Banana Rum recipe

[njscofflaw]

My wife came to me about a month ago, and says "When are you going to make something that I like?". She's not at all a Whiskey drinker, and generally gravitates toward "sweeter" drinks.

So I started researching rums recipes a bit, and came up with a recipe for a Banana Rum. She got really excited over it, so I hope it comes out well. This is my first recipe design (and first rum for that matter), and I welcome experienced advice to improve on it.


Ingredients ( I wound up making nearly an 18 gallon batch with this that sits in 3 - 6 gallon fermenters )
11 gallons water ( I used purified bottled water for this round)
15 lbs brown sugar
3 gallons of blackstrap molasses
18 pounds of bananas (ripe, yellow, medium to heavy spots)
1/2 cup Baker's yeast

-Add brown sugar and molasses to fermenter, and heat up 4 gallons of water so its hot enough to dissolve the molasses and brown sugar.

-Mix thoroughly until sugar/molasses is fully dissolved.

-Mash up Bananas to a liquid. Add bananas to fermenter and mix in well. We have a pretty old school 20s/30s kitchen, so I wound up digging in with my bare hands. Food processor or blender would be good if you have it. Add bananas to fermenter

-Add remaining water (7 gallons) to fermenter and mix /aerate thoroughly.

Starting SG for me was 1.06 to 1.09 depending on the fermenter (in my case). This was because I had a miscalculation with the sugar levels and needed to cut it down and start a third pale.


It's currently fermenting right now and smells pretty spectacular. Once it's run (and probably rerun again), I plan on aging it in 1 quart jars on pieces of banana and quartered vanilla bean. I'm currently undecided over whether to use caramel to color, or uncharred oak chips.

Will keep everyone updated, on how things go.

Looking forward to developing and perfecting this this recipe.

[Theo]

I hope your wife likes it because you are going to have a lot of it!

[condo33]

I may try a 50% version of your recipe. I had been to the produce section at Wal-Mart the other day and asked the clerk there if they would sell the aging bananas at a reduced rate. He told me "No, we don't see the old produce" "Walmart is afraid someone will get sick and sue them". Sadly walked away.

[toast860]

sounds great.. i been wanting to try something along these lines. do u think it will have to be racked for awhile? i cant wait for u to run so i know ur results. as for the fruit thing the trick it to talk to the guy stocking the fruit section. the third stockers can be bribe pretty easy and they have all the control of what gets thrown away or stays.. during deer season i got like 100 pounds of apples didnt have a still made yet so i used it for deer

[MitchyBourbon]

This sounds fantastic,

I've tried banana brandy many years ago, I failed horribly. In my case I was using chemistry equipment, rubber stopper and all. I hope you will do better.

I am a little worried though. Unless I'm missing something your abv should be much higher than what your reading. By my calculation just the brown sugar alone should get you an sg of 1.06. If you add 3 gallons of black strap and that could double you sg or more. The sugar content of molasses varies quite a bit. Does your molasses say what its sugar content is?

Calculation:
Ppg of sugar is .046
15*0.46/11 gal is 0.062
So just the brown sugar should get you an sg of 1.062

[njscofflaw]

Sugar content is 38% according to the label, which doesn't say much else except for crude percentages. I had a difficult time planning this out for exactly this reason. The molasses content threw my numbers off a bit, and i wasnt exactly sure how to calculate the molasses portion without prior experience, since it is a somewhat dynamic variable in all of this.. I thought i had it, only to realize things were way off. Now that i have a starting point and a baseline, itll make a bit more sense calculating for future runs.

[MitchyBourbon]

That's actually not as high as I had imagined. If that is 38% by weight and the weight is about 11 lbs per gallon...

0.38*11*3 is 12.5 lbs of sugar from molasses
Plus 15 lbs brown sugar
27.5 * 0.46 is 12.6% potential abv

Not terribly high, now the bananas will add some sugahr too but not sure how much...

Have you already combined all of your ingredients?

[njscofflaw]

Yes....Everything is fermenting right now...and is EXTREMELY active.....The fermenters are in the basement, and yet the ENTIRE house smells like molasses and bananas. Not too bad so far. I'm curious to see how the yeast handle things.

[MitchyBourbon]

Check this out, its bananas.

http://www.thefruitpages.com/contents.shtml" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

Bananas are 20% sugar by weight. Add another 3.6 lbs sugar. That's 31.1 lbs sugar.

31.1*.046/14*135 is about 13% potential abv, 135 is my favorite number.

