Fluffy Lees from Banana

[iVivid]

I've made a Cape Gooseberry and Banana wine. The bananas were frozen so they have broken down; the ferment is about half way (1.040 ish) and smells great. There is tho; this abundance of fluffy stuff (banana) - you couldn't call it pulp - and also I added chopped white raisins to the mix (just for fun, you know). So I have this wine that will probably settle out with about a third lees - is there any way I can compact them as they look like they will not settle well.

I didn't add amalayse, not sure if I should have but I do have some.
Are bananas very starchy?
I do have bentonite, but unsure about adding it half way through?

I do have extra of the must in the fridge for topping up. YAY!
It's only a 5 litre batch, but they are precious Cape Gooseberries and represent hours of picking!

 

[jamesngalveston]

I would not add bentonite at this stage. you have two choices on compacting the lees...one time and lots of it, are super kleer.
sparkolid, are egg whites doesnt compact like super kleer does.
bananna,pear,fig,mango all throw out tons of lees, unless you use pure juice, its the pulp that is extracted from the fruit using the pectin.

 

[iVivid]

Picture worth 1000 words

 

[jamesngalveston]

dang...I hate to say it, but that is some nasty looking wine.
next time, get a bucket and a paint strainer bag, etc...
that way you dont have the fruit floating...
also, if you had that in a bucket and strainer bag, anc squeezed everyday with the pectin, you would all ready have a compact lees...
you got chunks floating...
I would strain out through a pair of nylons,stockings,pantyhose, etc.
good luck

 

[iVivid]

The chunks are the chopped raisins...
Yup, I'll strain it.
I didn't have another bucket, so had no choice but to make in the demijohn.
I've got muslin cloth so will strain.
When should I do it? When it's at 1.000?

 

[jamesngalveston]

either 1.000 are let it go dry.

 

[BernardSmith]

Hi iVivid, I am not certain but now may be the wrong time to add pectic enzyme. Others in this forum are more knowledgeable than I about whether you can safely add pectic enzyme in the middle of fermentation. Me, I think you need to add the enzyme before you pitch the yeast (I think the enzyme may interact poorly with the yeast - but I am not certain). What I would do is pour your wine through a straining bag into another bucket or carboy. Given the fact that there is no enzyme I am not sure that squeezing the fruit is a good idea. The banana is not filled with jucie that you are trying to extract with pressure. You simply want (I think) the yeast to get at the sugars in the banana.
If the fruit is in a bag then I think you COULD add bentonite as that would help encourage the fine fruit particles suspended in the wine to flocculate and drop out of suspension.
When you are ready to rack the wine into a carboy (when the gravity of your wine drops to around 1.005 ) you would remove the bag with the fruit and then carefully siphon the wine into a carboy, seal it with a bung and airlock and then allow the wine to ferment dry

 

[iVivid]

I did add pectic enzyme at the start; just not amalayse which is the one that helps break down the starch, because I didn't think of it at the time

 

[iVivid]

Laughing... when I made this the SG was 1.070 at the start. 3 days into fermentation (yesterday) it was 1.080. Today it's down to 1.070. Oh dear; not sure what to adjust for the amount of solids floating around, or the fact that the raisins will slowly be releasing their sugars... You gotta love this hobby. And this wine smells amazing! I used R2 yeast, so gave it plenty of nutrients and its happy happy wine! It's all boiling and bubbling around so much. It's alive!