I started an experimental wine, on 24/2/15, based around bananas, the recipie is below and is for 10 litres (2 gallons)
1 litre apple concentrate.
1/2 litre welchs red grape.
1 lb of frozen squeezed, fresh white grape.
unpeeled bananas.
3 sliced and 1 mashed.
bananas with peel on.
1 sliced.
375 grams (1 1/2 packets) of dried sweet bananas.
200 mls of tropical fruit juice.
100 mls oaked water.
2 1/2 kg sugar.
1 campden tablet.
2 teaspoons yeast nutrient.
1/4 teaspoon of citric acid and 1/4 teaspoon of wine tannin.
2 teaspoons of pectolase.
The grapes where mashed by hand using a potato masher and a container (once defrosted) to keep the resultant juices and skins, the banana was prepared, as above.
The raw ingredients where placed in a 5 gallon fermenter, loose (ie) not in muslem bag cloths.
1 teaspoon wine yeast post 24 hours, from the campden tablet.
day 4 one half teaspoon of bentonite.
day 7 removed the bulk of the fruit using a cullender then a sieve, into a fresh fermenting vessel.
also, on day 7, added, a further, 50 mls of oaked water and the other half a packet of sweet dried bananas 125 grams.
Day 11, there was a bit of an ominous odour of rotting fruit, starting to develop, so it was put through a cullender then a sieve and then through a 5 micron filter, in an attempt to remove as much fruit as possible, also, added 2 campden tablets and 1/4 level teaspoon of potassium sorbate, to permit back sweetening. (photo 1)
day 11 the sg is 0.992 @ 21 c so its pretty much fermented.
until i took an sg reading I hadn't realised it was fermented so completely, anyway I had a sample in a shot glass, out of curiosity, its quite thick and heavy with some banana hints but, nothing spectacular, in fact its rather bland, although there seems to be plenty of alcohol in there, im going to let it sit for a while until the mud has cleared then, rack and re taste, before proper storage.
day 12 decided to source some form of banana flavour, after, reading the label on a commercial banana ale, so in experimental fashion ended up adding 2 mls per gallon, it takes a few days to steep properly even after stirring.
day 16 it was tasting quite nicely of banana, added 85 grams of sugar per gallon to back sweeten and bring out the fruit flavour a bit, plus, a further 35 mls per gallon of oaked water.
day 21 its mostly cleared up with a very slight cloudiness after the 2nd proper racking, it seems to have been dropping very fine powder, which im guessing was banana pulp.
day 21 pictures below although im sorry they aren't very good pictures.
day 21 ive decided to let this age a bit more and see what happens, but, as it stands its quite drinkable, so the small amount extra, in the 2 litre jug, wont be there very long ;-) same goes for the bit in the glasses too ;-) chin chin (in the pictures photo 2 and 3)
sampling :-
At this moment in time I consider this done, apart from aging, it smells of bananas, tastes like bananas, and has definite woody oak undertones, the sweetness for me is about right too, it has an sg of 1.006 which makes it a medium dry I guess, but, with enough sweetness to bring out some fruit flavours and the other ingredients added in small doses, rear their head occasionally for added interest.
Ive decided to call this `bangin banana` after the flavouring I used ;-)
Comments :-
The fresh white grape I used, was because locally I cant get welchs white grape.
This was a bit sluggish starting, but, after 3 days, it finally got under way.
I stirred it daily for the first 5 days.
up until the point where I removed the fresh bananas, on day 7, the top of the fermenting vessel was covered in a sticky gooey and slimey, mess of banana, which has now gone.
at the moment it looks like a mud coloured mess, which, ive read is normal for banana wine.
ok I had a sly sip, wen I was taking the bulk fruit out, the banana flavour isn't overly noticeable, hence I added the other half packet of sweet dried bananas.
Also, while removing the bulk fruit I noticed I actually have around 12 litres not the 10 intended, so ive added 250 grams of sugar, which wasn't intended originally.
Notes :-
Ive never fermented banana before, during reading up, I found evidence that banana skin contains amylase, which is an enzyme for breaking down starchs, hence, I left the skin on one of the bananas, because bananas have a lot of starch in them, the dried bananas I found very cheap locally, which was my original inspiration for making this wine. The fresh bananas were an addition to hopefully add a bit of fresh banana flavour.
1/4 teaspoon of citric acid = 1/2 teaspoon of tartaric acid (ie) 2:1
Im going to let this complete its ferment as it is and see what transpires when its completed.
The oaked water is from some Mexican oak barrels I have, that still have some woody taste in them.
Im expecting around 18 to 20 % abv and will back sweeten if required after having a bit of a sampler, when finished, before aging.
Yeast notes your yeast must be capable of 18 % abv or more, if not then reduce the sugar content to whatever your yeast can achieve, before alterations.
