Banana Wine

[tCan]

I drink 0's so I don't know about back sweetening, but the apfelwein is pretty easy to make and tastes good.

 

[WhoDey78]

This is my first wine and I'm a little confused about something. When making beer, I don't want to remove the airlock, but I'm supposed to stir this daily for a week. Isn't oxidation a concern? Is that just a difference between wine and beer making? Any input would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Sirthomas42]

If the wine is actively fermenting, introducing some oxygen isn't a bad thing. Yeast needs the O2, so a lot of recipes call for aerating the must. With Skeeter Pee, I whip the hell out of it with a whisk a couple times during the fermentation. Once the wine is done fermenting, you don't want to introduce O2. I generally don't aerate after 50% of the sugar is gone.

So, stirring the wine while it's fermenting isn't going to hurt anything. I just made this recipe a few weeks ago, and I stirred it all the time to break up the scum that kept floating to the top (before I racked to 2ndary)

 

[Four]

I couldnt find any golden raisins... so i used apricots! it shouldnt affect the color, but hopefully it'll add some panache!

 

[WhoDey78]

Thank you, sirthomas!

 

[rseckler]

yooper how long did it take your banana wine to get this clear?it has a great color.

 

[Yooper]

yooper how long did it take your banana wine to get this clear?it has a great color.

I don't know- I don't write those details down. Not long, though.

 

[Helly]

I just started two gallons of this, looks and sounds great. However, I realized I don't have any tannin on hand. Any danger in adding it a few days later or skipping it all together? I think I can always hit the LHBS tomorrow if necessary. Doing a little searching to see if I can determine this myself but anyone with experience I'd appreciate your thoughts.

 

[weeple2000]

So I'm a bit of a lurker but I found this recipe a couple years ago, and I didn't read it close enough. I haven't had a bottle in some time, hoping it will improve, but my friend and I used normal raisins instead of golden ones, and the wine tastes a lot like raisins. I bought some golden raisins to compare the taste and they do taste pretty different. Just thought I'd pass along the tip, hopefully someone else can benefit from it.

 

[weeple2000]

Ok guys I tasted it again last night, had a bottle. I believe the last time I tasted it was before we bottled, and that was a while ago. The raisin flavor dissipates over time and it blends well with the banana flavor. So if I made it again I would use golden raisins but with normal raisins it didn't turn out poorly after it aged.

 

[Machalel]

Wow, I somehow never saw this thread before making my banana wine! Weird!

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f25/banana-toffee-wine-315909/

I'm not sure how much of a difference it will make, but I mashed my banana (both physically and chemically a la malted barley), didnt use any of the banana skin, and caramelised the sugar. It was a ridiculously active fermentation, but after it calmed down and I racked it, it's looking (and smelling) very nice!

 

[Four]

Here is my finished product, bottled on Sunday 4/22/12.

This one had about 1lb of golden raisins and 3lbs of dried apricot.

 

[Malarky]

First batch laid to rest

 

[louie0202]

Bought bananas for this last night, going to start a 3 gallon batch....if I have to wait 2 years, might as well make a couple years worth of it. (I assume since I make other wines, I won't drink 15 bottles of this two years...but who knows)

 

[louie0202]

started a 2 gallon batch of this, let you know how it is in 2 years

 

[wickerman]

I'm getting ready to rack mine off of the raisins in a few weeks, and will need to top it off. I thought it said to top it off with white wine, but can't find it in the thread. What kind of white wine should I top it off with?
Thanks,
wickerman

 

[cacaca86]

Does this make 1 gal????

 

[Yooper]

I'm getting ready to rack mine off of the raisins in a few weeks, and will need to top it off. I thought it said to top it off with white wine, but can't find it in the thread. What kind of white wine should I top it off with?
Thanks,
wickerman

I've used sauvignon blanc and pinot grigio with good results.

Does this make 1 gal????

Yes.

 

[Homercidal]

Racked 4 gallons into a carboy last night. The bucket was filled right to the 4 gallon mark so I grabbed a couple of extra containers so I could keep the extra for topping off. I put 4 boxes of raisins in the carboy and filled it up and I had just over 1 qt. of extra wine remaining.

