# Banana Sherry



## Dend78 (Sep 28, 2012)

I saw this posted in another thread and it hit a nerve and here we go

4 gallon batch

12-14 pounds ripe banana's 
5 tsp Acid Blend
1/8tsp K-meta
12 cups granulated sugar (ran out adding more tonight)
2 2/3 cups brown sugar (ran out adding more tonight)
yeast nutrient



added 18 cups of water to large pan, cut up banana's left some skins put in the water simmered to break up alot of the banana chunks. Added all other ingredients to primary. once the banana muck was broken down fairly well I poured the mixture into the primary as well and stirred.

At this point I will add more sugar as I am looking to get somewhere around 14%, and water to top it up to 4gal mark, I will then be adding in EC-1118 to the mix re hydrating before adding to primary. Final starting gravity will be posted above once i have it set.

While this was in the works I got my 5 bottles of Brandy, a large SS stock pot and about 5lbs of banana's (peeled) tossed in the banana's and added the brandy. I will let this sit until I reach the 14% abv then add it all into the primary, smashing the banana's to extract all of the juice. at this point I will add my airlock and snap down my lid letting it sit for a few days to let the dust settle then racking.


----------



## saramc (Sep 29, 2012)

What is the volume of each bottle and alc content on the brandy you are using?
With the addition of the brandy, what will the final alc content be-assuming you add it when the ferment is at 14%?
Wouldn't this be more of a port-style wine instead of a sherry?
I think I have the same recipe in my "to try" file---I used equal amounts brandy and puregrain, added bananas and popped the sealed jar in the refrigerator. So my fortifying banana flavored liqueur is doing a cold extraction. Have not even started the wine yet--waiting on this last bunch of bananas to ripen up.


----------



## Dend78 (Oct 1, 2012)

well after further inspection of a "port" and a "sherry" i believe im going to have to call this a "shport". I will be going for the dark caramel color brought on by allowing the wine to oxidise like a sherry, but i will stop fermentation around 14% (like a port) then adding in 5 750ml bottles of brandy taking me up to around 19-20% or just slightly over that.

as of right now this stuff has a foam head on it so thick you could serve it like pie  smells very good only issue i am having right now is getting a good reading with my hydrometer.

lesson learned here - use a nylon mesh bag

i put the hydrometer in it settles in, take a reading wait 30 seconds and then look again the hydrometer raises up and its at .010 higher than it was to begin with. this makes me question my initial gravity reading which i was shooting for around 1.140-1.145 ish and i ended up a little high around 1.150. I plan to add the brandy around 1.040.

I assume with the addition of the brandy the extra sugars will dilute down some but again I am just assuming here. The brandy I am using is 40% or 80 proof.


----------



## roadwarriorsvt (Oct 1, 2012)

If you're concerned about dilution, consider using 150 proof Everclear. You could use about 2/3 less so less dilution.


----------



## Dend78 (Oct 1, 2012)

im actually hoping the brandy will help tame some of the sweetness down, because where its at and where it will end up at if i stop it at 14% will still be pretty high sugar, like it will be around 1.040ish which is pretty high then factor in the 10-15g per L of sugar in the brandy. which makes me think i may need to push the limits on the EC-1118 and take it closer to 15% before adding brandy.

which should take this up to around 21% if my calcs are correct because i have 5 bottles of brandy with banana's soaking in it as we speak, which i have to say smells really darn good!!



 10/2/2012

did a check and stir, 1.125 and it looks like its boiling, this is my first heavy froth ferment all others have been lame at best in comparison


----------



## saramc (Oct 3, 2012)

I just pitched my yeast around 12 today and it was bubbling by 3p and is currently boiling to the extent it is lifting the straining bag up. Smell is amazing. I started soaking my banana slices in equal amounts of E&J VSOP and Everclear last week on the countertop, placed the container in the refrigerator after bananas started to show first signs of darkening then removed the bananas after 3d in refrig, strained the sediment and loaded back up with bananas again and put this immediately in the refrig, topped up with equal amounts brandy and Everclear again.
I used 2# brown sugar and 1/2# honey initially/gallon, put banana soup thru a DOUBLE LAYER (inner is fine, outer is medium) straining bag and my O.G. is 1.092. I will step feed it (1/2 cup brown sugar/gallon when O.G. has dropped by 1/3, document S.G. and repeat this 2 more times, each time when new S.G. has dropped by 1/3, oh and one of these feeds may be with honey); this should give me a "new" O.G. of 1.122. D-47 has an alcohol potential of 14%, so I could potentially reach alcohol toxicity with this O.G. since there is always the +/- (more the plus). We will see.


----------



## mayberry (Oct 3, 2012)

I'm excited to see my recipe re-imagined! Keep us updated, for sure. Also, that's a LOT of brandy you're adding! I upped my ABV by coaxing my yeast to 18% ABV and then using the brandy to bump it up. What factored into deciding on that quantity?


----------



## Dend78 (Oct 4, 2012)

i followed the information i got from here

http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/f5/fortification-question-33933/

i thought that was a lot of brandy myself but we shall see, i gave it another stir last night, the cap on this stuff is crazy thick, like 3+ inches thick, i may start going for 2 stir sessions per day i dunno. i will keep you updated on how this turns out.


