Banana Wine

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Yooper

Ale's What Cures You!
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BANANA WINE (2) [Heavy Bodied]

3-1/2 lb. bananas
1 lb. chopped golden raisins
2 lb. granulated sugar
1-1/4 tsp. acid blend
1 tsp. pectic enzyme
1/4 tsp. grape tannin
1 gallon water
wine yeast and nutrient
Slice bananas into thin discs, leaving skins on fruit. Put into grain-bag, tie top, and place in 6 pints water. Bring to boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove grain-bag to bowl to catch drippings while pouring liquor over sugar in primary fermentation vessel and stirring well to dissolve sugar. Add acid blend, pectic enzyme and tannin, stirring again. When grain-bag cools, squeeze to extract as much liquid as possible and add liquid and drippings to liquor, discarding pulp. When liquor cools to 70 degrees fahrenheit, add yeast and nutrient. Cover and set in warm place for seven days, stirring daily. Pour into secondary fermentation vessel, fit airlock, and move to cooler place, leaving undisturbed for two months. Siphon off sediment, add chopped raisins, and add water to bring to one gallon. Ferment another four months. Rack and allow to clear. Rack again and bottle. May taste after six months, but matures at two years. [Adapted from passed-on recipe, source unknown, taken from Jack Keller's site]
 
yeah banana wine is awesome, it was made commercially in tanzania when i was there. was around 9% alcohol and cost about 10p(20cents) a bottle.
 
This sounds great! It sounds like a heck of a time commitment for only one gallon though. I've got a 3 gallon bottle sitting around. Maybe I'll start some of this in there.

"Cover and set in warm place for seven days, stirring daily."

I'm assuming this is with the gas lock on. To "stir" can you just swish the fermenting vessel around a bit?
 
Yooper talked me into trying this. I made a two gallon batch tonight.
Take a look at it though! It looks like the stuff I poured out of the shampooer after I cleaned the carpet!
Banana_Wine.JPG
 
Yes, that's exactly what mine looked like! But, I promise it will be a pale golden yellow color and beautifully clear when done. Here is a picture of bottling day at my house (both in the front are banana wine):


bananawine.jpg
 
My nephew did a great one a few years back....I think he one an award for it...the thing was in took a loooong time for it to mellow into something nice, like you said, 2 years...I think we tasted it 1 and it tasted nasty....but a year later it was exquisite.... I actually use it when I make Banana or Plantains Forster instead of the banana liquer, and last Christmas I used nearly an entire bottle (as well as 2 fifths of Jamaican Dark rum) to make several dozen Jamaican Spiced Banana Breads, to give as gifts. They were a huge hit with everybody.
 
YooperBrew said:
Yes, that's exactly what mine looked like! But, I promise it will be a pale golden yellow color and beautifully clear when done. Here is a picture of bottling day at my house (both in the front are banana wine):


bananawine.jpg
Wow! The transformation is amazing! I can't believe that something so muddy could turn out so beautiful.
 
I just racked mine after 3 weeks in the primary. Oops! :drunk:
I fermented it at about 70 degrees for about a week and a half then I forgot about it and the portable heater shut off. It sat at about 59 degrees for the rest of the time. I can't believe how clear it already is. I've got 2 full gallons and it smells very alcoholic with a hint of banana. I haven't tasted it yet because I'm waiting for my sample to clear. I dredged up some yeast when I poured the sample from the primary.
Banana_Wine1.jpg
 
what wine yeast are you using? its so hard to believe that gray sludge turns into this clear yellow gold
 
what wine yeast are you using? its so hard to believe that gray sludge turns into this clear yellow gold

I used Montrachet yeast. It finished at 0.094 and about 12% ABV. I tasted a bit today and I think NASA used something like this to launch Apollo. It was very hot and dry with the smallest hint of banana. I expect the banana to emerge when the hotness mellows. I haven't added the golden raisins yet.
 
I've have the pleasure of receiving a bottle of Yooper's banana wine and I am enjoying it right now.
This is simply beautiful. It is crystal clear and a light golden color. It is very dry and has a bit of alcohol heat. There is a very subtle banana flavor that I'm getting more as an after taste.
Oh this is good! Good and dangerous. It's a good thing I only have a small bottle of it tonight! I really do wish I had more. :mug:
Great job and an outstanding wine!
 
I'm glad you like it, but just a little surprised it's still a little hot. It's well over a year old (probably closer to two years) and I think it should mellow nicely.

You know, you don't have to drink the whole bottle at one sitting, you know!
;)
 
I'm glad you like it, but just a little surprised it's still a little hot. It's well over a year old (probably closer to two years) and I think it should mellow nicely.

You know, you don't have to drink the whole bottle at one sitting, you know!
;)

I bet it will be killer in a year! It's killer now!

Hey, this is perfect on a drizzly dreary day down in my cave. It hit the spot and didn't last long! :mug:
 
ok so i messed up and now i dont really know what to do. I made your recipe with 2 gals and then the very next day i threw out my back...its been in a bottling bucket with lid and airlock for 11 days. i still stirred for the first week but now im wondering if its too late to transfer. I only have a 5 gal carboy free and if i use that im going to have 3 gallons of air. ....do yo think this is going to cause oxidation or should i just leave it where it is?
 
ok so i messed up and now i dont really know what to do. I made your recipe with 2 gals and then the very next day i threw out my back...its been in a bottling bucket with lid and airlock for 11 days. i still stirred for the first week but now im wondering if its too late to transfer. I only have a 5 gal carboy free and if i use that im going to have 3 gallons of air. ....do yo think this is going to cause oxidation or should i just leave it where it is?