The 5 litre containers with blue lids on are experimental, temporary storage containers, easily cleaned and clear so I can see whats going on inside, they are stackable and if filled almost to the top I expect should be capable of temporary storage in the bottom of my wardrobe, where its dark and with an ambient temperature of around 20 to 22 degrees c this time of year, at one pound a shot they are my new temporary storage medium before bottling. With an expected potential of up to 3 month maximum before moving them on to the next stage, of bottling, im stuck for space and they seem ideal for my purposes.
Filtering notes :-
Apart from the 5 micron filtering mentioned above, all racking was done using am 8mm bore syphon tube, leaving the sediment behind.
As can be seen from the photographs, the first photograph was taken on day 11 with just banana added, after just removing the bulk fruit, at this stage it looks a horrible muddy mess, on day 16 I racked using a syphon tube of 8mm bore, by day 21 wen I racked again the colour difference is quite pronounced.
The 5 micron filter I used was none other than, some hypo allergenic pillow case covering and a funnel (the kind of covering asthmatics use, im asthmatic) ive been using the same piece washed and rinsed and occasionally washed in my washing machine (allowing to dry in between) for a few years now with good effect. So it is very re usable and very effective, as long as you keep it clean, I tend to use mine then add sodium metabsulphate afterwards to be sure of sterility, it dries very fast and doesn't really retain stains, as such ive found it very effective for small batches, of up to 5 gallons (which is the most I make at any one time) (see photo 4, taken filtering some strawberry wine) the strawberry wine is now a few months old and mostly been drunk because it was very nice ;-) this was its final racking, before bottling, well for what I had left anyways.
@rayway there was no mention of oil in the dried banana ingredients on the label, but, as you mention it there does seem to be a thin film on the top, its still muddy but, im guessing I can eliminate the film by syphoning and throwing the film away, when I rack it next.
@cintipam and Bernardsmith the bananas I used where yellow ones just before turning brown (ie) the kind of ripeness u would eat them, im kind of guessing, but, I expect, most of the starch was probably already sugar, Bernard you may well be right, it would be interesting to add some green banana peel to a high starch ferment such as potato or something and see if it reduces hazes.
Feedback (long term) :- post one month, this has mellowed somewhat, initially it had some excess acid and the banana was somewhat indistinct, at the moment it has settled down a little, the acid has reduced a little and the banana flavour is begining to hold its own, not just the overall banana flavour, there is a distinct taste of ripe banana (ie) the flavour you get from bananas eaten at the right time, this wasn't apparent at the time of fermentation or subsequently for several weeks, but, has recently reared its head in the flavour. It is still dropping fine banana particles, in the next week or so I intend to rack again, but, at this moment in time im beginning to suspect the particles dropping are adding flavour, in which case I must say I agree with the notion of mashed banana, which was mentioned in some recipies I read prior to making this, although at this moment in time im a little unsure, personally I suspect this is the case. With hindsight im glad I chose to add bananas of mixed preparation types, its my opinion that the banana with peel on helped to clarify in the early stages and I subsequently believe that mashed banana helps add a proper banana flavouring, although they tend to drop fine sediment over a long period of time, the sediment I suspect adding to the overall flavouring, the current taste is rather like a banana brandy kind of flavour very strongly alcohol tasting, but, with definite banana notes and a hint of brandy kind of undertones and some hints of oak behind the other 2 flavours.
For a wine that only started its life 5 weeks ago, its coming along quite nicely ;-)
Tonight ive made a sample blend of one litre of this, by adding 40mg of white sugar, 20mg of golden granulated brown plus 7.5 mls of glycerine (for smoothness) that's what im supping tonight 10/5/15. Its also very nice and very liquour like.
I`ve actually tried to answer any questions directly on the original post, but, ive learned this about bananas ;-
1). best used, when they are ripe (ie) ready for eating, which maximises sugar content. By this I mean, at the state of maturity you would have eaten them at, ie mostly yellow with not much brown and no green, colour in the skin.
2). the enzyme the skin contains is called amylase.
3). they drop lots of particles in suspension for a few months, producing a slightly brown ish sediment, which drops for along time, ie months.
4). contain approx. 40 % sugar by volume when ripe.
5). produce a quite vigorous ferment.
6). produce a fairly thick consistency drink.
7). the drink it produces is relatively bland.
8). as commercial brewers here in the uk have figured, its best supplimented with a banana flavoured additive, of approx. 2 mls per gallon, then permited to steep. (ie) banana food flavouring, containing no oil, the ones with a propylene glycol base is ideal.
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I never offered a "recipe" . Don't use them. A recipe is just "paint by numbers" . A recipe without any understanding the underlying principles means that you have a wonderful tool box but you may not know when or how to use what tool.
