Fruits beers?

[VicRamos]

Hi, im practically new at this, im from venezuela and wanted to try making some beer (things are getting kinda expensive here so i think to myself why not? surely it may be cheapier than buying one and i can have fun trying new stuff) so i started looking for simple recipes, not so much ingredients and a simple process and so i found the lubisi recipe, the african banana beer, it look simple, smash bananas till extract their juice, add 1/3 of water to the juice, 1/12 of ground and toasted sorghum and let it ferment (or fermentate? my english it is not so good, lol) for 24 hours and filter it in a strainer.

my questions are before starting to make it, as i read, bananas have natural yeast but in case smashing the juice out its too hard and i decide to boil the fruit with water to extract the juice, i would have to buy some yeast to add it after, that would change the flavor?

and i was thinking, just like it can be done kinda simple as that, it could be done same way with another sweet fruits as mangos?, pineapples?, watermelons? it could be done? it would change anything in the making as the ferment time or something?

 

[RPh_Guy]

It sounds like you're interested in making fruit wines (also known as "country wines"), not beer. Beer is made from malted grains, typically mainly barley.

I'm not sure of the purpose for the sorghum. I looked at the banana "beer" a while ago and came to the conclusion that it required specific blend of banana varieties that I don't have.

Wine can be made with the juice from basically any fruit.
Wild yeast can be used but the flavor is unpredictable.
You'll want to learn more about winemaking if that's the course you want to take.

Your English is very good! ¡Bienvenidos y buena suerte!

 

[madscientist451]

I looked up homebrewing in Venezuela and found out that barley and hops are difficult to get there so fruit beer may be your best choice.
However you may be able to get wheat or rye and malt that yourself.
Apparently, people homebrewers are turning to illegally selling their brew to make a living. Here's an interesting article:

https://munchies.vice.com/en_us/art...r-is-brewing-a-massive-following-in-venezuela

And the AHA has a link to a homebrew competition in Caracas along with contact info. Getting involved with a local club may help you find ingredients and see how other brewers are using available ingredients.

https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/events/copa-amateur-alianza-cerveceros-de-venezuela/

 

[VicRamos]

It sounds like you're interested in making fruit wines (also known as "country wines"), not beer. Beer is made from malted grains, typically mainly barley.

I'm not sure of the purpose for the sorghum. I looked at the banana "beer" a while ago and came to the conclusion that it required specific blend of banana varieties that I don't have.

Wine can be made with the juice from basically any fruit.
Wild yeast can be used but the flavor is unpredictable.
You'll want to learn more about winemaking if that's the course you want to take.

Your English is very good! ¡Bienvenidos y buena suerte!

i already know the winemaking process buts its kinda long, sorghum its a grain just like barley, i have barley too but in the recipe for the lubisi it said to use sorghum, but i do have to learn about malting, i will try first making the banana beer recipe before getting more into it, i may try it with barley but anyways i wanted to know if the same process could be use with another juices as pineapple or watermelon, but i think that i will have to discover it myself.

but what happen if the grain isnt malted? i noticed that in lubisi beer they dont malt the grain, well not the entire process, they just ground and toast, but they dont germinate the grain nor the another steps

 

[El Nino]

Sounds interesting, banana beer? Let us know how it comes out

 

[VicRamos]

I will buy today some bananas and maybe a pineapple and i have a mango tree in my backyard and it have ripe mangos now. i will try the lubisi recipe but making some experiments, in a jar i will try the original recipe with the sorghum, in another, with barley (though i wont malt it completely to follow the lubisi recipe, just ground a toast it) and will try the same with the pineapple and mango, my principal issue about this is if gonna ferment in 24 hours just like the banana, but well, in a day or two im gonna know. as i see its like the process of making country wine, i dont know if the grain somehow accelerate the ferment along the hot weather here.

 

[TGFV]

What type of banana? Sweet or plantain?

For plantain bananas, they can work great as a source of carbohydrates to ferment but they need either enzymes (traditionally from being chewed by the brewery or modernly by either diastic grains or added alpha amalayse).

For yeast, try to find a local Homebrew supply store, but failing that, bakers yeast can be used for surprisingly good results (especially in regards to consitency between batches).

 

[RPh_Guy]

"Sorghum is added to improve the color and the flavor of the beer"
https://www.gourmetsleuth.com/recipes/detail/african-banana-beer

I have a hard time calling it beer but it does sound really interesting.

 

[VicRamos]

So, it would be more like a fermented fruit beverage that ressemble somehow a beery flavor?

 

[RPh_Guy]

Yes, you got it.

 

[VicRamos]

that recipe took my attention cuz its quick to make, i found another recipe of something like a country wine that it supposed to take 2 weeks to get done. there are another recipes that are considerable quick to make?

 

[RPh_Guy]

This hobby generally rewards patience.

If you want some country wines done fast I think the best method would be to ferment juice down to a specific gravity of 1.010 to 1.020 (still fairly sweet) and then refrigerate to halt the fermentation. It'll be ready to start drinking immediately once cold. Depending on the juice and other factors it may only take 1-2 weeks and should taste pretty good.

 

[VicRamos]

I have some plans of leaving country if things get worse here, because of that i prefer kinda fast recipes, when i have certain of stay in one place i can start trying slower stuff, but for now you have been of many help