----------



## robie (Oct 4, 2012)

Dend78,

How do you get and control the amount of oxidation necessary?

I had something interesting happen. About a year ago a friend gave me a bottle of port from a kit she had made. We drank about 1/4 of the bottle. It was OK. The wife put a temporary cork in it and it somehow got stuck in the back of a high cabinet. 

About a year later we found it and would have thrown it away but we decided to try it. It was very oxidized but it tasted really different and good! It had gone bad but somehow back, through some sort of cycle, to being exceptionally good again. I have never tried a sherry, but I assume that is what it had become. (If that's what sherry tastes like, I do believe I should like it.)

There is a wine called a madiera. It is still made, at least for cooking, but it was a very popular drink years ago. It also has gone through the oxidative process until it is completely changed. They set the barrels of it out in the sun, with the bung open and leave it this way for years. That's about all I know about it.


----------



## Dend78 (Oct 4, 2012)

well, im no expert to this at all since its my first try, but my plans are to rack to a carboy and let it sit under airlock. i have a 6gal carboy im at 4gal now once i rack it off the lee's i will be a little short of 4gal lets say 3.9gal then add the addition of the brandy which will be about 1gal so just under 5gal in the carboy and i wont top it up. I will let it clear like this for a few months then rack again, and leave it. I plan to continue this process until I see a color I like and the flavoring I enjoy. Of course I will have to keep a constant test dg) on this every few weeks to make sure its progressing along as planned, its good to be the guinea pig


----------



## saramc (Oct 4, 2012)

Oh Madeira is definitely for drinking, it ranges from dry to dessert to cheaper ones that have salts/peppers adding that are used for cooking. Taking a cruise in the Spring and Madeira Island is one of our ports of call!!


----------



## robie (Oct 4, 2012)

saramc said:


> Oh Madeira is definitely for drinking, it ranges from dry to dessert to cheaper ones that have salts/peppers adding that are used for cooking. Taking a cruise in the Spring and Madeira Island is one of our ports of call!!



I read a lot about the madeira made in the past. The only ones my local liquor store carries are for cooking, though. It would be fun to someday taste a really good one. That stuff can last for decades!


----------



## robie (Oct 4, 2012)

I suppose that much air space will allow some oxidation. I wonder if you should open it up to the air at anytime and if so, for how long. 

I have never done anything like this before, but am very interested. Keep us informed about how it goes and how long it takes to get it where you want it.


----------



## Dend78 (Oct 4, 2012)

i didn't give the aging as much thought up front but I believe once i have racked i may remove out about 1/2 gal more to one of my 1gal glass carboys then store my carboys at an angle to produce more head space allowing for a greater farea. im obviously not going to make it to 3+ years on the aging because well i will say my will power in this has gotten better but not that good hahahah

plus i dont have enough carboys to keep something like that going unless i used each of my 1gal carboys....hmmm i may need to design a rack system for holding these guys to produce the largest surface area for flor without leaking out. this would produce flor wouldnt it?


----------



## Dend78 (Oct 4, 2012)

here is something else as i research "flor" in order for flor to form properly the wine needs to be between 14-16%, so if that is true how does one make Oloroso which is typically between 18-20%?



 10/3/12

Punched down the cap took some pics will post those later on, 1.100 is where im sitting, i need to compare my notes but i believe this is moving faster than my apple pie wine. i posted in another thread that I was still looking at thick brown soup but last night it was much thinner, and the color is much lighter tried to get some color pics as well.



 10/5/12

Punched down the cap again 1.085

 10/7/12

Punched down the cap like normal looking at 1.080


----------



## Dend78 (Oct 9, 2012)

pics as promised























Gravity this morning 1.070


 10/14/2012

1.060


 10/17/2012

1.060 again today, im going to keep this in primary for a bit longer until my flor yeast makes it in at which point i will transfer to secondary and pitch in the flor, there is still plenty of sugar left which makes me wonder why this isn't fermenting any further than it is, im still seeing CO2 and hearing it working when i remove the lid (loose lid with airlock hole in it)


----------



## saramc (Oct 18, 2012)

Started mine on 10/1 and transferred to carboy/airlock when SG had dropped by 2/3, was icky opaque yellow brown.....on 10/15 that carboy was clear and bright yellow in color. Still has some clearing to do, almost there....but am I amazed at the color transition. I was sure since I used "banana soup" and the pulp in straining bag (and you know how bananas turn) that there was no way this would be yellow. Plus, it smells SO good. Will take a S.G. next time I think about it just to see where it is (after all sugar additions I had an O.G. of 1.122)


----------



## Deezil (Oct 18, 2012)

This thread has me drooling...

If i didnt have 3 different ferments going already, i'd be off to buy some bananas..