[MitchyBourbon]

Be sure to tell us how it turns out.

Cheers

[620rossco]

Really interested as well. Come from a banana growing area.
We grow them in the yard.
Unlimited supply for free from my mates who farm them.

[BillHoo]

OK. I've been inspired to make use of some junk raw materials I have laying around.

Started a small batch banana wash this morning.

Had about 7 black bananas with greasy black peels sitting around that were doomed for the compost pile. I also had 3 pounds of sugar that had spilled in my trunk when the bag accidentally got a hole poked into it. Luckily, most of it spilled onto a newspaper that lined the bottom, but there were some cruddy wet leaves mixed in there. I had recovered the sugar to a pail and anticipated that I could use it in a future distilling project.

Here are the bananas:


I put them in the food processor peel and all - I did pinch off the wood stems and tips though. I figure there should be some amylase enzyme in the peels, so I left them in. I also boiled about a cup of cornmeal to throw in there just for the heck of it. I had some sitting in the cupboard that must be 4 years old and my wife does not like cornbread, so what the heck!? toss it in.

I also boiled the sugar and some water since there was some crud from my trunk in there (gnats, bits of wet leaves, etc.) - gotta sterilise it a bit.

Here's the banana again as I was putting it in the food processor:


Once everything was pureed, I poured my liquid sugar into the fermentor and mixed with 2.5 gallons of room temperature bottled spring water. Again, this was stuff that had beeen sitting in the plastic jug on my deck all summer and likely tastes like the plastic bottle it is stored in.

The water was room temp and I added the boiling sugar syrup and mixed well. It didn't even feel warm to the touch.

I through in a good pinch of DAP yeast nutrient and mixed in the banana pulp.

Then I pitched in a pack of EC1118. Mixed it in a bit more. Total volume is about halfway up the fermentor. Capped it and put on the gas lock.

I hear these things have violent ferments. Hopefully, I left enough room for it to bubble and foam and it will not make a mess. I'll put it downstairs in the laundryroom next to the furnace where it's about 76 deg F most of the time.

Not converned with SG. Just looking to ferment up til it stops and then run through one of my stills.

I'm out of town this upcoming weekend, so I'll be looking to distill in about 2-3 weeks when I have time.

[BillHoo]

I may try a 50% version of your recipe. I had been to the produce section at Wal-Mart the other day and asked the clerk there if they would sell the aging bananas at a reduced rate. He told me "No, we don't see the old produce" "Walmart is afraid someone will get sick and sue them". Sadly walked away.

Should do like the Freegans and raid the dumpster for dinner.

[condo33]

I may try a 50% version of your recipe. I had been to the produce section at Wal-Mart the other day and asked the clerk there if they would sell the aging bananas at a reduced rate. He told me "No, we don't see the old produce" "Walmart is afraid someone will get sick and sue them". Sadly walked away.

Should do like the Freegans and raid the dumpster for dinner.

I had to look it up. Good God!

[BillHoo]

Hey! I don't knock anyone's alternative lifestyles.

But I did see them on a show that featured freeganism. They followed some folks one night as they foraged the dumpsters of San Francisco. At the local veggie stand, they found 50 pounds of bananas that only had a few spots on them. the store owner can't sell them as people will only buy bananas that are green or bright yellow.

When I worked in Manhattan, I was working late and left the office at 7:30 PM.

As I walked to the train station, I saw a shrimp on the ground. Walked a few feet and there was another shrimp, and another, and another....

Turned the corner and saw a homeless guy pushing a shopping cart. Shrimp were falling from a foam container in his cart - it was so overloaded with shrimp! He stopped in front of a deli - the kind that has a pay by the pound buffet at lunchtime. He carefully opened the trash bags in front of the store and there was the buffet from earlier that day dumped into the bag.

The delis generally dump the day's uneaten food around 7:30. It's usually put in a clean trash bag. Frid chicken, salmon teriyaki, roast beef, meatloaf, shrimp spaghetti, all manner of veggies, etc. Sure it's a little dry and tough after being on the steamtable all day, but still perfectly edible.

From then on, I became more observant of the late evening denizens. One gentleman seemed to specialize in day old bread tossed out by the bakery. He had two large dogs with him and transferred the bread to a plastic tub he wheeled in a grocery cart.

I think some old bootleggers used to use stale bread as the base for their bathtub gin making.

[condo33]

Hey! I don't knock anyone's alternative lifestyles.

.

+1. My thought was is it taking from those homeless that need it more.

