Any good Banana Beer recipes?

[GageHolding]

Hello All!

I thought with all this Pumpkin and Christmas themed drinks going on I'd buck the trend and try and make some banana beer. (although I have made pumpkin ale...)
I've tried the Well's Banana Bread(?) beer before so I'm basically looking to make a home version of that

My knowledge of brewing to date is using kits that are just add sugar, and I've recently done a Pumpkin Ale using DME Spraymalts etc.

So preferably a recipe using DME, but I can adapt to suit what needs to be done

Anyone had any experience with a recipe like this before?

Cheers
Gage

[6470zzy]

Never tried it myself although I must admit that I have been tempted at times. Here is an interesting thread from another group that might interest you. I think that you could easily adapt it with the addition of some spray malt.
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/good-gu ... er-334434/

Cheers

[Matt12398]

I'm not sure how they brew it but I wouldn't be surprised if there's no bananas in it at all and it's just the yeast and brewing conditions that give it the banana flavour. Not entirely sure though.

[seymour]

One of my favorite beers at the recent Hop In The City festival was Schlafly Weissbier. Overall, it was a pretty standard, light and crisp, cloudy hefeweizen, but it had HUGE banana aromas. Being a "German Purity Law recipe" it definitely didn't contain actual bananas, so it was 100% due to the isoamyl acetate ester. I'm planning on attempting a clone of sorts soon and have been actively researching ways to maximize the isoamyl acetate ester.

So these recommendations don't come from personal experience (yet) but based on my research:

1. Use the historic Wiehenstephan 68 yeast strain, for sale as White Labs WLP300 and Wyeast 3068. The White Labs version is reported to generate more banana. There are a few other German and Belgian strains which produce banana esters (such as Weihenstephan 175 & 66, Munich, Ayinger, Andechs, Chimay) but this appears to be the most common.

2. Ferment warm. Most of the yeast flavors are produced in the first few days of primary fermentation. Temperatures between upper 60s - low 70s (Fahrenheit) produce balanced clove and banana notes. Using a temperature between 72 - 75 should produce much more banana without too many fusel alcohols.

3. Increase the yeast esters by adding dextrose or simple sugar to your grainbill (added to the boil kettle.) I always recommend real cane sugar (as opposed to beet or corn, which are much more common in the US), such as Organic Turbinado/Raw Cane Sugar.

4. Underpitch: which means to use a smaller than usually recommended yeast cell count. To be honest, nearly all homebrewers do anyway; almost none of us step-up the yeast population to the ideal pitching ratios like we're supposed to. One White Labs or Wyeast packet for a 5-10 gallon batch will work. Underpitching forces the yeast cells to stress-out and divide their energy between repopulating and then consuming the fermentables, so they throw-off more esters in the process.

5. Underaerate

6. Use an open fermentor to increase esters

7. Use a longer than usual boil, up to 2 ½ hours.

8. Use German noble hops: Hallertau Perle, Mittelfrüh or Hersbrucker, under 20 IBU.


http://www.byo.com/stories/beer-styles/ ... -weissbier

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q= ... vubt5SaJGA

http://www.scribd.com/doc/78556575/Whea ... ichae-Eder

My work-in-progress recipe:

FERMENTABLES:
54% = 5 lbs, Wheat malt
32% = 3 lbs, Pale 2-row or pilsner base malt
11% = 1 lb, Dextrose, Turbinado or Light golden brown cane sugar (added to boil)
3% = 1/4 lb = 4 oz, Vienna malt (for a little color, caramel flavor, and bready body)

HOPS:
Hallertau Perle, aim for 15 IBU

Mash at 122°F for 30 minutes then raise to only 148°F, 2 hours total

Long boil: 90-120 minutes

[mozza]

I've got a load of bananas in the freezer, could I peel and chop them and put them in the boiler for the last 20 minutes? Or is that silly

[seymour]

I've got a load of bananas in the freezer, could I peel and chop them and put them in the boiler for the last 20 minutes? Or is that silly

I dunno. How does Wells Banana Bread Beer do it?

===============================

WEIRD ANSWER WARNING

I can't think of any beer recipes containing actual banana, but there's no intrinsic reason not to do it. Here in the US, paw paws (a native fruit which has a taste somewhat comparable to bananas) have been used in "farmhouse brews" throughout history. Here are a couple recipes I found on the internet, feel free to Google "paw paw beer recipe" for more. These sound similar to what you're proposing, but the fruit is added to secondary fermentor, similar to a fruit lambic process...

