Banana and Pineapple wine

[KaptKanga]

Just starting my next batch for banana and pineapple wine. The images below are of the bananas, locally called pisang raja or kings banana as they are a small very sweet fruit, from my back plot and the pineapple from my potted pineapples, it weighs in at 1.3kg's. The pineapple was grown from a previous pineapple top and i managed to get 6 "pups" when I harvested this one. I will let them both ripen for around 1 week to intensify the flavor.

I intend to make around 20 liters of wine so will need to buy a few more pineapple as none of the others will be ready to harvest by the time I start.

My normal recipe is
10kg very ripe bananas
3kg very ripe pineapples
1 kg raisins
1 liter of fresh orange juice
1 liter of super strong oolong tea
Lalvin EC 1118 yeast

I will add palm sugar if needed to get the starting SG to 1.08.

Will post the process as I go.

 

[KaptKanga]

Equipment is ready and the bananas and pineapples as well. I am trying a new variety of pineapple called "Honey" they are very sweet and have a great flavour. I cut up the fruit into small chunks, and put into the large stock pot, hand crushing as it was put into the pot. Brought the temperature up to just below boiling and simmered for 20min. Transferred the stock through a fermenting bag into the fermenting bucket and left it over night to cool. I leave the fruit chunks in the bag and squeeze out daily during fermentation. This stops a lot of hassle to remove the pulp after fermentation. This morning, I added 5 crushed Campden tablets. Will check on it after my client meetings today.

Plan is to add the raisins and the black tea tonight along with the lemon juice. Leave it sit overnight whilst I get the yeast ready. I am going with a Lalvin D47 this time instead of the EC 1118.

 

[Fitz]

Just starting my next batch for banana and pineapple wine. The images below are of the bananas, locally called pisang raja or kings banana as they are a small very sweet fruit, from my back plot and the pineapple from my potted pineapples, it weighs in at 1.3kg's. The pineapple was grown from a previous pineapple top and i managed to get 6 "pups" when I harvested this one. I will let them both ripen for around 1 week to intensify the flavor.

I intend to make around 20 liters of wine so will need to buy a few more pineapple as none of the others will be ready to harvest by the time I start.

My normal recipe is
10kg very ripe bananas
3kg very ripe pineapples
1 kg raisins
1 liter of fresh orange juice
1 liter of super strong oolong tea
Lalvin EC 1118 yeast

I will add palm sugar if needed to get the starting SG to 1.08.

Will post the process as I go.

When you say super strong oolong tea, how much tea or tea bags do you use?

 

[KaptKanga]

When you say super strong oolong tea, how much tea or tea bags do you use?

1/4cup of tea leaves to 1 liter of water, bring it to just under boiling and steep for 30 minutes. Let it cool and add it to the must.

 

[Fitz]

1/4cup of tea leaves to 1 liter of water, bring it to just under boiling and steep for 30 minutes. Let it cool and add it to the must.

Thank you. This recipe sounds really good, thinking that I might try to make some in the future. In your second post you mentioned lemon juice. It wasn’t listed in the recipe so I was wondering how much to use or maybe you ment orange juice. Also is the recipe for a 20 liter batch?

 

[KaptKanga]

Thank you. This recipe sounds really good, thinking that I might try to make some in the future. In your second post you mentioned lemon juice. It wasn’t listed in the recipe so I was wondering how much to use or maybe you ment orange juice. Also is the recipe for a 20 liter batch?

yeah normally I use lemon or orange juice for lemons I use 6 large lemons and for orange juice around 1 liter. The batch size is 25liters

 

[KaptKanga]

So started the fermentation today using D47 yeast. Below is the must colour and the tea brew before adding it to the must.

PH at the start was 4.94 and I have dropped it to 3.58. TA I got at the start was 6 SG was 1.014 and I raised it to 1.082 with more raisins, palm sugar and white sugar. Added acid blend, nutrient and activated yeast.

Now see how long it takes for the fermentation to start.

 

[Fitz]

yeah normally I use lemon or orange juice for lemons I use 6 large lemons and for orange juice around 1 liter. The batch size is 25liters

So you have a choice between using lemon or orange juice. This recipe is now moving to the top of my list for what wine to make when I get back from my extended vacation. I was going to ask about the differences of taste using lemons or oranges….but then I said to my self “Why not make both and find out for yourself?”

One more question. Do you peel the bananas or do you leave the skin on?

 

[KaptKanga]

So you have a choice between using lemon or orange juice. This recipe is now moving to the top of my list for what wine to make when I get back from my extended vacation. I was going to ask about the differences of taste using lemons or oranges….but then I said to my self “Why not make both and find out for yourself?”

One more question. Do you peel the bananas or do you leave the skin on?

Best to try both and see which is right for you. Again with the skins, it depends on the bananas. For the ones that I use I cut up two with the skins on and the rest I take them off. But again personal preference.

 

[KaptKanga]

3 days on and the D47 is merrily co2 farting away, see the attached video day 3. The smell from the fermentation is more fruiter that with the EC 1118 and a lot of visible bubbles in the must. I am squeezing out the strainer bag every day. The strainer bag that I bought was not as strong as I expected, and it broke on a few places so i had to resort to wrapping it n cheese cloth to keep the fruit contained.

The second video shows what is happening under the hood and you can see a lot of activity. Need to be careful to hollow the center of the bag as a few times it has blocked the air lock opening, but I think I have it right at the moment.

By all accounts this batch is going to be a good one.

 

[Christopher Anderson]

3 days on and the D47 is merrily co2 farting away, see the attached video day 3. The smell from the fermentation is more fruiter that with the EC 1118 and a lot of visible bubbles in the must. I am squeezing out the strainer bag every day. The strainer bag that I bought was not as strong as I expected, and it broke on a few places so i had to resort to wrapping it n cheese cloth to keep the fruit contained.

The second video shows what is happening under the hood and you can see a lot of activity. Need to be careful to hollow the center of the bag as a few times it has blocked the air lock opening, but I think I have it right at the moment.

By all accounts this batch is going to be a good one.

Why use a closed bucket for fermentation? The must needs O2. Many put a towel over the bucket during fermentation to allow O2 but keep the bugs out.
Interesting

 

[KaptKanga]

Why use a closed bucket for fermentation? The must needs O2. Many put a towel over the bucket during fermentation to allow O2 but keep the bugs out.
Interesting

For my kimchee and sauerkraut, I use open bucket with a cover but for all of my wines I have always done loose lid when the fruit is added, and I add the Camden tablets and then closed once yeast is added. This also protects from wild yeast as my fermenting area is pretty open. Yeast, as far as I know is anerobic, so I have that condition from the start. Plus, I kick start the yeast first, so it is fully active when I add it. This approach has never failed me.

 

[KaptKanga]

Removed the fruit from the must 2 days ago and measured the SG at 1.012. After tasting the wine I added an additional 500gm of sugar and 2 days on the wine is still gurgling away.