It really needs to come out of the bucket. It's not too late to transfer, but it should probably be transferred soon. A 5 gallon carboy (or even a 3 gallon carboy) will not work- you need to have less than an inch or so of headspace with wine.

Can you find/borrow/buy two one gallon jugs? That would be ideal for a 2 gallon batch. Carlo Rossi wine jugs are 4L, and those work great. A #6 stopper fits, and the airlocks fit in there. I have about 10 one gallon jugs, just from drinking that icky wine (it's great in spaghetti), buying growlers, and dumpster diving. Four growlers also will work for 2 gallons, with the same size stoppers. Wine bottles work, too, but they use a smaller stopper.
 
sht....ok. Carlo Rossi's a good idea but i dont have any stoppers. I just ordered some 1 gal growlers from austinhomebrew with stoppers so those should be here soon. DO you think I will be fine until then?- i mean after all theres a bunch of co2 in the headspace right now anyway seeing as how i havent opened it. By the time i get the growlers and transfer it i will be close to 2 weeks in the bucket.
 
sht....ok. Carlo Rossi's a good idea but i dont have any stoppers. I just ordered some 1 gal growlers from austinhomebrew with stoppers so those should be here soon. DO you think I will be fine until then?- i mean after all theres a bunch of co2 in the headspace right now anyway seeing as how i havent opened it. By the time i get the growlers and transfer it i will be close to 2 weeks in the bucket.

It should be ok, as long as the bucket is closed and airtight.
 
turned out ok so far. Very strong. I just added the raisins but im wondering if theres enough yeast in solution to have it ferment again with the addition of more sugar(rasins). Its crystal clear. How long after adding the raisins do you see activity?
 
turned out ok so far. Very strong. I just added the raisins but im wondering if theres enough yeast in solution to have it ferment again with the addition of more sugar(rasins). Its crystal clear. How long after adding the raisins do you see activity?

I don't remember see much activity at all, but it finished dry, so there must have been some!
 
ok, so i started this up on sunday, its now in a 1gal bottle, your directions said "Cover and set in warm place for seven days, stirring daily", i have been doing this but ... when you said cover ... did you mean airtight cover? i put the cap on, but not tightly so it would keep dust and stuff out .... should i tighten it? definitely looks like brown sludge still. OG was 1.081
 
So much for nothing happening. One of the two gallons i had going is crystal clear. The other one is becoming cloudy and all the rasins floated to the surface. I have a decent amoutnt of bubbles off the one and the other very rarly although still present. I cant figure out why one is different. There both from the same batch although the one on the left had a higher degree of water dilution.
IMG_2124.jpg
 
Ok I have a question ( am I a complete beginner so be easy ). You say to mix daily during primary fermentation, but aren't you not supposed to aerate while fermenting? Just wondering so that I can get a better understanding of the whole wine and beer making process.
 
This looks like fun. Do you think I could use a 3 gallon carboy as a secondary fermenter for a 1 gallon batch or is that too much head space?
 
This looks like fun. Do you think I could use a 3 gallon carboy as a secondary fermenter for a 1 gallon batch or is that too much head space?

From what I have read, yes this is too much head space. Why dont you rack intothe 3 gallon, clean your 1 gallon, then rack back into the one gallon and top-up to leave only a little space at the neck?

~M~
 
I just finished mine up and will be bottling it tomorrow. Yes it looked just like dirty dishwater but wow, it's gold now and I gotta tell, pretty darn good. As good as anything I've made from any fruit or kit so far. I'm really happy with the results. A definite recommend to anyone who wants to give it a try.
 
Yooper... Do you by any chance have a 3 or 5 gallon recipe for this wine? I would love to possibly do 1 batch each year and have enough to last through the following year. It just seems easier to have 1-2 5 gallon carboys laying around compared with MULTIPLE 1 gallon jugs.
 
Yooper... Do you by any chance have a 3 or 5 gallon recipe for this wine? I would love to possibly do 1 batch each year and have enough to last through the following year. It just seems easier to have 1-2 5 gallon carboys laying around compared with MULTIPLE 1 gallon jugs.

Sure! Just multiply the ingredients by the batch size. I often do three gallon batches, since I have many 3 gallon carboys. All ingredients are x3, except for yeast. One package of yeast is enough for up to 6 gallons of wine.
 
I weighed mine with the peal. Since the whole banana is cut up and thrown into the pot I think that makes sense.

I really want to try the recipe, but this seems odd to me. You slice the whole fruit, with the peel and add it all to the bag?
 
Have you ever tried this with honey instead of the sugar to make a melomel? I am very intrigued and given the long aging process it seems like a no brainier to me. Also specifically what wine yeast have you used, and if different what differences have you noticed?
 
Have you ever tried this with honey instead of the sugar to make a melomel? I am very intrigued and given the long aging process it seems like a no brainier to me. Also specifically what wine yeast have you used, and if different what differences have you noticed?

No, I've never used honey. It might be really good, but I just don't know.

I don't think I've been too adventurous with yeast- just champagne yeast or a "regular" wine yeast. I've used mostly Red Star and Lalvin.
 
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