Jeanna's Paw Paw Pale Ale
5 Gal Extract w/ Steeped grains.
I lose 2 gal/hr from my keggle so I boil 7 gal. You can adjust for your system.

6# light DME
1# Crystal 60L
1# White Wheat
3/4 oz Cascade (6.3 AA)(60 min)
1/2 oz Glacier (5.8 AA) (20 min)
Irish Moss
WLP002 English Ale
7# Paw Paw pulp; Thoroughly freeze to kill off any wild yeast.

Steep grains @153 for 45 in 5 Gal. Add DME and 2 gal of water bring to boil and add Cascades. Boil 60 adding Glaciers the last 20; Irish Moss the last 15.
Cooled to 75 F and pitched straight from vial.
Fermented in Primary 2 weeks. Racked to Secondary and added Paw Paw. Racked to another secondary after 6 days.
Left it in there for another 10 days to settle out. Bottled conditioned for 2 weeks.

It was a little rich so I think I'll use less fruit next time and possibly tweak the Hop schedule. I think it would mellow well with age but my friends and family are thirsty.LOL.

OG: 1.059
FG: 1.014
ABV: 5.9 = 131 x (1.059 - 1.014)

I think I'll use 3.5# of Paw Paw next time.

===============================

KVP Paw Paw American Amber Ale

Size: 5.0 gal
Efficiency: 75.0%
Attenuation: 75.0%
Calories: 170.55 kcal per 12.0 fl oz

Original Gravity: 1.051 (1.045 - 1.060) hit 1.048
Terminal Gravity: 1.013 (1.010 - 1.015) hit 1.013
Color: 14.45 (10.0 - 17.0)
Alcohol: 5.04% (4.5% - 6.2%) hit 4.54
Bitterness: 35.0 (25.0 - 40.0)

Ingredients:
7.5 lb American 2-row
1.5 lb Crystal 60
1.0 lb White Wheat Malt
1.0 oz Cascade (6%) - added during boil, boiled 60.0 min
1.0 oz Glacier (6%) - added during boil, boiled 20.0 min
1.0 ea White Labs WLP002 English Ale (my notes show I used WLP005)
3.81 lb Paw Paw puree - added dry to secondary fermenter

[mozza]

Thanks Seymour. I've got some grains left in the bottom of the sack so might experiment for a laugh

[simco999]

I've been here and bought the t-shirt.

The only banana flavour I ever got was due to the yeast - see Seymours post. WLP300 etc.

Putting bananas in the mash makes no difference at all. It just gets used as sugar.

The Germans do Banana Weiss - weiss with whole bananas in it.

Just a couple of slices.

If you find the magic formula let me know!!!

Edit - some good tips there Seymour - thanks

[seymour]

I've been here and bought the t-shirt.

The only banana flavour I ever got was due to the yeast - see Seymours post. WLP300 etc.

Putting bananas in the mash makes no difference at all. It just gets used as sugar.

The Germans do Banana Weiss - weiss with whole bananas in it.

Just a couple of slices.

If you find the magic formula let me know!!!

Edit - some good tips there Seymour - thanks

Thank you. Yeah, whether or not he uses real bananas, he should implement as many of the aforementioned tricks as possible in order to maximize the isoamyl acetate ester.

An interesting tid-bit: my homebrew buddy Timothy (a member here as well) is earning a degree in Conservation Biology. We had this same banana beer conversation once, and he mentioned he had to synthesize isoamyl acetate from a formula in his chemistry lab. Lo and behold, it smelled just like bananas or hefeweizen! I'd much rather just let the yeast do all that tricky chemistry for me.

[Rookie]

I've got a load of bananas in the freezer, could I peel and chop them and put them in the boiler for the last 20 minutes? Or is that silly

If you boil any fruit you'll set the pectin and get a hazy beer. Which is fine if hazy if what you're after.
Bananas that have been in the freezer have turned mostly to sugar and the yeast would ferment most of it probably leaving behind very little banana flavor.
Perhaps a mashed banana soaked in a few ounces of vodka for a week?

[mozza]

I was thinking it might be nice to have a rustic looking cloudy beer. Hmmm I might just make another load of wine with them instead lol

[EoinMag]

On hot days in Germany it was quite common to throw a drop of banana pulp/juice into a hefeweizen, it sweetens it up a little and picks up very nicely on the already banana flavours intrinsic to the style.