Banana Wine

[LAgreeneyes]

Has anyone ever made banana wine before?

 

[BernardSmith]

I am making a small batch.

 

[dralarms]

Ive made it twice. First time was nasty (not enough banana) second time taste real good but everyone else says it has too much banana flavor. Since no one likes it I mixed part of it with some strawberry. It sure is good.

 

[LAgreeneyes]

How many bananas are needed?

 

[jamesngalveston]

I have never made any banana wine, but because of the type of fruit, and how much it breaks down, I would guess 8 lbs per gallon...
I am sure someone here will respond,that has made it.

 

[dralarms]

I used 32 lbs in a 5 gallon bucket. Thats 32 lbs of pulp, no skins.

 

[Sammyk]

I have a banana wine going right now. I freeze brown bananas. I had 10 pounds in the freezer, sliced half with skins and half without to make wine. Contrary to other posts I did not boil them first. I pulled them out of the freezer put them in mesh bags and add 1 box of golden raisins in the same mesh bag. Yah I know it is a lot of raisins but we shall see if it was too many. I added kmeta, 12 hours later pectic enzyme as they were thawing and then 12 more hours later Lavlin 71B yeast. I added enough inverted sugar to bring the OG to 1.085. From primary to secondary there was 2.5 gallons after the first racking there was 2 gallons. While it was a little hot tasting at the 2nd racking, we could taste the banana and it was not over powering. In fact, it was not too bad. It is still in secondary. I added bentonite per package directions on the 3rd day of fermentation. At 1.020 it was fairly clear when it went to secondary and we did stir it well before racking. The third racking it was at .99 and very clear.

It is now clear now with about 1/4 inch of lees. I will most likely rack again next week and then age in the carboys for several months. We only use 1 gallon carboys due to weight lifting restrictions.

I am pleased because the bananas would have been tossed in the garbage. We love bananas and buy them 2 times a week and generally add a few more to the freezer every week. We slice them, half with skins and half without.

We already have several more bananas in Zip Lock bags in the freezer and will make more when we have another 10 pounds frozen. We don't eat them once they have mostly brown spots.

I do plan to post the full recipe soon, just have not had time.

 

[jamesngalveston]

do you think you will backsweeten any are leave it dry.

 

[Sammyk]

Don't know James, won't know for many months until it is done aging. We add k-meta or campden every 3 months. We will taste it at 6 months and then decide how we want to finish it then. We will age longer if it still tastes "green" at 6 months.

With over 800 bottles in the wine cellar we don't rush wine anymore because we have plenty of choices that are fully aged and very drinkable.

 

[jamesngalveston]

Sammy, I can not wait till I have 800 bottles aging, that is awsome....
At the rate I am going I should reach that by mid year next year.
One thing I have learned with help from yourself and others is to let it age.....somewhat.. Thank

 

[Sammyk]

James not "some what", for months. Unless you have let it age properly you will not know what you are missing.

 

[Sammyk]

For us it is not getting drunk or even high, it is enjoying the fruits of our labor. Much like a fine meal that one savors. Until one realizes that, they are making wine for the right reason. Sure we love that we can make wine for a few bucks a bottle but until we started making wine, we very rarely even drank wine. I guess that is the reason we don't make grape wine, never really enjoyed the taste. But fresh fruit wine that tastes like you are actually eating a piece of fresh fruit, that is a whole different story.
Our grown daughter describes our peach from 2012 as drinking a fresh peach where the juice runs down your arm. And like us, she was never a wine drinker and likes beer or mixed drinks.