Sad Banana Ale

[acidrain23]

I'm creating a beer in honor of my wife's band, Sad Banana. Here is what I was thinking- kind of a weizenbock (or is it a dunkelweizen?)...anyhoo, here it is...

For 5.5 Gallons:
6 lbs Wheat DME
1 lb Piloncillo, or Brown Sugar
3 lbs Wheat Malt
1 lb Two Row
1 lb Flaked Wheat
.5 lbs Canadian Honey Malt
.5 lbs Special B

3-4 lbs bananas in the mash
1 oz German Saaz at 60M

Yeast: Wyeast Weihenstephan 3068

Secondary with 6 lbs very ripe bananas.
Ferment on the warm side.

First of all- how should the bananas be handled? Do they require a boil BEFORE mashing? I'm guessing there should be enough enzymes in the mash to convert any remaining starches- or should I add amylase?

My second question concerns the yeast- I want to above all produce lots of banana-y esters- what temperature should I start the fermentation, and should I bother with a starter? I'm afraid that if I do make a starter I'm going to lose the esters, but I'm also afraid of a stuck fermentation. What do you think?



Cheers, and happy Friday!

Here is what my calculator is predicting, BTW:
OG: 1.086
FG: 1.022
ABV: 8.6% (not factoring in the sugars from the bananas)
IBU's: 15
SRM: 14

 

[rgonzale]

Coincidence, I just polished off a bottle of Wells Banana Bread Beer and thought it was a nice change of pace, so am hunting for a recipe.

My last all-grain came out very sweet due to 30% crystal malts. I'm thinking of using the same recipe with bananas added to the mash, and hope that this will add fermentable sugars which will raise the ABV and balance out the sweetness.

So I have the same question, simply add the (mashed) bananas to the mash?

 

[BaronVonMeisterburger]

I vote for putting the bananas in the secondary or in the primary after fermentation is mostly complete.

Sad Banana Ale? Well, I guess it sounds better than Old Mr. Roasty Pants Porter or whatever you called that beer.

 

[acidrain23]

Hahaha. Yes

 

[rgonzale]

I did my brewing yesterday and threw the mashed bananas into the primary. Moved to another thread to avoid hijacking

 

[spearko520]

i freeze the bananas- that really sweetens them, so i guess the starches are turning to sugar.

 

[acidrain23]

How about the yeast? Starter- yea or nea? Pitching temp? Going for lots of banana esters.

 

[acidrain23]

Any thoughts on the above? Brewin this weekend hopefully!

 

[rgonzale]

I think if you're going to throw real bananas into the primary as I did, then you don't have to worry about getting a banana-like flavor from the yeast/fermentation temp.

Most of the fermentation action in mine is over so I'm going to bottle mine early tonight and will take a taste then. (I'm impatient and always bottle after a week )

 

[acidrain23]

I ended up putting about three 1lbs of bananas in a flameout, and I'm also adding more at secondary. Should be good! One thing has me concerned is that the hydrometer reading was only 1.070, so either i read the sample incorrectly, or my efficiency was extremely poor. I'm still not sure what happened... It should have been somewhere in the neighborhood of 1.084. This is the first time my numbers have been siginificantly off. I may add another lb or two of DME to bump up the gravity.

 

[SoupNazi]

Intrigued! I love the banana flavor from belgian strands so this one naturally caught my eye.

What was your mash schedule like?

 

[acidrain23]

I kept it simple- aproximately 70 minutes around 152F. Still wondering why my efficiency was so low. No matter, I bet this is going to be good anyway!

 

[acidrain23]

Last night I added an additional 6 lbs of frozen bananas (gloop after thawing). After removing the lid to my pail, I was assalted with delicious smells, its already quite banana-y. This is going to be amazing! I just dumped the glop straight in- my current plan is to remove it with a santized strainer when its ready to bottle.

After reading some more threads, I think my gravity was off because I added top off water and didn't stir that well. I'm not stressing about it anyway!

 

[thejakester]

Definitely adding the bananas to the primary fermentation tank is preferable. boiling them in the wort doesnt add much flavor and it produces a lot of trube. I add sliced and ripened bananas to a grain sock to ferment, it makes for easier extraction.

 

[rgonzale]

The grain sock is a great idea. Otherwise the banana goop floats on top and you're faced with avoiding trub at the top *and* bottom of the primary when racking.

 

[spearko520]

My banana lambic has been racked twice and it is still full of something. i am hoping over time, it will settle and the brett will eat it, but i was trying to think of a way to strain it through banana leaves, without making an oxidized mess...