Banana Wine, Massive hit :)

[Andylatter85]

This is a recipe I found and used, this is not my recipe all credit goes to the original writer. This works and produces some lovely interesting wine hope it helps.

What you need

4 lbs. peeled, chopped bananas (about 15-20 bananas)
juice of 2 lemons or 2 tsp. citric acid blend
1/4 to 1/2 lb. of chopped banana skins (4-5 skins)
1 gallon water
2 lbs. sugar
1 tsp. yeast nutrient
1/2 tsp pectic enzyme
white wine yeast (used K1V)

Method

Peel bananas, chop bananas and skins, add to stock pot. Add water. Add lemon juice or acid blend. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 30 minutes. Let cool to room temp. This extracts tannins, sugars, flavor, and kills of wild yeasts. Add pectic enzyme, let sit overnight.

Next day, strain out the pulp/skins. Add sugar and nutrient, stirring well to make sure everything is dissolved. Add wine yeast, place in sanitized fermentor with an airlock, and voila!

This wine can take a long time to clear, just be patient. Bottle age for one year, if you can wait.

Enjoy.

(To aid clearing I used some finning's plus I played around with the quantities)

 

[oldbloke]

Recipe saved for future ref

 

[godfrey]

bookmarked, thanks :hat:

 

[Andylatter85]

No problem fellas, I have seen a few people asking so I thought I would add it because this one works well. believe me I've tried others but this one yields the best results :

 

[oldbloke]

I've got a recipe for banana&parsnip tucked away that I've never tried

 

[Cheshire muzz]

what does it taste like? compares to....

 

[Andylatter85]

what does it taste like? compares to....

It tastes like a medium white wine with undertones of banana it's very mellow and very palatable. Let's put it this way I will be making it again! I suppose the more ripe the banana the stronger the flavour? When I made mine I used ones that had just turned yellow. It is definitely one to try though just to say you have :)

 

[Andylatter85]

I've got a recipe for banana&parsnip tucked away that I've never tried

That one sound right up my street! I like the odd ones :party: I will put that in my to do list with marrow rum hahahaha. I want to try onion wine but I just can not bring myself to do it.

 

[Brewtrog]

I suppose the more ripe the banana the stronger the flavour?

From what I've read this is true and CJJB even said the blacker the better.

 

[peteplus1]

Been thinking about doing banana wine and this has just made me definitely try it soon. I love the smell and taste of this fruit so what wouldn't there be to like!

 

[Andylatter85]

Haha good on ya! top tip use really ripe bananas to make it seriously fruity... I think you might like my tropical wine then?

 

[peteplus1]

Funny, that's how I prefer to actually eat them too! Very ripe, going black. Wouldn't want a sweet wine though. Pretty new to wine making and my results so far are all too sweet for my liking! :hmm:

 

[godfrey]

Funny, that's how I prefer to actually eat them too! Very ripe, going black. Wouldn't want a sweet wine though. Pretty new to wine making and my results so far are all too sweet for my liking! :hmm:

change your yeast....

I use a champagne yeast and get consistently dry wines

vintners harvest SN9 is great :thumb:

 

[Andylatter85]

This wine isn't exactly sweet, It's as sweet as you make it.. Some people always back sweeten but I like you prefer a drier wine. When it came to bottling I let it clear completely naturally then ran it through a vinbrite mk3 filter just to polish it out. Gorgeous colour with a superb aroma but it still turned out to be a massive hit.. If you set your SG to what you like you can make it drier than an Arabs sandal.

May I ask what wines you were doing and explain how they came out sweet? sounds like the fermentation was cut off early.

 

[Andylatter85]

Funny, that's how I prefer to actually eat them too! Very ripe, going black. Wouldn't want a sweet wine though. Pretty new to wine making and my results so far are all too sweet for my liking! :hmm:

change your yeast....

I use a champagne yeast and get consistently dry wines

vintners harvest SN9 is great :thumb:

Yes excellent advice right here!! I tend to use champagne yeast as it yields higher alcohol tolerance meaning it lives longer and eats more sugar and make things batsh*t strong lol. I have always used Lalvin EC-1118.

 

[Brewtrog]

Pretty new to wine making and my results so far are all too sweet for my liking! :hmm:

As a guess you're adding too much sugar too quickly. I generally find much over a kilo and a bit of sugar will be too much for the yeast, then again I just add a kilo of sugar to any wine, normally gets at least 11%. But if you want it stronger add the sugar in stages

 

[peteplus1]

May I ask what wines you were doing and explain how they came out sweet? sounds like the fermentation was cut off early.

Dandelion. Hawthorn blossom. Elderflower. Fermented all right out. Think the problem was too much sugar. Havent my notes to hand but this seems to be the general opinion re CJJ BERRY's recipes. ..

 

[oldbloke]

Yeh, CJJB is a bit heavy on the sugar, hence my first go at elderberry coming out like cough linctus (ish). Maybe sugar had less sugar in it in his day.
A kilo in a gallon should give 11%, so these days I generally do a kilo plus whatever's in the fruit. Unless it's a very sugar-laden fruit.

 

[Andylatter85]

Yeh, CJJB is a bit heavy on the sugar, hence my first go at elderberry coming out like cough linctus (ish). Maybe sugar had less sugar in it in his day.
A kilo in a gallon should give 11%, so these days I generally do a kilo plus whatever's in the fruit. Unless it's a very sugar-laden fruit.

Yes this is true, sugar wasn't as refined back in the days. When using recipes from way back it is always advisable to use a hydrometer! At least you can control the end result.

 

[peteplus1]

Yeh, CJJB is a bit heavy on the sugar, hence my first go at elderberry coming out like cough linctus (ish). Maybe sugar had less sugar in it in his day.
A kilo in a gallon should give 11%, so these days I generally do a kilo plus whatever's in the fruit. Unless it's a very sugar-laden fruit.

Yes this is true, sugar wasn't as refined back in the days. When using recipes from way back it is always advisable to use a hydrometer! At least you can control the end result.

Yep, need to read up on using a hydrometer, when to use specifically, what to aim for, achieving results etc. Any links gratefully received before I start my Blackberry/elderberry gals. Following recipes is fine but need to get to know the maths and science! Appreciate this has gone off topic a bit.