I'll be paying attention with baited breath

I'll probably get around to this, in a few months


----------



## Dend78 (Oct 19, 2012)

nice!

i dont fully understand mine, i see it making bubbles, but yet my gravity hasnt changed in several days i checked it again last night still sitting at 1.060 you can see bubbles and hear it working. the smell is awesome!!!! the taste is different than i expected but the young alcohol is way way strong, i get the acid taste in there and some sweetness but the alcohol over powers everything. i have also noticed its starting to clear up a ton in my primary. hopefully tuesday is the day my flor yeast makes it in cause i really feel the need to transfer this and i want to do it all at one time rather than rack and wait.

one thing i did do the other night was take most of the pulp and put it in a cheese cloth just to cut down on the floaters, its easier to check now but i do miss that 3" head of banana's on top

the banana infused brandy is quite tasty actually,its still harsh brandy flavor but then in the end you get that banana hint, im ready to see what this monster becomes!!


----------



## Dend78 (Oct 25, 2012)

well im a little disappointed, my flor yeast hasn't made it in yet, so last night i no longer felt safe leaving it in primary so i transferred it to secondary, but in order to do that i transferred my pear wine to smaller 1gal jugs/carboys. somewhere along the line i think i lost about 1gal of the banana because im lookin at about 3gal of it instead of the 4 i was starting with. the racking was interesting for sure after that i will always use a fruit bag from here on out. still sitting strong at 1.060 though so i will toss in the flor yeast when it gets here and go from there.


----------



## Dend78 (Oct 29, 2012)

well shes sitting in my carboy still awaiting the flor yeast to get here, hopefully tomorrow


----------



## Dend78 (Oct 30, 2012)

woot woot got my flor sherry yeast today just tossed it into my carboy now i will update this again in a year or so lol


----------



## Dend78 (Nov 1, 2012)

well i need to recheck but i dont think the flor yeast has taken off, which worries me because i am starting to think my abv is up over 16% so the flor yeast wont be able to do anything.

SG was 1.060 when i transferred to secondary which should have been plenty to get it started and let it go until it hit around 1.030ish


----------



## Dend78 (Nov 21, 2012)

yeah this stuff was going nowhere, so i went ahead and added the brandy to the mix, still sitting at 1.060, i have played with the temp, added nutrient nothing no film on top nothing happening at all, so I added the brandy to it along with some water to make up some of the wine that was lost due to 3" of sediment in primary. so now its just sitting in the carboy, bunghole is open with a towel over it. I will be racking it pretty soon to clear out some more lee's


----------



## Dend78 (Jan 2, 2013)

well picked up this carboy the other day and wow crystal clear, took a sample, and figured out something special i need to make about 3 gallons of banana wine to blend with. the banana flavor is there and its great....but the brandy flavoring is overpowering and needs to be thinned out some more. so im thinking if i make up another 3-4 gallons and split this batch it should smooth out the brandy and keep the banana flavoring. so once i get some stuff in bottles i will carry on with this.


----------



## saramc (Jan 4, 2013)

Crystal clear and gorgeous. A beautiful sight in the carboy, liquid gold, literally.
Alright, by the time I added all my fermentables the adjusted OG was 1.122, used D47. The FG is 0.998 for ACV 16.5%. So very smooth up front, mild kiss of heat on the back of throat, age will do it good. I have been cold soaking bananas in equal parts brandy and pure grain since 10/1/12, have changed bananas four times now and the fortifying liquor is now banana free. Just need to redo my Pearsons Square to confirm amount to add and then will start bulk aging. Backsweetening, if any, will not be done until September at the earliest. This is going to be fabulous, because I like it right now!!

Here is photo taken tonight....

Sara


----------



## Dend78 (Jan 7, 2013)

Sara that looks very good, I hope mine turns out as good as yours does, when I make this 3-4 gallon batch im going to try to step the sugar this time around instead of all at once. hopefully I can run the ec-1118 to its upper limits and then smooth out what I have now in a blend.


----------



## Dend78 (Jan 9, 2013)

Back to the primary again, I started another batch of banana wine last night I ran the water up to about 4gal or just over, i remember the sediment being super impressive like nearly 4" deep on my first batch and I was going to go with 3 gal so i figure it will even out about right at the end. I will keep this updated as time goes on.


----------



## Dend78 (Jan 11, 2013)

well my new batch is chugging along, i was up around 1.092ish for starting sg, im now down to 1.075ish...i say ish because with the pieces of banana and golden raisins floating around in there hydrometer reading can be a bit tricky

 1-14-13

well the new wine is fermenting but its going slow i need to check temp but im at about 1.060 right now which is a slow ferment but i had issues with the last batch stalling out as well.


----------



## Dend78 (Jan 18, 2013)

transferred the new batch over to carboy I was going to step it up more but I chose not to, ABV will be plenty high once i blend it into the other batch i have sitting there ready to go


----------



## Dend78 (May 21, 2013)

okay well update on this, still hasnt cleared since i blended the batches, ive used insinglass, pectic enzyme, bentonite and as of last night I added in superkleer so we shall see what happens. its been racked and degassed a few times with no luck.


----------



## Downwards (May 22, 2013)

Were the bananas new or not really black? They may have starch in there, amylase will clear it if so.


----------



## Dend78 (May 22, 2013)

they were still pretty fresh, just starting to spot


----------



## Dend78 (May 23, 2013)

well took a peak last night and wow superkleer FTW!!! amazing difference in just 3 days


----------