[njscofflaw]

4th day and fermentation is still going absolutely nuts, no slowdown yet. the smells of bananas and molasses have become an air freshener for our entire house. The wife is already pleased.

[condo33]

4th day and fermentation is still going absolutely nuts, no slowdown yet. the smells of bananas and molasses have become an air freshener for our entire house. The wife is already pleased.

I'll be keeping an eye on your results. This sounds very good.

[zouthernborne]

I managed to have some carryover banana flavor in rum after I reached the "5 bananas per gallon" mark. I got additional flavor when I experimented with Wyeast 3086 yeast, which produces banana esters. By all means, keep us updated on the final flavors. Are you planning on aging some of it?

[njscofflaw]

On day 6, fermentation has slowed down to a bubbling at about every 3-5 seconds, though it's still pretty active. The smell out of the airlocks maintains notes of banana and fermented molasses, and smells pretty awesome.

After doing a bit of research on things, I've decided to run two separate batches.

One batch will be aged in charred oak for a while (6 mos to a year) and then have home made caramel, a ripened banana and quartered vanilla beans added for additional aging.

The other batch will have the oak skipped, and banana added only depending on the strength of the final distilled product. Caramel and Vanilla beans will be added as in the in the first batch.

Subsequent runs will probably have some experimentation as well. If anyone decides to pick up and try this recipe, I'd be curious of your progress as well.

[zaph1]

Just a slight change to your method: Don't bother pureeing the bananas. Peel them and throw them in whole. After day 1, stir and the bananas will be half gone. By the second day, the bananas will be almost completely gone. They pretty much dissolve in the wash.

I found "Ripe Bananas" at the grocery store for 99¢ per 9 lb. bag. I bought 8 bags and have 6 bottles of delicious 85 proof banana rum from a similar recipe. I also have 12 liters of banana wine that is aging very nicely.

[njscofflaw]

Just a slight change to your method: Don't bother pureeing the bananas. Peel them and throw them in whole. After day 1, stir and the bananas will be half gone. By the second day, the bananas will be almost completely gone. They pretty much dissolve in the wash.

I found "Ripe Bananas" at the grocery store for 99¢ per 9 lb. bag. I bought 8 bags and have 6 bottles of delicious 85 proof banana rum from a similar recipe. I also have 12 liters of banana wine that is aging very nicely.

but...but but but........That was half the fun...lol.



All kidding aside, if that step can be saved, sounds like a time saver to me.

[zouthernborne]

I'm very excited to see where this goes. I think you're going to have a damn fine tasting likker there, my friend.

[zouthernborne]

So has this been run yet? I decided to knock up a batch using fresh dunder and a few very, very ripe bananas. I would love to know how yours came out as I wait for mine to finish fermenting.

[nabtastic]

*Bump*

I'd like to know how yours turned out. I used a very similar recipe - strawberry/banana n sugar - but it was my first time running this particular still and didn't have my usuals i.e. hydrometer/thermometer so I was doing it entirely by smell. Definitely produced a tasty spirit, but strong as f*ck - haven't proofed it yet.. Smells like bananas but the strawberry didn't come through at all..

[Halfbaked]

Let me say happy wife happy life. Let me also say I DO NOT LIKE RUM. However, I think that I could do the banana rum though. I like your idea. If you could get some coconut flavors in finished product with the bananas and rum my wife would be happy. She likes the sweet drinks also. As long as you can get those banana flavors carrying over you got yourself a winner.

[zouthernborne]

I've soaked coconut in rum before. Nearly impossible to get all the fat solids out afterward. However, and it may feel like cheating but I don't care, I have used coconut extract to flavor rum for myself and others with great results. You can use the imitation stuff, and it does taste good, but I would suggest springing for the real stuff. Your palate will thank you.

[Copperpot85]

Mine fermented very fast in 50 gallon wash in 8 days. Be picky and get out all of the pulp from the fruit before you run. If not you take a real chance on puking your still.

[PURENEWF]

I also tried a run of bananas after reading this. It was my first run ever. Mine took 19 days to ferment. Not to hijack your thread but if anyone wants to read and comment on mine I'd appreciate the help.

http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 15&t=38075

[zouthernborne]

I kind of stuck my batch under the kitchen sink and forgot about it until this morning. I did one gallon of dunder, one gallon of molasses, and fourteen bananas. I waited until the bananas were nearly completely black this time so that the majority of the starches would be converted already. Doing the strip on it now. Kitchen smells hella good.