Banana wine update

[BernardSmith]

Started some banana wine in July and it is now clear. I measured the gravity this morning and it was about .992. I tasted it and it is surprisingly (and delightfully) sweet (not sweet as in sweet but sweet for a wine with no residual sugar. Has anyone who has made banana wine before had a similar experience? Is this because there are unfermentable sugars in bananas? The wine IMO is certainly drinkable now but I want to wait until the summer to drink it.

 

[mkjennison]

Looks great! Is there any color to the wine at all, or perfectly clear? Tough to see from the picture but it looks like it may have a slightly tan or yellow tinge.

I would love to try something similar.

 

[seth8530]

I have made meads before that went all the way dry that still tasted somewhat sweat. Not sure if it is residual sugar or perhaps some other compounds.

 

[BernardSmith]

Looks great! Is there any color to the wine at all, or perfectly clear? Tough to see from the picture but it looks like it may have a slightly tan or yellow tinge.

I would love to try something similar.

There is a very definite but very pale yellow hue to the wine. A translucent version of the inside of a banana

 

[jswordy]

OK Bernard, you have the chance here to end a WMT debate because your wine was unadulterated at the end. Does it taste like bananas?

 

[BernardSmith]

OK Bernard, you have the chance here to end a WMT debate because your wine was unadulterated at the end. Does it taste like bananas?

Not sure who gets my vote but my wine does not taste like bananas.
It has a fruity taste but not like berries- more like my apricot wine. It's not "heavy". It's sweeter than the gravity would lead you to believe, It's a little like a sauterne. Has a very pleasant mouthfeel and I can imagine sitting in our garden in the summer sipping this as fire flies glow among the trees. But if I did not know it was made from bananas (and only bananas - no added fruits) then I could not have named the fruit...(but then my palate is pretty uneducated to begin with)

 

[BernardSmith]

Banana flavor in banana wine

On another forum I see that there was some question about banana flavor in banana wine and a number of people there argued that the flavor comes from the peel. No peel , a less intense flavor. I never added peel (concern over pesticides and if the shippers had used any chemicals other than some gas to inhibit ripening while the fruit was being transported), so my wine did not have any overpowering banana flavor

 

[dralarms]

I've got one that tastes so much like banana that I have to make sure there ain't no escaped apes around. Lol

 

[Deezil]

Here's my take on the Banana-thing

The Bochet flavors come across pretty strongly in my Apple-Pear Bochet - almost to the point where theres no apple nor pear... But with the Banana Bochet, the Banana completely overrides the honey in the aroma and it's a definite slug-fest between the two on the palette

 

[reefman]

Bernard,
Can you share your recipe?

 

[vernsgal]

Bernard,
Can you share your recipe?

I'd like it too please!

 

[BernardSmith]

My recipe for banana wine

4 lbs very ripe bananas (ripened on counter and then stored in my fridge for several days
sugar to gravity of about 1.100
pectic enzyme
nutrient and energizer
tannin
acid blend

peeled and mashed bananas. Added sugar and water and heated mash (below boil) for about 45 minutes
allowed to cool
added pectic enzyme
added water to 1 gallon
added 1 t tannin
after 12 hours pitched yeast
after 24 hours added nutrient and energizer
allowed gravity to fall to below 1.005 then racked onto K-meta in secondary.
racked several times between 6/30/13 and 2/17/14
added acid blend for pH of about 3.0
bottled (obtained 3 x 750 cc bottles plus 1 ice bottle ).

 

[Kevin67]

Hello Bernard!
I know it's an old thread but did you ever try this recipe with different yeasts? If so, which worked better for you? Also, I'm puzzled about putting nutrients after yeast and not together. Is there a thread somewhere about this, please? I did do a search but didn't find it. Thanks. All the best. Kevin

 

[chasemandingo]

Ok. Some people might like to acclimate the yeast to the must before adding the nutes. I don't see the purpose. However, it is common practice to use half the nutes and energizer when pitching and the other half a few days later say when the gravity has dropped to the half way point. Meaning half way dry. I do follow this procedure as it prevents the yeast running out of nutes half way through the ferment. Also if you ever forget to add them and the wine is getting closer to dry say 1.04 and below I wouldn't add any as the yeast would most likely not be able to utilizr all of the nutes leaving the remainder for other little nasties that might try to ruin your batch.

 

[chasemandingo]

Wow. I just reanimated a zombie thread.

 

[FTC Wines]

Bernard, Thanks for sharing your Banana Wine recipe. I've been wanting to make one for a while. I do add Banannas to many of our fruit whites for a little extra body, looking forward to a straight Banana Wine. Roy