Banana wine

[veikos]

Hi Everyone,

Once month ago I started a batch of 1 gallon of banana wine using the Dwarf Cavendish banana cultivar.

The recipe followed was :
1.2 kg of ripe Cavendish banana
800 gr of granulated sugar (I don't know what was the SG at this point)
Juice of 2 ponkan orange (with zest)
Juice of 1 lemon
1/2 cup of raisins
Lalvin 71B-1122

No campden at this time.
I started on the 20th of August
After 7 days in the a a 1.5 gallon bucket, I transferred it to a gallon carboy.
The fermentation continued for at least 3 weeks and slowed to totally stopped last Friday.
At this time (this morning ) the SG is around 1.000 / 0.99 something (sorry I didn't get my coffee at this time and was rushing to work).
there is a good 1.5 cm of waste at the bottom.
It taste dry but yeasty.

Is it the good time rack ? or should I wait more ?
At this point should I add 1 campden tab ? Of later before bottling ?

Thanks in advance for your answers
Have a great day!

 

[Arne]

Check your s.g. for 3 days running. If it stays the same, the concensus here is the wine has finished fermenting. Rack off the lees and add the campden tab. You may add sorbate at this time if you are going to backsweeten. Let the wine sit in the carboy to clear, or add finings to help it clear faster. When clear, you can sweeten, wait a couple of weeks to be sure it doesn't referment and bottle. Good luck with it, Arne.

 

[veikos]

Thanks arne for your answers and advises. In case I cannot find sobate - where i'm leaving i can only rely on internet ... so it take long to get my orders, is there any substitute to sorbate or technics ?
Thanks!

 

[robie]

Thanks arne for your answers and advises. In case I cannot find sobate - where i'm leaving i can only rely on internet ... so it take long to get my orders, is there any substitute to sorbate or technics ?
Thanks!

Sorbate is used when one wants to sweeten a wine, so the wine will not start fermenting the added sugar. Sorbate does not kill the yeast, but stops them from multiplying. Stabilizing a wine, which is to be sweetened, includes sorbate and sulfites.

It's hard to get things like sorbate in the Philippines, I imagine. Sorbate is used in many food products, so you may be able to find it.

If you can't find it, you will have to keep the wine cold in the refrigerator and drink it fairly quickly. If it warms to anywhere near room temperature, it can easily start fermenting that added sugar and blow the tops off your bottles (or explode the bottles, themselves!). Be sure to add the right amount of sulfites (campden tablets).

 

[Thig]

At this time (this morning ) the SG is around 1.000 / 0.99 something

Have you added any sugar/sweetener since the SG dropped to .99? If not, then why not wait until you get the sorbate before you backsweeten it. It will not restart the fermentation without more sugar.

 

[veikos]

Thanks Robie, I think I can find that on some chemical/medicinal supply shop, but will only go there on week end. will it be ok to postpone the racking to the week end ?
BTW I read on some other site that acid ascorbic (vit C) can be used as subtitute ... is this a myth or more a real fact ? in case of real fact, how efficient it is ? - I guess if almost everyone is using sorbate, there is a good reason ....

thanks !

 

[Arne]

I don't know about adding a acid to stabalize. Never heard of doing it that way.
Another option if you can't find sorbate is to bottle your wine dry. When you want a glass that is sweetened you can just add a bit of sugar to it.

 

[dessertmaker]

Jack Keller has a great article about stabilizing and finishing your wine.

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

 

[saramc]

Ascorbic acid is commonly used at bottling especially with white wines....it is considered an antioxidant but it is not a substitute for SO2(Campden/k-meta) or sorbate. If you are not able to access sorbate and seriously need to bottle wine you can use an non-fermentable sugar like stevia or even sucralose. But since your wine has not been racked off the lees just yet (and it does not indicate if wine is clear yet) you can hold off on stabilizing with Campden/k-meta + sorbate.
BUT, you say you started this wine back in August and have not yet dosed with Campden....it is likely protected by a layer of CO2 but you should dose it with SO2 soon. If you will be racking this weekend, just add your SO2 into the bottom of the clean, sanitized carboy you will be racking to and you are good to go. And dose once a quarter until you bottle. When ready to back-sweeten (wine is clear, degassed and no longer dropping sediment--those are my requirements) you need to use SO2 plus sorbate together, document S.G., apply airlock and wait 7-10d to ensure refermentation has not started (check S.G.); if no fermentation and you want to bottle you should rack one final time as there is likely a fine layer of dead yeast cells, and then bottle (or bulk age--dosing with SO2 every 90days).

Just my two cents.

 

[veikos]

@saramc, thanks a lot for your answer, I'll follow first your advise and rack it with SO2 over the week end.
Thanks for the link dessert maker !
@Arne, thanks, worst case scenario i'll do that !

Have a great day and thanks for your answers