would not budge. I have some unfermentables in there somewhere... ohh well.. what can you do ??? Anyway I racked ontop of 5 lbs of bananas and the fermentation kicked off again (yet again more proof that it was not the yeast but was nothing left to ferment ).

I agree with you about the lack of crazy fermentation with the bananas. I barely got a haze overtop of them of krausen and never saw a blip from the blow off i setup. I now have an airlock and definitely see activity from it which makes me feel good. It has been on the bananas for a week.. i am impatiently awaiting the next two weeks so that I can rack it off the bananas. I am going to take your idea and let it go to a tertiary and cold crash it there. Then just two weeks to carb this bad boy up.

 

[tom777]

thought I'd check back in on this thread... good to see there's still some interest in the banana cream ale. Mine's getting close to 1 year old now and I still have a lot of it left. Haven't drank any of it in a while, so I probably should put another sixer in the fridge...

Good call on the tertiary -- I did, and it was well worth it.

 

[Schlenkerla]

thought I'd check back in on this thread... good to see there's still some interest in the banana cream ale. Mine's getting close to 1 year old now and I still have a lot of it left. Haven't drank any of it in a while, so I probably should put another sixer in the fridge...

Good call on the tertiary -- I did, and it was well worth it.

Tom - How is your beer at 12 months? Its not something you want to drink as a session. How do you like it taste wise? Has it changed at all?

What was your recipe?

 

[tom777]

Good stuff after 1 year. You're right -- definitely not a session beer. It has a lot of body due to the malto-dextrine, lactose & KreamyX.

The banana & vanilla aroma has mellowed somewhat over time. The taste really hasn't changed too much, but it has "come together" you might say as many beers do with some age.

The recipe is here in this thread (was glad I remembered this -- didn't feel like typing it in ):
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/more-banana-cream-ale-88363/

I'll do this again someday, just not sure what, if any, changes I'd make to the recipe. Always looking for suggestions!

I never did get around to posting those pictures . Mine turned out pretty similar in color to your; maybe just a touch lighter.

After finding this thread again, I just had to grab a Banana Cream Ale from the fridge!

 

[colonial]

Let me resurrect this one from the cobwebs.....I just came across this and I think I will brew it, maybe near the end of the month. looks delicious!

 

[S2X01]

I'm considering it as well!

I think I may want to do a porter, however.

As a baby-brewer still..... can anyone make me some recipe reccomendations to brew an extract banana porter?

 

[jiggs_casey]

just wanted to give an update. This came down to 1.016 or so but would not budge. I have some unfermentables in there somewhere... ohh well.. what can you do ??? Anyway I racked ontop of 5 lbs of bananas and the fermentation kicked off again (yet again more proof that it was not the yeast but was nothing left to ferment ).

I agree with you about the lack of crazy fermentation with the bananas. I barely got a haze overtop of them of krausen and never saw a blip from the blow off i setup. I now have an airlock and definitely see activity from it which makes me feel good. It has been on the bananas for a week.. i am impatiently awaiting the next two weeks so that I can rack it off the bananas. I am going to take your idea and let it go to a tertiary and cold crash it there. Then just two weeks to carb this bad boy up.

Reviving an old thread. I was scouting out a 'banana beer' recipe and ran across this. How did this turn out?

 

[Schlenkerla]

I thought it was ok. My batch was not really a session beer. I added vanilla and it was not dry, more sweet. My beer had a bottling flaw. It was over carbonated and too much yeast.

When I first started home brewing I made several fruit beers. They were not my favorites. Rookie mistakes were the main culprit,or fruit beer is not my thing.

 

[one8tvw]

i have a version of this beer sitting in primary right now chugging away. i will update here my results and recipe, if it comes out alright.

 

[Schlenkerla]

i have a version of this beer sitting in primary right now chugging away. i will update here my results and recipe, if it comes out alright.

Good. Let me know yours turns out for you.

 

[one8tvw]

Update: blow off tube added at 4:30am. The fermentation is vigorous!

 

[Thirstin4aburstin]

I've been thinking about doing a banana flavored beer for a while now when I came across this thread. I was wondering if anyone has ever tried adding banana extract when bottling to achieve that banana flavor. Recently I've been trying to create my own flavored extracts at home (banana, chocolate, vanilla, bacon , etc.). For the banana extract, I sliced up about 3/4 of a very ripe banana and added it to a glass jar with 2 ounces vodka and 1 ounce purified water. It's been sitting for a little over a week now and I plan on filtering the liquid out this weekend. I mix it every day and take a whiff and it smells VERY banana-ee. I was thinking about adding it at bottling. Has anyone ever tried this and had success?

 

[Schlenkerla]

I've been thinking about doing a banana flavored beer for a while now when I came across this thread. I was wondering if anyone has ever tried adding banana extract when bottling to achieve that banana flavor. Recently I've been trying to create my own flavored extracts at home (banana, chocolate, vanilla, bacon , etc.). For the banana extract, I sliced up about 3/4 of a very ripe banana and added it to a glass jar with 2 ounces vodka and 1 ounce purified water. It's been sitting for a little over a week now and I plan on filtering the liquid out this weekend. I mix it every day and take a whiff and it smells VERY banana-ee. I was thinking about adding it at bottling. Has anyone ever tried this and had success?

That would probably work, that's the simple method of making vanilla extract. Vanilla beans from Madagascar and some vodka. Heard of people doing the same with bacon beer.

Now you got me thinking of making a bacon beer.

Been thinking of making some strange beer.

 

[Thirstin4aburstin]

Bacon beer sounds delicious! I got that idea from an episode of Drinking Made Easy where a bar in Vegas makes bacon infused vodka. They take a cooked piece of smoked bacon and stick it in a vodka bottle for a while until it almost looks raw. THAT I'd like to try!
As far as the banana extract, have you heard of how much to add at bottling? The stuff seems pretty concentrated.

 

[DeRoux's Broux]

There's a bar here that does a bacon infused bourbon and makes a drink with it called a Cat 5. kind of like a bloody mary, but with a twist of gumbo roux, local made steak seasoning on the rim of the glass. it's a Cajun/ hurricane thing.

 

[one8tvw]

have you ever tried Rougue's maple bacon porter? its very different to say the least.

if i was going to do a bacon i would probably do about a 1 gallon batch for experimentation.