Banana Wine

[firejohn03]

I just started a batch of banana wine. I'm using a recipe found in Terry Garey's "The Joy of Home Wine Making". I'm not to sure of banana's, but it's only a gallon and banana's are cheap. Has anyone ever made a banana wine? Does it drink dry? Do you back sweeten? I guess looking for input as to what I am to expect from this.

 

[dralarms]

I made 2, the first you could run your lawn mower with it. The second actually is very good. But I put a dang bunch of bananas in it. And yes, back sweeten.

 

[Deezil]

I'm not familiar with that particular recipe, but I have made a batch of banana wine; most claim their banana wines don't smell or taste at all like bananas, but I figure that's because they're still using bananas that are full of starches (complex chains of linked sugars), with yellow peels.

As the peels brown, the starches break down into sugars and the sweetness level of the banana will rise; the peels brown because the cells begin to break down and oxidize

There's more on this (a lot more), to be found in my Banana Bochet Port thread, which I'll be covering the making of 10-gallons of, here in the next few months.

My test batch is still aging, and is destined to be a 'Port', so its levels of sweetness and such wont apply much to your wine, but the process of the bananas and what happens to them, might give you greater insight into what you could produce.

 

[BernardSmith]

I'm not familiar with that particular recipe, but I have made a batch of banana wine; most claim their banana wines don't smell or taste at all like bananas, but I figure that's because they're still using bananas that are full of starches (complex chains of linked sugars), with yellow peels.

I made a batch of banana wine - still aging - the bananas were VERY ripe and the peel was black and the wine does not taste like a ripe or an unripe "banana". It tastes delicious, is as clear as a bell although with a golden hue. Perhaps the banana flavor might return in a few months but you could not drink this (IMO) and know that this was made from fermented bananas... but I would be the first to admit that I have a very uneducated palate (In the summer I took a test at Penderyn - the one distillery in Wales (UK) and only managed to identify a very few flavors. One fellow who took the same test hit every flavor. They used numbered glasses and each glass contained essential oils from one source (green apples, cinnamon, etc). We were all asked to smell each one and record what we smelled. It is - for those of us with uneducated palates - incredibly difficult to identify an aroma if you don't have any associated clues of color or shape to help.

 

[firejohn03]

Is it supposed to be a grey color in the primary? Not a very pleasant color at all. My bananas were not black skin ripe, they were starting to get black spots. The recipe I am following called to slice the bananas with the peels and simmer them in hot water for a half hour. Is that to break down those starches? Like I said at least it's only a gallon. Does it have to age long? I like to see that it clears well. Thanks again for all the input.

 

[Deezil]

I made a batch of banana wine - still aging - the bananas were VERY ripe and the peel was black and the wine does not taste like a ripe or an unripe "banana". It tastes delicious, is as clear as a bell although with a golden hue. Perhaps the banana flavor might return in a few months but you could not drink this (IMO) and know that this was made from fermented bananas...

These were regular store-bought Cavendish bananas?

That's odd, my banana wine would knock you over with a banana aroma before you could even get it to your lips, but because my batch is made with caramelized honey as well, it tends to blend into the mix of toasted/caramelized-type notes a bit, although still present.

I'll have to make a regular batch of banana wine, to compare.

Is it supposed to be a grey color in the primary? Not a very pleasant color at all. My bananas were not black skin ripe, they were starting to get black spots. The recipe I am following called to slice the bananas with the peels and simmer them in hot water for a half hour. Is that to break down those starches? Like I said at least it's only a gallon. Does it have to age long? I like to see that it clears well. Thanks again for all the input.

Since I used bananas with black peels, I didn't include the peels myself, but I have done a good bit of reading on people who have done it the way you have, and they didnt have any problems. I do remember someone else mentioning a grey-ish primary, but I dont remember anything about it, so I'm not sure if its typical or not..

The boiling is probably to try and break up those starches into sugars, but this process may also induce changes into the flavors and aromatics of the bananas as well. I had read about this process and decided to go the way that I did, in order to harness the natural flavors of the banana as much as possible, while combining it with the flavors of a toasted/boiled/burnt honey.

I would think like most any wine, this would definitely benefit from at least a year of aging, although I dont remember off-hand what my research said about aging in particular; my gut instinct says its closer to 2 years than 1, but I dont remember specifically.

 

[vernsgal]

Hi John, I did a banana as my 1st fruit wine a year ago. I'm not familiar with the recipe you're following, mine I used apple juice and a vanilla bean in the secondary and have been aging this year. I'm looking forward to trying it because I'm hoping for a Chardonnay type taste. Not banana. I only used about 24lbs of bananas, no peels. It tasted like a chardonnay with a big bite last I tasted (8 months ago) so fingers crossed
also- it cleared crystal clear! I did boil but then I wasn't looking for banana flavor

 

[BernardSmith]

My bananas were store bought. I ripened them on a table and then let them over-ripen in the fridge - hard to think about growing bananas Upstate NY. The color was grey in the primary. It looked awful but I used pectic enzyme before pitching the yeast and bentonite in the primary and the solids quickly dropped. Chardonnay is a very reasonable way to characterize the flavor. I did not add peel although I did add tannin and I did not boil the fruit as I did not want to produce pectin. I did heat some water (I don't have access to my notes at this time but I am pretty sure I did not boil the water) and used that water to make a slurry with the bananas. I have never tasted this but banana beer and wine is a traditional East African drink (Uganda , Rwanda). I think they use sorghum to ferment the juice but I used wine yeast.

