bananas in brew

[fishman783]

Hey wanted to get everyones thoughts and experiences with using bananas in brewing. At what point did you add to the boil how much actual fermentables should I expect to get etc... thanks for the input

 

[doctorRobert]

I don't think you would get any flavor. And not a whole lot of fermentables, bananas aren't that sweet.

What kind of beer? You could make a simple dunkel weizen, and ferment high to have a banana flavor.

 

[jafo28]

I'm not sure of the procedure, but a friend of mine, actually the guy that got me into home brewing used banana in an american wheat. The flavor was very subtle but you new it was there, very tasty.

 

[dcp27]

And not a whole lot of fermentables, bananas aren't that sweet.

actually, surprisingly bananas have one of the highest sugar contents of fruits. each lb will give you about 6ppg

http://www.thepaleodiet.com/nutritional_tools/fruits_table.html
http://brewery.org/library/SugAcid.html

 

[fishman783]

That's what I thought too...I think I will let them ripen until they get black spots and puree..not sure how much to add so I will go with 2 or 3 pounds for a 5 gallon batch

 

[schweaty]

If it's banana flavor you are looking for I would use a hefe or belgian yeast. Both can potentially produce a lot of those type of esters.

 

[SurlyLeprechaun]

You'll get more flavour/aroma if you add the fruit to the primary or secondary fermenter.