# banana mix wine



## hounddawg (Feb 23, 2020)

132 lbs bananas with skins on, now thawing, 30 lbs granny smith apples now thawing, 35 lbs. jumbo golden raisins now thawing, 10.5 gallons apple juice and 1 quart pineapple juice, once thawed and mixed, will establish SSG, will be adding pectic enzyme, yeast nutrient, checking ph. adding EC-1118 ,
Dawg


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## Wolfhound (Feb 23, 2020)

I’m in the process of saving up my bananas now. I’m shooting for 80lbs for a 5 gallon batch. 

I’m interested to see how yours turns out.


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## hounddawg (Feb 24, 2020)

at anytime i am open to tips and so on,
Dawg


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## hounddawg (Feb 24, 2020)

added pectic enzyme, and turned heat up to 80 degree F, it is still to cold to pitch yeast, i believe by tomorrow i will take must temperature again, once i hit upper 50's EC-1118 should be able to start to work, so come morning i plan to pitch yeast and yeast nutrient, soon as everything gets to percolating i'll check ph level,


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## dralarms (Feb 24, 2020)

hounddawg said:


> added pectic enzyme, and turned heat up to 80 degree F, it is still to cold to pitch yeast, i believe by tomorrow i will take must temperature again, once i hit upper 50's EC-1118 should be able to start to work, so come morning i plan to pitch yeast and yeast nutrient, soon as everything gets to percolating i'll check ph level,




Turn that heater off, dang. Let it thaw naturally.


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## hounddawg (Feb 24, 2020)

dralarms said:


> Turn that heater off, dang. Let it thaw naturally.



no, no, no, i let it thaw slowly, what i meant is now in ferment barrel for 48 hours and it is still to cold to pitch, but i bet you'r still right, i'll let my must warm up slowly, you know if left alone i'd be in a mess, thank you. i just got over anxious to start, i forgot the first rule of good wine patience above all, 
Dawg


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## dralarms (Feb 24, 2020)

hounddawg said:


> no, no, no, i let it thaw slowly, what i meant is now in ferment barrel for 48 hours and it is still to cold to pitch, but i bet you'r still right, i'll let my must warm up slowly, you know if left alone i'd be in a mess, thank you. i just got over anxious to start, i forgot the first rule of good wine patience above all,
> Dawg


The longer it takes to thaw the more juice you’ll get.


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## hounddawg (Feb 25, 2020)

dralarms said:


> The longer it takes to thaw the more juice you’ll get.



one never stops learning even passing is the finale lesson, i knew freezing my fruits & berries broke down the cell walls, and i have always let my stuff thaw slowly, but i never thought about that after thawing letting the must come to temp on it's own, i go in test the top is in the lower fifties, then i stir with my cordless and boom i'm back in the 40's,


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## dralarms (Feb 25, 2020)

hounddawg said:


> one never stops learning even passing is the finale lesson, i knew freezing my fruits & berries broke down the cell walls, and i have always let my stuff thaw slowly, but i never thought about that after thawing letting the must come to temp on it's own, i go in test the top is in the lower fifties, then i stir with my cordless and boom i'm back in the 40's,


Oh yea you can keep it stirred, just let it thaw naturally, you’ll get more juice and a better flavor


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## hounddawg (Feb 25, 2020)

dralarms said:


> Oh yea you can keep it stirred, just let it thaw naturally, you’ll get more juice and a better flavor



more and better is my goal, thank you,


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## hounddawg (Feb 26, 2020)

2/26/20,,, SSG 1.100 ferment started using EC-1118,,, added yeast nutrient, hoping that QT of pineapple and age will smooth any bite, so here i go till must stalls out on me, i stir daily using a cordless drill and a kraft factory stirrer/mixer,,, food grade stainless steel, smallest chuck it will go in is 1/2 inch chuck, gotta get a another battery for my PH tester, hehe,,, always something,,,,


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## hounddawg (Feb 29, 2020)

added 7.5 more gallons of apple juice, ferment is bubbling away PH was 4.7 added acid it is at 3.6 now and will wait till i drain all juices off and press all of the cake at which time i will do any tweets needed, till then i'll just let the pectic enzyme and yeast do their thing, 
Dawg


