How to Brew a Banana Beer?

[Brewslikeaking]

I am researching my next brew. A banana beer. I am looking for something like wells banana bread beer. Which i find has a huge banana aroma but little bready or banana taste in the body. I also think this is largely achieved through flavoring additives even though it says they also use fair trade bananas on the bottle. I was thinking of adding banana fruit to the mash and dry hopping with banana skins? Does anyone have any experience experimenting with banana flavors? I do not want to use hefeweisen yeast to achieve banana flavors.

 

[xpops]

we've made a banana beer. actually worked out pretty well - we used banana's in secondary; toughest part were floaties in the bottles. We were bottle conditioning at the time and some small flakes of banana made it's way through the bottling process.

we used THIS recipe, except we didnt blend the banana...maybe that would have solved our banana in the bottles problem; give it a shot! was a nice beer!

 

[VV_Wildcatfan]

I would look into Homebrew Allstars. Denny and Drews chapter on Joe Formanek has multiple banana recipes and advice.

 

[woo_pig]

A guy in my club used them in his mash tun. He did a bannna nut bread. Had a pretty good bannana taste

 

[krebs119]

I've done a few....

Early in my brewing I did Northern Brewer's "Pick a flavor" wheat, or something to that effect. They had a wheat extract kit and let you pick the fruit extract flavoring you liked and made a beer. I chose banana and it turned out really good! I seem to remember the kit being very basic (I think it was 100% extract, and some generic hop). I no longer shop at NB, but to each their own.

I also had the saddest beer moment with my recent banana lambic. I brewed Jamil's lambic, let it ferment for nearly a year, and added in like 6lbs of bananas (5gal batch). I kegged it and it tasted great! I let it carb for a week and realized I had a leak in one of my posts and the entire batch laid there on the bottom of my kegerator. I had only had maybe half a pint of warm, un-carb'd banana lambic prior. I was sad.

I recently made the same recipe again and added in around 4lbs of bananas so far. I buy the over ripe ones from my grocery store cheap and add them right in (without the peels).

I would make the extract again - the banana extract tasted pretty good, unlike some of the others I've had.

 

[Brewslikeaking]

I've done a few....

Early in my brewing I did Northern Brewer's "Pick a flavor" wheat, or something to that effect. They had a wheat extract kit and let you pick the fruit extract flavoring you liked and made a beer. I chose banana and it turned out really good! I seem to remember the kit being very basic (I think it was 100% extract, and some generic hop). I no longer shop at NB, but to each their own.

I also had the saddest beer moment with my recent banana lambic. I brewed Jamil's lambic, let it ferment for nearly a year, and added in like 6lbs of bananas (5gal batch). I kegged it and it tasted great! I let it carb for a week and realized I had a leak in one of my posts and the entire batch laid there on the bottom of my kegerator. I had only had maybe half a pint of warm, un-carb'd banana lambic prior. I was sad.

I recently made the same recipe again and added in around 4lbs of bananas so far. I buy the over ripe ones from my grocery store cheap and add them right in (without the peels).

I would make the extract again - the banana extract tasted pretty good, unlike some of the others I've had.

Are you saying you used the bansns fruit itself in the primary? Did you jist throw it right in? I was thinking of how to dry hop with banana or banana peel. But i cant decide how to santize them, dip them in star san(gross) or put them in a ziplock bag and submerge them in boiling water? Thoughts

 

[krebs119]

When using actual fruit, its only been in my lambics, which have been sitting for 6 months in bugs anyway, so I would just wash my hands well, peel the bananas and throw the fruit directly in (no peels). I'm not sure that I would be the lenient if it wasn't a sour beer, but I haven't tried. I haven't ever tried the peels at all.

I couldn't imagine dipping 6lbs of bananas in starsan, and you would need $100 worth of vodka to sanitize that way. Maybe not the best advice, but I'd dip my hands in star san, peel the bananas, and drop them right in if you were worried.

Maybe you can find frozen bananas somewhere? That might take care of the sanitizing too.

 

[xpops]

we essentially made a puree with banana and vodka. that way you dont need nearly as much vodka as if you were just to soak the whole banana's. I think it was only about 2.5/3lbs of banana's we used and got ample flavour from the puree.

On the other hand - anytime i've done a blonde with blueberry, raspberry or strawberry rhubarb...i never worried about boiling/starsan'ing/soaking in vodka. i do always freeze my fruit before hand to break the cellular walls to extract as much flavour/juices as i can - but i'm pretty sure that's not a true method to sanitize the fruit.

I've never had an infection before - but also not saying it may never happen...just a risk i'm willing to take i guess!

 

[brewcat]

What about dehydrated banana in the mash? Maybe use one pound or so.

 

[Brewslikeaking]

we essentially made a puree with banana and vodka. that way you dont need nearly as much vodka as if you were just to soak the whole banana's. I think it was only about 2.5/3lbs of banana's we used and got ample flavour from the puree.

On the other hand - anytime i've done a blonde with blueberry, raspberry or strawberry rhubarb...i never worried about boiling/starsan'ing/soaking in vodka. i do always freeze my fruit before hand to break the cellular walls to extract as much flavour/juices as i can - but i'm pretty sure that's not a true method to sanitize the fruit.

I've never had an infection before - but also not saying it may never happen...just a risk i'm willing to take i guess!

I read a few articles online that refered to freezing fruit as a method of sanitizing before adding to a secondary. Freezing banana peels turns them black unfortunatley so its not very pretty but still may work. If i were to add the banana fruit to a secondary i would probably freeze it first to sanitize

 

[z-bob]

I would puree them and add to the mash. About a third of the carbohydrate in a banana is starch and I don't want to waste it.

 

[brewbama]

You could get banana flavoring: http://shop.greatfermentations.com/product/banana-flavoring-4oz/beer-brewing-fruit-flavorings

 

[Dac Anba]

Hi
Interesting ideas about banana beer, I like to make a beer with only the bitterness of the banana and that the bitterness is on the palate. It possible?

Have you tried using chlorine dioxide to sterilize the fruit? No, sodium hypochlorite.

sorry for my english I from Chile.

Thank you