Im making my first wine.

[Muntzster]

Banana wine.


Thoughts?



I'll tell you how it goes.

 

[sconnie]

i like bananas

i like wine

but i don't know about banana wine

good for you for taking a chance and doing something a little different. i'll be interested in how it turns out.

 

[Muntzster]

I just finished it .

Threw in some orange juice, it tastes awesome, but im afraid it will lose its sweetness when its done fermenting, does anyone know?

 

[Yooper]

Banana wine is really pretty good. After fermentation, the original sweetness will be gone. Depending on the yeast you used, it may finish completely dry. After it's done, you could backsweeten to taste. I'd stabilize with campden tablets (sulfite) and sorbate before adding any sweetening.

How you do it:
After fermentation is complete, you'd add 1 campden tablet per gallon, crushed in a little boiling water. Mix that with 1 tsp sorbate per gallon. Add that to your wine. Wait a few days and then make a sugar syrup by boiling 1/2 cup water with 1 cup sugar in it. When it's clear, let it cool. Put some wine in a glass and gradually add some of that syrup to taste. When it's right, take a s.g. of the sample. Then just sweeten your whole batch to that s.g. That's the easiest way because then you don't oversweeten your whole batch.

I'm going to be doing banana wine this fall when I can't get other fruit. I didn't think about putting orange juice in it- that's a great idea!

Lorena

 

[Muntzster]

Banana wine is really pretty good. After fermentation, the original sweetness will be gone. Depending on the yeast you used, it may finish completely dry. After it's done, you could backsweeten to taste. I'd stabilize with campden tablets (sulfite) and sorbate before adding any sweetening.

How you do it:
After fermentation is complete, you'd add 1 campden tablet per gallon, crushed in a little boiling water. Mix that with 1 tsp sorbate per gallon. Add that to your wine. Wait a few days and then make a sugar syrup by boiling 1/2 cup water with 1 cup sugar in it. When it's clear, let it cool. Put some wine in a glass and gradually add some of that syrup to taste. When it's right, take a s.g. of the sample. Then just sweeten your whole batch to that s.g. That's the easiest way because then you don't oversweeten your whole batch.

I'm going to be doing banana wine this fall when I can't get other fruit. I didn't think about putting orange juice in it- that's a great idea!

Lorena

Thank you so much, does one of those ingredients kill the yeast so it wont ferment out the new sugar- I think my recipe originaly called for raisons and i was doing this off of the top of my head and i thought orange juice for some reason well hopefully it works.

 

[Yooper]

Well, neither of those chemicals truly "kill" the yeast- they just make it so it can't reproduce. So, it effectively kills the fermentation. Sorbate is the real chemical to do this, but it works better in the presence of sulfite, so you have to add them both. Then wait a week or so, because sometimes it'll cloud up on you after the sorbate. It clears again (and quickly), so no problem.

Lorena

 

[hong]

Munzster,
I made a banana wine late last year, ( november ) and it is now bottled and ready to drink. I am trying my best to keep my hands off it for a while though, as it will benefit with more ageing. But it is so hard! It looks lovely, it is crystal clear and very soon i will open my first bottle. Tell me, did you use banana skins in your recipe? Some say it helps with the clearing process. I did, but as itsa only my first banana wine i wouldn`t know if it helped or not. I do know it looks awseome! I will be making lots more very soon.
cheers

 

[Muntzster]

I did i put a single bunch of cut up bananas in a nylon and let that soak in boiling water for thirty mins moving it around then i strained most of it skins and all.

 

[ilikebeer]

i am making banana wine. I was wondering if u think the following recipe will work:

1. boil 3.5 lbs bananas in nylon for 30 mins
2. dissolve 2 lbs sugar, yeast nutrient, tannins, acid blend, etc.
3. once cooled, add yeast. do you air lock at this step?
4. ferment out to for about 1 week, then siphon to secondary fermenter.
5. wait a couple months, then rack and let age

this is the general recipe i am following..

I am not sure if you airlock it during primary fermentation and how long primary fermentation lasts. any suggestions? i am new to wine making..

 

[Yooper]

I have no idea about the recipe you're using, but I do know this: don't airlock your primary. Cover it with muslin to keep fruitflies, etc. out, but don't cover it with saran wrap or a tight lid. It needs all the oxygen it can get during primary fermentation.

Here's a link to banana wine recipes: (Scroll all the way to the bottom):

http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/recipes.asp


Lorena

 

[ilikebeer]

I have no idea about the recipe you're using, but I do know this: don't airlock your primary. Cover it with muslin to keep fruitflies, etc. out, but don't cover it with saran wrap or a tight lid. It needs all the oxygen it can get during primary fermentation.

Here's a link to banana wine recipes: (Scroll all the way to the bottom):

http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/recipes.asp


Lorena

ok thanks. how long do you leave in primary? is there a certain SG level you bring it down to or number of days?? thanks!

 

[Yooper]

It should be in primary until about 1.020, because that's when fermentation begins to slow down and could be vulnerable to oxygen. (Up until then, stir the must a couple of times a day, breaking up the "cap" on top, if there is one.) Rack into secondary, removing all the banana pulp and skins, and leave all the sediment on the bottom of the primary if you can. Then go ahead and use an airlock.

Lorena

 

[ilikebeer]

It should be in primary until about 1.020, because that's when fermentation begins to slow down and could be vulnerable to oxygen. (Up until then, stir the must a couple of times a day, breaking up the "cap" on top, if there is one.) Rack into secondary, removing all the banana pulp and skins, and leave all the sediment on the bottom of the primary if you can. Then go ahead and use an airlock.

Lorena

the "cap" on top would be the floating pulp? i seem to have some settlement on the bottom... should i be mixing this up until when i siphon the wine off from it?? thanks for the advice!

 

[Yooper]

Right, the "cap" is the floating stuff. You don't want it to dry out. You can stir all you want in the primary, but when you get ready to rack it to secondary- let the sediment settle. Syphon it to the carboy, leaving the "lees" (sediment) behind.

Lorena

 

[nissed as a pewt]

Does the cap eventually dissapear on its own or does it need to be removed before syphoning off into secondary? My apple and raisin has quite a thick cap although it does seem to be shrinking.