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## hounddawg (Mar 1, 2020)

my must is bubbling nicely, my SG is down to 1.060 from the SSG 1.100,,, don't know if i'll take my SG back up 0.020. right now i think i'm on track for around a 15% ABV,,, i read somewhere someone went to 18% ABV without any jet furl taste, but i'll probably be good with around 15% ABV, because i want a tasty but smooth wine, that quart of pineapple juice should put a dent in any harshness, that with very ripe bananas 132 lbs, 35 lbs of jumbo golden raisins, and 18 &1/2 gallon apple juice,and 30 lbs granny smith apples should in theory, should make a very light smooth sweet country wine.,
Dawg


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## hounddawg (Mar 3, 2020)

ALL right, no more chunks petic done it's job very well indeed, did not check SC today but by eye she's going very slow now, tomorrow evening i'll rack all must, then collect all the leftover sludge put in paint strainer bags ,, press out the last of my must, give the cake to the chickens, hehe boy the day after that them old hens and roosters will not be in no mood to be messed with,, lol
Dawg


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## hounddawg (Mar 19, 2020)

Still waiting on my press to arrive, although i have got some nice settlement in my must that are air locked in carboys, so i can rack off close to half or better so i'll not have near as much to press, i still cant believe i broke my 1880 press plate in half, it sounded like a 38 going off, i nearly jumped out of my skin, whew, this virus thing has got everything slowed down, and yesterday my brother went to the VA, came home to tell us we had been exposed to influenza type one, so my dad, mom , nephew and my brother and i are on a ten day antibiotic regimen,,, and of course quarantined to boot, i'm a bit more old fashioned then others so i had stocked up on everything for a month supply plus my months food supply, or shorter version i had stocked up for 2 months for all of us,, ahead of the curve, i guess that old saying it true, the sun shines on every dogs but one day or another,,,
Dawg


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## hounddawg (Mar 19, 2020)

be glad to get my press, i only have 3 ferment barrels clean,,,, 2, 14 gallon and 1, 30 gallon, now to seperate my solids from my liquids i'll need both 14 gallon fermenters one for liquids the other for solids, so after i press all into one ferment barrel i can correct PH, SG, then into carboys for bulk aging i need one 14 gallon for a 7 gallon strawberry and the 30 gallon for a 13 gallon blackberry/elderberry mix,skeeter pee port, in the other 14 gallon fermenter for 7 gallons of skeeter pee port , it will be much more convenient , to have the banana aging in carboys, because i want the other 3 ferment barrels going at the same time, i guess i could get off my lazy butt and clean two more larger ferment barrels, but if i do that then knowing me i won't rest till i got 5 ferments going, and i want to keep it down to three ferment barrels at a time, for now anyway,,,
Dawg


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## hounddawg (Mar 25, 2020)

new press slated for today, but i'll have to let it sit for 3 days, i hit every danger level for the virus, i've been locked down for 4 weeks now and on some kinda antibiotics because i was exposed to influenza type one, VA tested my brother now dad, mom, nephew on antibiotics as preventive measures,, patiences in more ways than one, as deep rural as i live and yesterday was virus confirmed 6 miles from me,,, gotta see if sugar back in stock,,,
Dawg ,


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## hounddawg (Apr 16, 2020)

okay, i've let the must set under airlocks till it is like a sludge, i racked off the tops of the carboys into a 6 gal carboy then pressed and strained the must so i now have 3#- 6's,,, 1#-gal and 4#-half gallons, i put some of it in smaller jugs so when i rack i will top off with same as i'm making, i should in time have around 19 gallons of Banana wine to bottle, 
getting old,i'll wait till tomorrow to start two more batches, 13 gallon blackberry/elderberry and 9 gallon strawberry, 
Dawg


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## Johnd (Apr 17, 2020)

hounddawg said:


> okay, i've let the must set under airlocks till it is like a sludge, i racked off the tops of the carboys into a 6 gal carboy then pressed and strained the must so i now have 3#- 6's,,, 1#-gal and 4#-half gallons, i put some of it in smaller jugs so when i rack i will top off with same as i'm making, i should in time have around 19 gallons of Banana wine to bottle,
> getting old,i'll wait till tomorrow to start two more batches, 13 gallon blackberry/elderberry and 9 gallon strawberry,
> Dawg



You know the rules here Dawg.......pictures or it didn’t happen..


