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Banana Caramel Wine

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M

machalel

NewBee
Registered Member
Feb 1, 2012
115
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0
Australia
Ok, I'm doing this tonight. After a lot of research, I'm going to attempt to "mash" (in a beer-making sense) the mashed bananas. I'm also planning on splitting this batch once it is finished (depending on how well it goes etc) into:
1-Plain wine (just rack final product into bottles)
2-Fortified Banana Port (add some more sugar until it finishes at about 1.030, then fortify and age)
3-Banana Eiswein (rack into bottles, freeze & extract water)


Anyway, recipe is:


Recipe: Banana Caramel Wine

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.00 l
Estimated OG: 1.080 SG
Estimated FG: 0.997 SG
Estimated ABV: 11%

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name
2.00 g Pectinase
1.50 kg Fruit - Banana
0.80 kg Caramelised Sugar
0.10 kg Honey
0.10 kg Fruit - Raisins
5.00 l Canberra Water
0.3 pkg W-yeast 2046
5.00 g Yeast Nutrient


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Full Body, Batch Sparge
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Mash In Add 2.75 l of water at 70.0 C 65.0 C 60 min

Sparge: Batch sparge with 1 steps (0.75l) of 75.0 C water
 
I think it worked!

BUUU6.jpg



I tasted the left over banana this morning, and it has very little flavour an no sweetness, so I assume it's all gone into the liquid that I extracted.

It has, however, turned into jelly. I believe this is due to pectin extraction, so I recommend using pectinase (or whatever it is called) to anyone who wants to try something similar.

I caramelised the sugar about 75 mins in total. The below picture shows (from top to bottom) 0 mins, 30 mins, 45 mins, 60 mins, 75 mins.

wKqHb.jpg



The yeast love it! Fermentation has started almost straight away, and in less than 12 hours it has a nice bit krausen kicking off.

99jz6.jpg



After adding the pectinase + DAP and giving it a swirl (and grabbing a better camera)

tu7DB.jpg
 
This sounds fabulous. I have been wanting to do a carmel mead and have been puzzled as to how to make it. The carmel is a bit of a problem. How did you get the carmel to difuse into it? Any comments on using the carmel? I have read about a Bochet but, I don't really want to go that route. I want it to be a fluffy carmel flavor not a burnt one. So any help on the carmel or how this is working out so far would be great.

Matrix
(and for my next trick, Butterscotch. Maybe)
 
Well the "caramel" that I made is more like toffee than caramel, and I made sure to mix it in while it was still warm & before it could set.

I now realise that I should have called this thread Banana Toffee Wine



This morning I checked on it, and all the banana 'bits' had formed a large cap on top, with a beautiful deep red liquid below. Stirred the cap back in, but I think the colour on this is going to be really nice!
 
With the light behind (to get an idea of the colour):

OsPs7.jpg




Super Active!:

uwx1z.jpg




I came back today (after being away for 2 days) and it's going crazy! I'll see if I can upload a video, it's really really active!
 
Last edited:
It's the first time I've ever gotten something this "alive".

I've had one batch previously that overflowed (my experimental mead),
But this is the only one that has been visually moving!
 
That is some very cool activity! I wonder if it is because of the bananas? The last banana/strawberry melomel I made looked a lot like that while fermenting. Must be a lot of good nutrients in the bananas!

That video sells it, I'm starting a batch of this tonight!
 
Fruit has all dropped, starting to clear a bit, and no longer really gassy.

SG has dropped to 0.997, so sitting around 11% at the moment.

There is a nice bit of banana aroma / taste, but I think I might add another one or two, as it's a bit mild.
 
hmmm... can't say I did actually. It remained fairly hazy throughout, but all dropped to the bottom.

There was quite an amount of banana bits that got through the strainer (as you can see from the pics), so it's possible that they kinda masked any yeast that was at the top. I didn't really look at it too closely in the last week or so (since it stopped being so violent).
 
You know, I really should have checked the yeast you used before I asked that question. I used a 71B yeast for mine, and ended up with a layer of yeast on the top as the fermentation began to slow. Its finally started sinking, though. How is your batch doing now?
 
Interesting... hmm...

Mine has been slowly clearing, but I'm planning on adding some extra banana 'juice' this weekend, as it's not quite strong enough yet. I'll wait a bit longer until it starts clearing again. Some time after that I'll probably syphon off to 3 smaller vessels and do my <mad scientist voice> Experimentationising! </voice> ;D
 
Was given a supermarket carrier full of banana today, hence looking up your thread.

One thing did spring to mind, that if it stays cloudy after you've racked it a couple of times, then get some amylase and add it as per instructions. That should sort out any starch hazing that might be present.
 
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