 

[firejohn03]

Hi John, I did a banana as my 1st fruit wine a year ago. I'm not familiar with the recipe you're following, mine I used apple juice and a vanilla bean in the secondary and have been aging this year. I'm looking forward to trying it because I'm hoping for a Chardonnay type taste. Not banana. I only used about 24lbs of bananas, no peels. It tasted like a chardonnay with a big bite last I tasted (8 months ago) so fingers crossed
also- it cleared crystal clear! I did boil but then I wasn't looking for banana flavor

Was this a five gallon batch? 24 Lbs of bananas is much more than I used. I was a bit skeptical, so I only made one gallon using three and a half pounds of fruit. What was your ratio of apple juice? That seems interesting. I have never had much luck using vanilla beans in recipes, they always seem to over power the other flavor notes. Could you use extract at a small quantity? Best of luck on your batch.

 

[Deezil]

I have never had much luck using vanilla beans in recipes, they always seem to over power the other flavor notes. Could you use extract at a small quantity? Best of luck on your batch.

Extract the vanilla beans using a nice vodka - this is basically what commercial vanilla extract is, although sometimes they water it down (lessen the quality) or use sub-par beans to begin with (I believe Tahitian or Madagascar beans are best, but don't quote me, i've been up all night)

Then add the vanilla-vodka / extract, in small increments, over time, until the wine brings about the flavor profile you were looking to achieve.

 

[jjobin]

I have 3 gallons fermenting now for 4 days. Caramel color, 4# bananas ripe to me with many brown spots. Used the peel and only heated not boiled the water and sugar. I have read it should age for 18 months. It's going to be hard to wait. 2# raisins. Patiently waiting for my first rack and readings. What should my target be for readings? Anyone?

 

[vernsgal]

Was this a five gallon batch? 24 Lbs of bananas is much more than I used. I was a bit skeptical, so I only made one gallon using three and a half pounds of fruit. What was your ratio of apple juice? That seems interesting. I have never had much luck using vanilla beans in recipes, they always seem to over power the other flavor notes. Could you use extract at a small quantity? Best of luck on your batch.

Hi firejohn. Pulled out my notes on mine. It was actually 20 lbs I used for 6 gal.
I threw in a can of frozen concentrate apple juice and a 1vanilla bean.

Vanilla is always strong it seems. The trick is after adding it taste regularly and when it gets just a bit stronger then you want remove it. It'll mellow out some more with age.

keep us updated on your wine

 

[BernardSmith]

I have 3 gallons fermenting now for 4 days. Caramel color, 4# bananas ripe to me with many brown spots. Used the peel and only heated not boiled the water and sugar. I have read it should age for 18 months. It's going to be hard to wait. 2# raisins. Patiently waiting for my first rack and readings. What should my target be for readings? Anyone?

Is that four pounds in 3 gallons? That sounds incredibly thin. I would think that you would want something like four pounds or more per gallon. For a minute forget about the wine. Imagine that you are going to drink a fruit juice made of 3 gallons of water and 4 lbs of bananas. I think that would taste more of water than fruit. Of course, I may be wrong. But if I am not wrong, there is nothing to prevent you from adding more banana slurry to the secondary and treating the secondary as a primary (so you are simply increasing the fermentables in stages rather than all at once). A vigorous fermentation should return and so you should have no concerns about oxidation if you return the must to a bucket.

 

[firejohn03]

Is that four pounds in 3 gallons? That sounds incredibly thin. I would think that you would want something like four pounds or more per gallon. For a minute forget about the wine. Imagine that you are going to drink a fruit juice made of 3 gallons of water and 4 lbs of bananas. I think that would taste more of water than fruit. Of course, I may be wrong. But if I am not wrong, there is nothing to prevent you from adding more banana slurry to the secondary and treating the secondary as a primary (so you are simply increasing the fermentables in stages rather than all at once). A vigorous fermentation should return and so you should have no concerns about oxidation if you return the must to a bucket.

That does seem to be a few bananas short. The recipe I am following was for 3 1/2 # for one gallon. I tend to use 6-10lbs if its berries, but after looking at three pounds of bananas it sure seemed to be enough. I also wasn't thinking when I pitched my yeast and rehydrated and pitched the entire packet, which I use for 5 gallons. I now have a banana foaming volcano for a primary that is rapidly fermenting. My starting SG was 1.082 and I have already fermented down to 1.040 in two days. Will this effect profiles of the wine at all?