I thought the carboy was a 2.5 gallon, but maybe it was a 3 gallon? There was a fair amount of lees on the bottom of the bucket.

We watched the whole War Horse movie while I chopped those darned raisins. I gotta find a faster method...

 

[CaptainLongneck]

Slap chop

 

[WesleyS]

This thread caught my attention about a week ago, so I decided to put this on my list of things to make next. Well, now I'm committed. I just picked up 15 lbs of perfect over ripe bananas at a farmers market. Can't wait to try it.

 

[wickerman]

I made a 5 gallon batch, any idea around how much wine I'll need to top off with to replace the 5lbs of raisins?

I've used sauvignon blanc and pinot grigio with good results.




Yes.

 

[Homercidal]

Hey...

I racked my second batch (4 gallons) onto 4 lbs of raisins and nothing happened. So I poured a packet of wine yeast on top.

Still nothing...

I'm tempted to rehydrate another packet and try again, but before I do I wondered if there was something stupid I'm not thinking of. There is no airlock activity (glass carboy and stopper with S airlock) and not bubbles rising, no "krausen" (or whatever the wine equivalent is) or anything. The yeast seems to have dropped down on top of the raisins in a small patch.

I kind of expected this thing to start up again like crazy. I bought the yeast back in November IIRC and it's been stored in a fridge the whole time.

 

[Yooper]

I made a 5 gallon batch, any idea around how much wine I'll need to top off with to replace the 5lbs of raisins?

No clues- I never measured or noticed.

Hey...

I racked my second batch (4 gallons) onto 4 lbs of raisins and nothing happened. So I poured a packet of wine yeast on top.

Still nothing...

I'm tempted to rehydrate another packet and try again, but before I do I wondered if there was something stupid I'm not thinking of. There is no airlock activity (glass carboy and stopper with S airlock) and not bubbles rising, no "krausen" (or whatever the wine equivalent is) or anything. The yeast seems to have dropped down on top of the raisins in a small patch.

I kind of expected this thing to start up again like crazy. I bought the yeast back in November IIRC and it's been stored in a fridge the whole time.

It's possible that you've reached the yeast strain's alcohol tolerance. What have your SG readings been?

 

[Homercidal]

No clues- I never measured or noticed.



It's possible that you've reached the yeast strain's alcohol tolerance. What have your SG readings been?

I have no idea. I wasn't planning on taking a reading until the raisins started finishing up. The last batch chugged through so well I figured it would be fine. It's entirely possible that this yeast has a lower limit. I *Think* I used Montrachet for the first batch, and this stuff is Cotes De Blanc.

Hopefully I'll get a few minutes this weekend to play with it. I gotta bust out the hydrometer for my IPA when I add dry hops and I want to check the IIPA that has stalled before I rack to a Fire Extinguisher and add Brett.

 

[Homercidal]

Well I took a reading at lunch. The hydrometer says 1.000. Too bad I don't know what the OG was. I kind of just threw the stuff in a bucket and let it rip.

On the plus side, it didn't taste too bad at all. Lightly sweet and with enough tartness to balance well. I'm not really a wine guy, but I could probably drink it as it is.

 

[WesleyS]

Bananas are simmering as I type. The house smells great. I can't believe I'll have to wait 2 years to drink the finished product, but I have a feeling it will be well worth it.

 

[Chuckabrewski]

Bananas are simmering as I type. The house smells great. I can't believe I'll have to wait 2 years to drink the finished product, but I have a feeling it will be well worth it.

How many bananas did it take you to meet the required amount? I only asked because I have a bunch of frozen bananas and no scale

 

[WesleyS]

How many bananas did it take you to meet the required amount? I only asked because I have a bunch of frozen bananas and no scale

I'm sorry, I wish I could help you out, but I didn't count them. I'm doing a 4 gallon batch. If I was just doing a one gallon batch I would probably remember, but after chopping 15 lbs of bananas I have not even a guess as to how many you would need. Sorry about that.

 

[Chuckabrewski]

Lol thanks anyways