Banana wine

[johncrobinson]

Gerryjo that's a well known wine fault,
It is caused by lack of acid in the must.
Most fruit wines are made from acidic fruit such as grapes,apples,etc.
Bananas cant acidify the must so the yeast will produce higher alcohols,

The solution is to add acid such as tartaric/malic/citric acid to the must before adding the yeast.

 

[Gerryjo]

Mine started like that, after 2 months and a rack into a new container it's settling nicely into a good dessert wine

More mush than wine so next time I'll not be fermenting in the demijohn on the pulp but shall primary in a bucket then rack again. Nothing lost as lesson learnt.

 

[Gerryjo]

Gerryjo that's a well known wine fault,
It is caused by lack of acid in the must.
Most fruit wines are made from acidic fruit such as grapes,apples,etc.
Bananas cant acidify the must so the yeast will produce higher alcohols,

The solution is to add acid such as tartaric/malic/citric acid to the must before adding the yeast.

I did add some citric if I mind but obviously not enough but a good tip to know @johncrobinson

 

[Tess Tickle's Brewery]

I did add some citric if I mind but obviously not enough but a good tip to know @johncrobinson

I love JCR he’s my hero

 

[Gerryjo]

I love JCR he’s my hero

That's why I enjoy the forum as there is always someone on hand that's know something to help others out and not be nasty, cheeky about it and take time and effort to help others along.

 

[Tess Tickle's Brewery]

Yes I agree. And if you don’t agree with something that somebody says, there’s a way to get your point across without being a ****. I don’t often frequent forums because you get such people, but I like this one

 

[Subtle Duck]

Just out of curiosity, have you ever put your wine into beer bottles? Would like to put this banana wine it into something smaller than 700ml.

 

[Tess Tickle's Brewery]

Just out of curiosity, have you ever put your wine into beer bottles? Would like to put this banana wine it into something smaller than 700ml.

@Subtle Duck I’m not sure if you’re asking me or one of the others. I haven’t though nope.

 

[Subtle Duck]

Any one really, just thought I'd ask.

 

[johncrobinson]

Although this thread is about bananas my comments equally apply to mead.
Also the problem is more acute in areas where the water is hard and alkaline,Limescale is a good indication of alkaline water.

Whilst you can buy kits to test the water,A simple "home" test is to boil a bit of red cabbage,If the cabbage and water stays red your ok if on the other hand it turns blue,Then you have alkaline water.

Just thought i would add this for completeness

 

[Gerryjo]

Just out of curiosity, have you ever put your wine into beer bottles? Would like to put this banana wine it into something smaller than 700ml.

Yes you can put them into any suitable bottle or container provided they are food safe and airtight and pressure tight in case of a sparkling wine, carbonated beverages etc.I have 500ml fliptops which I put both beer and wine into and handier if giving away as you can give to more or keep more...

 

[Tess Tickle's Brewery]

Although this thread is about bananas my comments equally apply to mead.
Also the problem is more acute in areas where the water is hard and alkaline,Limescale is a good indication of alkaline water.

Whilst you can buy kits to test the water,A simple "home" test is to boil a bit of red cabbage,If the cabbage and water stays red your ok if on the other hand it turns blue,Then you have alkaline water.

Just thought i would add this for completeness

We are in Yorkshire where the water is ridiculously hard, and the tap water tastes like crap and is chlorinated (you can taste it). When we went on holiday to the highlands of Scotland last year, the tap water was amazing. So poses the question, do I need to use campden tablets to de-chlorinate? To be fair I am back on the chemicals anyway now but thought I’d mention.

 

[johncrobinson]

Chlorine is "orrible" in home brew so yes a campden tablet would help.
The required dose however is tiny 1 tablet should treat at least 25ltrs.

If i bottle water during the summer and keep it in the fridge,After a few short days it tastes rotten,However a wee bit campden stops this happening.

I did an experiment on this forum last year,Basically two bottles of water one treated with campden the other straight from the tap both bottles kept in fridge and tasted every day over 2wks.
The results were Dramatic.!!

Try it and see.

I know what you mean about Scottish water I now live in the Highlands north of loch Ness.

P.S. The above mentioned test was done with Scottish water.
Mind you even the untreated bottle didn't taste as bad as the sewerage that used to come out of my London tap.

 

[Tess Tickle's Brewery]

Chlorine is "orrible" in home brew so yes a campden tablet would help.
The required dose however is tiny 1 tablet should treat at least 25ltrs.

If i bottle water during the summer and keep it in the fridge,After a few short days it tastes rotten,However a wee bit campden stops this happening.

I did an experiment on this forum last year,Basically two bottles of water one treated with campden the other straight from the tap both bottles kept in fridge and tasted every day over 2wks.
The results were Dramatic.!!

Try it and see.

I know what you mean about Scottish water I now live in the Highlands north of loch Ness.

P.S. The above mentioned test was done with Scottish water.
Mind you even the untreated bottle didn't taste as bad as the sewerage that used to come out of my London tap.

Omg so glad you told me of the correct dose! I’ve been putting one tablet per gallon in! Thank you, I will try the water test. I need to drink more water but I just can’t drink our water, it’s yak!

Wow I didn’t know you lived in Scotland, it’s a beautiful place. We went to Badrallach, it’s about 9 hours drive from us. The beaches up there are amazing, it’s like being in the Caribbean. We also went to the east side a couple of weeks later, to Cruden Bay.

 

[johncrobinson]

A dose of 1 tablet per gallon is fine,

1/2 tablet would be more what i would recommend
If you overdo it
(a) it will affect the yeast
(b) campden in itself does not taste very nice.

Thats why i don't use it on my finished wines.

Did you see my comment about mead further up ?
I know you make mead so its worth a read.

 

[Tess Tickle's Brewery]

A dose of 1 tablet per gallon is fine,

1/2 tablet would be more what i would recommend
If you overdo it
(a) it will affect the yeast
(b) campden in itself does not taste very nice.

Thats why i don't use it on my finished wines.

Did you see my comment about mead further up ?
I know you make mead so its worth a read.

Yes, got it, thank you.

 

[jof]

1 tablet per gallon is what I add to the fruit pulp when making fruit wine 1 day before adding the yeast - to kill off any nasties that might be in the fruit before turning it into 'must'

 

[Tess Tickle's Brewery]

1 tablet per gallon is what I add to the fruit pulp when making fruit wine 1 day before adding the yeast - to kill off any nasties that might be in the fruit before turning it into 'must'

Yes I’ve been doing the same.

 

[johncrobinson]

Thats right jof that is the recommended dose.
I don't do that however what i do is pasteurise the must.

However what i am advocating is the use of campden as a water conditioner i.e. to remove chlorine from tap water.
For this a much lower dose is sufficient.

See post #73 above on this thread for more info.

 

[Tess Tickle's Brewery]

Perhaps a silly question, but if I use the 5L containers of water that you buy from the supermarket for my must, (and pasteurise) can I skip the campden?