75 pounds of free ripe bannanas need a little help

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FranklinNewhart
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Re: 75 pounds of free ripe bannanas need a little help

Post by FranklinNewhart »

Well I pitched the yeast yesterday on the 400 litres of bananas but before I did I realized I had forgotten to put in the last bag of raisins and two more lemons. Puried those in the blender and boiled them up and added another 25 litres to the batch. So the total batch is now 425 litres. Checked the fermentation today to see how things are going. The lid on the fermenter has a small leak so the gas is venting there instead of going through the bubbler. Got to replace the gasket on the lid tomorrow. So to see how well it was working I removed 12 cups of wash, if you want to call that slop wash, Slop is even too nice a word for that stuff, and I put that in a three litre wine jug. Well I seen pretty quick how well it was working. Lots of bubbles and the clots of yeast going up and down in the jug. Less than a second between bubbles in the bubbler. But then I came away for a little while to come up to the computer and do this post. Then just now I went back down and looked at it. The sludge that forms on the top had filled with gas and had forced it's way right up into the bubbler. So I took it over to the sink and took the stopper out. Well not a nice thing happened. It shot that brown crap right into my face. The best description is imagine a baby diaper full of it. Well I had to take a baster and suck a bunch of the sludge out from the top and get the level down. Clean the bubbler and refill it with water and get it all back in place. Definitely gives me a good picture of what is going on inside the big fermenter. Good thing that sucker is only a little bit over half full.

I am beginning to understand why there is not a complete recipe on here for doing Bananas. Well I am sticking with it. These posts are my complete documentation of fermenting and distilling a Banana Wash (Wort) {SLOP} :mrgreen: :sick:

Day-oh Day-oh Daylight come and me wanna go home. Hey Mr. Tallyman tally me Bananas. Daylight come and me wanna go home.
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NZChris
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Re: 75 pounds of free ripe bannanas need a little help

Post by NZChris »

Bananas? Lid? Bubbler?
That was always a recipe for a comedy :D
FranklinNewhart
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Re: 75 pounds of free ripe bannanas need a little help

Post by FranklinNewhart »

NZChris wrote:Bananas? Lid? Bubbler?
That was always a recipe for a comedy :D
They call me Mellow Yellow. Donovan
FranklinNewhart
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Re: 75 pounds of free ripe bannanas need a little help

Post by FranklinNewhart »

Well the Bananas are done working and all the crap is in the bottom of my 800 litre fermenter. I pulled a one gallon sample and distilled that in my little test still. Lots of Banana flavour. But here is the problem. There are two drains on my fermenter. The low one for removing everything at the end and on a bit further up to remove finished wash. Problem is the crud in the bottom comes above the upper drain and it has clogged it. The upper drain is only 1/2 inch. The bottom drain is 1 1/2 so now I am going to have to draw everything off of the bottom drain and filter it through a sieve. Doing Bananas has been a chore from beginning to end and I am not done yet. Because I am expecting foaming I will only be doing 20 litres at a time in a 30 litre still. The wash is 15% ABV so I will be getting good product but this is going to be a lot of work. 2 hours per run. 3 runs a day. 825 litres equals 21 runs. A full weeks work.
The Baker
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Re: 75 pounds of free ripe bannanas need a little help

Post by The Baker »

Can you clear the tube with compressed air? Or will it just clog again?

Or, use the big tube, don't sieve, let it settle and rack from above the crud?
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FranklinNewhart
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Re: 75 pounds of free ripe bannanas need a little help

Post by FranklinNewhart »

Until I get the crud down below the top valve I am going to have to take it off the bottom one and sieve it. I already tried the air but it just reclogged. There is that much crud. After I sieve it, I will put it in carboys and rack it. I don't expect to get all the crud out by sieve. When I distil it I want to avoid any chance of burning or puking. I understand this stuff foams some terrible so I will be putting marbles in the bottom of the still as well. I have found that the reason there does not seem to be a finished Banana recipe on here is that people get so frustrated with it that they give up. I said earlier on in this thread that I was going to see this thing through and faithfully post everything and I am still doing it.

I have decided though that if I ever do Bananas again it will be as an adjunct to rum. I actually might save a bunch of finished product and blend it with some rum and see how it tastes.
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NZChris
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Re: 75 pounds of free ripe bannanas need a little help

Post by NZChris »

With that kind of volume I would usually recommend a preheater, but what you have sounds like you need a thumper. Free run in the still, goop in the thumper, a knob of butter in both.
The Baker
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Re: 75 pounds of free ripe bannanas need a little help

Post by The Baker »

Sludge pump?
Drop the collection hose down the fill port.
Or a vacuum pump like they use to empty septic tanks; sounds like the same kind of material?
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FranklinNewhart
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Re: 75 pounds of free ripe bannanas need a little help

Post by FranklinNewhart »

Finally got everything running right. Used the bottom valve and got most of the gunk out. Sieved it all and then racked it over night in a plastic garbage can. What is left in the fermenter is all clear now. As for the still, I do not use a thumper because of the design of my still. The Reflux column can be removed and the head put directly on the boiler but the head has a built in condenser and then it feeds into another condenser. which delivers finished product. In full Reflux mode my heads begin at 75%. In Pot Still mode the heads begin at 60%. The boiler will hold 25 litres and still have room for the boil but because of the chance of puking I am only running 20 litres. I did my first run today and it took a little less than 2 hours to do the run. With a full day I might be able to get 4 runs in per day but I doubt if I will. Three is enough for me. I have other things to do with my time as well.
T-Boon
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Re: 75 pounds of free ripe bannanas need a little help

Post by T-Boon »

Bump on this post, curious to see how it went as I have a Banana run in my future.
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