Victorthenazarene
Junior
- Joined
- Feb 2, 2020
- Messages
- 15
- Reaction score
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looking to make a banana wine, how many lbs would you recommend for 3 gals? What is the process of getting a high alcohol content without having my starting gravity too high?
Understood and appreciate the the feedback. I’ll take you advice on the alcohol content. So about 15 lbs of overripe banana boiled on 1.5 gallons of water for 30 mins. Then add the the other 1.5 with enough sugar to get 12% alcohol. What is your take on brown sugar over white? How does the peel make it better?I guess my question is why would you want to make a high alcohol wine? With wine balance is everything and to make a wine that has a high ABV is like running the marathon on stilts. You want a high ABV drink - then steep banana peels in vodka for a month, strain, and add enough simple syrup to sweeten this to your satisfaction. If you want a wine you should be aiming for about 10-12% ABV. Much above that and you are sitting on a two legged stool.
If you want to make the wine from the fruit and not the peel (and I have made both - but the peel makes a better wine , in my opinion) you need to use VERY ripe bananas. By that I mean bananas that are really very squishy, with the peel being very dark if not black. I would use about 5 lbs of bananas per gallon but I would begin with about 1.5 gallons of water because you want to boil the fruit for about 30 minutes to extract the sugars and flavors and a great deal of that water is going to be uncollectable when you strain the fruit.
If you like running on stilts then you step feed the yeast. Begin with about 2 lbs of sugar + the banana liquor and when the gravity has dropped to about 1.000 add another /14 - 1/2 lb of sugar and repeat until you feel that you don't the wine to taste as hot as a spirit or the yeast have quit because of alcohol poisoning... But as I say, you drink wine by the glass. You sip spirits by the shot glass. Very different drinks...
Do you have a recipe for making the banana wine using the peels ?I guess my question is why would you want to make a high alcohol wine? With wine balance is everything and to make a wine that has a high ABV is like running the marathon on stilts. You want a high ABV drink - then steep banana peels in vodka for a month, strain, and add enough simple syrup to sweeten this to your satisfaction. If you want a wine you should be aiming for about 10-12% ABV. Much above that and you are sitting on a two legged stool.
If you want to make the wine from the fruit and not the peel (and I have made both - but the peel makes a better wine , in my opinion) you need to use VERY ripe bananas. By that I mean bananas that are really very squishy, with the peel being very dark if not black. I would use about 5 lbs of bananas per gallon but I would begin with about 1.5 gallons of water because you want to boil the fruit for about 30 minutes to extract the sugars and flavors and a great deal of that water is going to be uncollectable when you strain the fruit.
If you like running on stilts then you step feed the yeast. Begin with about 2 lbs of sugar + the banana liquor and when the gravity has dropped to about 1.000 add another /14 - 1/2 lb of sugar and repeat until you feel that you don't the wine to taste as hot as a spirit or the yeast have quit because of alcohol poisoning... But as I say, you drink wine by the glass. You sip spirits by the shot glass. Very different drinks...
Question: "Step feed yeast? What does that mean? I am assuming adding it gradually, but you didn't indicate the amount of yeast or when it is added?I guess my question is why would you want to make a high alcohol wine? With wine balance is everything and to make a wine that has a high ABV is like running the marathon on stilts. You want a high ABV drink - then steep banana peels in vodka for a month, strain, and add enough simple syrup to sweeten this to your satisfaction. If you want a wine you should be aiming for about 10-12% ABV. Much above that and you are sitting on a two legged stool.
If you want to make the wine from the fruit and not the peel (and I have made both - but the peel makes a better wine , in my opinion) you need to use VERY ripe bananas. By that I mean bananas that are really very squishy, with the peel being very dark if not black. I would use about 5 lbs of bananas per gallon but I would begin with about 1.5 gallons of water because you want to boil the fruit for about 30 minutes to extract the sugars and flavors and a great deal of that water is going to be uncollectable when you strain the fruit.
If you like running on stilts then you step feed the yeast. Begin with about 2 lbs of sugar + the banana liquor and when the gravity has dropped to about 1.000 add another /14 - 1/2 lb of sugar and repeat until you feel that you don't the wine to taste as hot as a spirit or the yeast have quit because of alcohol poisoning... But as I say, you drink wine by the glass. You sip spirits by the shot glass. Very different drinks...
yes that's what it means, it is best to use a hydrometer and as it gets near 1.00 then add sugar and yeast nutrient , EC1118 AND K1V-1116 are the 2 wine yeasts that you can run up the highest 18% to 20% ABVQuestion: "Step feed yeast? What does that mean? I am assuming adding it gradually, but you didn't indicate the amount of yeast or when it is added?
To be clear, you are FEEDING the yeast sugar in a stepwise fashion, not adding the yeast in a stepwise fashion. You add the normal dose of yeast up front. With that in mind, @hounddawg 's instructions should be clear.Question: "Step feed yeast? What does that mean? I am assuming adding it gradually, but you didn't indicate the amount of yeast or when it is added?
dang thanks sour'_grapes i missed pointing that out, thank you for having my 6'sTo be clear, you are FEEDING the yeast sugar in a stepwise fashion, not adding the yeast in a stepwise fashion. You add the normal dose of yeast up front. With that in mind, @hounddawg 's instructions should be clear.
Thanks Dawg.......how is your foot?yes that's what it means, it is best to use a hydrometer and as it gets near 1.00 then add sugar and yeast nutrient , EC1118 AND K1V-1116 are the 2 wine yeasts that you can run up the highest 18% to 20% ABV
Dawg
thank you for asking, i ain't lost yet, i swapped Doctors, i'll fight tooth and toenail kicking and screaming to the end, lol, one way or the other i ain't stopping getting back up,Thanks Dawg.......how is your foot?
you sure that ain't a extra terrestrial mind probe??? lol,, that does look super cool, is the bottom for dropping gross lees into?Cheers mate, Banana plants are like weeds here, all are wild and organic,. I have made 2 batches of orange as they are also cheap and plentiful. Im just looking at ideas for my next batch. I have bought a 7.9 gallon fast fermenter from amazon and want to try it. View attachment 61946
Way to go Dawg.......positive thinking!!thank you for asking, i ain't lost yet, i swapped Doctors, i'll fight tooth and toenail kicking and screaming to the end, lol, one way or the other i ain't stopping getting back up,
Dawg