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## hounddawg (Apr 17, 2020)

Johnd said:


> You know the rules here Dawg.......pictures or it didn’t happen..


grrr ok i'll have my nephew take pictures and set them up so this computer illiterate can post them,,, lol
Dawg

PS
i will have to get my nephew to show/teach me more on this computer stuff, and Yes i can only type with one finger,,
pictures coming this evening,,,,


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## Johnd (Apr 17, 2020)

hounddawg said:


> grrr ok i'll have my nephew take pictures and set them up so this computer illiterate can post them,,, lol
> Dawg
> 
> PS
> ...



Excellent!! Personally, I’ve always believed that you CAN teach an old Dawg new tricks!


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## hounddawg (Apr 18, 2020)

OK THE DARK CARBOY is the banana i racked off all my banana must carboys, the rest is what i pressed from must and then airlocked


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## hounddawg (May 4, 2020)

the 3 in the corner, the raisins gave it a dark rich color
Dawg


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## hounddawg (May 4, 2020)

3 dark ones in the crner


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## hounddawg (Jun 17, 2020)

racked to night, 
dawg


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## hounddawg (Jun 27, 2020)

banana sampled and set back for bulk aging
dawg


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## hounddawg (Aug 5, 2020)

got worried, my banana wine looked dark brown in carboys , so i racked all 3 of them, very, very deep golden color while i racked, the color is awesome, also all but zip on lees, about 18 more months, then bottle time, very satisfied so far,
Dawg


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## hounddawg (Dec 3, 2020)

added 3 cinnamon sticks and 20 grams of allspice to one of my 3# bulk aging 6 gal,, carboys of banana, in another 6 months I'll try that one to see if i want to do that to the other 2, been started since last February,,, , 
Dawg


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## hounddawg (Feb 11, 2021)

am going nuts waiting to see if the banana or the banana with cinnamon sticks and all spice , which is going to taste best,,,
Dawg


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## beano (Feb 11, 2021)

Sounds like it's time to come over to your house for a Friday night weekend barbeque (large hog) andNaner wine tasting. Could take all weekend...
Been watching this, hope it's all good.
Beano Joe


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## hounddawg (Feb 11, 2021)

beano said:


> Sounds like it's time to come over to your house for a Friday night weekend barbeque (large hog) andNaner wine tasting. Could take all weekend...
> Been watching this, hope it's all good.
> Beano Joe


i got at least 7 racks of ribs in freezer 6 are pork spare ribs and 1 of pork baby back,, , as well as more pork for pull meat, and beef brisket, all farm fresh , a weekend might not be long enough, i ain't stingy ,,  
Dawg


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## hounddawg (Mar 15, 2021)

ok racked 58 bottles half banana and the other half,,, cinnamon-all spice banana, for my brother, the banana was FG 1.040 and spiced banana was FG of 1.030, both are no doubt are dessert wines, now i still have a 6.5 gallon for me, I'm' going to add 1 stick cinnamon, and 5 grams all spice, after about a month soak, I'll rack mine to a lower SG don't know yet my guess would be SG OF 1.000 to 1.010ish ,, my brother don't drink much, and he wanted a dessert wine, shoot I'd have to be eating sweets lol,, but the banana flavor stands out in both,,,
Dawg


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## hounddawg (Mar 17, 2021)

funny . i make wines that are not sweet to me ,, but banana takes the cake for me, I will be crafting mine to more inline with what you traditional vintners make, elderberry, blackberry at a SG of 1.040 is not sweet to me, but this last batch of banana ,, was beyond the pale for me, the way i got it figured is you traditional vintners has to make grape into something, but for me country wines are much simpler because you try to keep said flavor but with alcohol. with what I've read about grape vintners,, i find it hard to believe someone figured wines hundreds and thousands of years ago, the few batches of banana never came off like this batch, but i did tweak this one very differently..
Dawg


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