Banana question

[Reilly]

Might be a newbie question but..... what exactly does adding banana to the must do for the wine??

 

[Deezil]

It adds an amount of body/mouthfeel.. A bit of viscosity, giving wine more substance than you'd find in regular juice

Also has some minerals and nutrients in it, that the yeast probably find favorable (just theory, not a fact i can back up)

 

[Polarhug]

I add for extra body. I also added 3 bananas to a straight blueberry wine I have fermenting as I heard blue's can be super slow or get stuck fermenting. It's bubbling along happily.

 

[jswordy]

+1 on the yeast nutrients. If I bag banana segments, the amount of activity around the bag is usually awesome.

BTW for those just starting out with bananas, all you need do is cut them up into 1-inch chunks. Leave the skin on.

 

[BernardSmith]

Bananas contain tannin (that's what makes your mouth pucker if you eat one that is not quite ripe). If you add bananas to improve mouthfeel or for nutrients for the yeast does anyone know how much tannin a banana typically contains? If I add bananas should I forgo adding tannin? Is it the tannin from the banana that we experience as improved mouthfeel? is it better to add unripe or fully ripened bananas? And how many bananas per gallon is a good rule of thumb?

 

[Elmer]

I just read a receipe for a chilli wine.
One step called for 3 banannas
"3 bananas ( and chopped skins) boiled and strained discard solids"

There was no other direction on how much water to boil them in, etc.

Cant you just put in a bag and toss in?

 

[shoebiedoo]

+1 on the yeast nutrients. If I bag banana segments, the amount of activity around the bag is usually awesome.

BTW for those just starting out with bananas, all you need do is cut them up into 1-inch chunks. Leave the skin on.

and If you need something to Slice that baby up, jswordy can hook you up!!!!!!!

 

[jswordy]

LOL @ shoebie!!!

Here ya go...

http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/f19/ba-hahahaha-read-reviews-37814/

 

[saramc]

Bananas contain tannin (that's what makes your mouth pucker if you eat one that is not quite ripe). If you add bananas to improve mouthfeel or for nutrients for the yeast does anyone know how much tannin a banana typically contains? If I add bananas should I forgo adding tannin? Is it the tannin from the banana that we experience as improved mouthfeel? is it better to add unripe or fully ripened bananas? And how many bananas per gallon is a good rule of thumb?

An old, old winemaker from Costa Rica told me that he will use four ounces of super ripe banana peels, minus stem and bottom, in place of adding 'additional tannins' per gallon of wine; but he stressed you really need to be familiar with your must, because not all must needs additional tannins. He says the peels are preferred to be uber dark, blackened, removed from the flesh of the ripe banana which is soft, becoming translucent but shows no signs of dark spots. Cover the banana peels (which you can rough chop, cut into strips, leave whole) in just enough boiling water to cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Strain the banana peel soup and there you go--a fabulous tannin base, a great nutrient base, and you should find that your wine may even clear easier than normal.
He said if he wants to add body to the wine he will use two or three medium sized peeled bananas, which were described a few lines up, per gallon. He just chunks the super ripe bananas, adds water to cover and simmers for 20 minutes, allows to cool to body temp then strains and adds to must BEFORE he adds any other sugar to the must. He said the polysaccharides are well extracted via this method, and he prefers the 'soup' method instead of simply adding bananas to the must--unless he is making banana wine.
Raw, unripened bananas are not used because they are loaded with unfermentable starches at that point and the wine simply will not clear.