Ongoing Banana Madness
Posted: Fri Oct 30, 2015 11:01 am
As some of you know, I've been doing some experimental banana washes, so I figured I'd start a thread on them.
My first batch (targeting 2 gallons) was as follows:
12 bananas, browned in the sun
5 cups sugar
1tbsp Soylent (a very nutrient-rich dietary thing that I eat for 2/3 of meals)
EC-1118 pitched at 71 degrees
OG: 1.058
FG: 1.002 (7.2%)
I didn't cook the bananas, or use the peels, I simply peeled them and ran them through the blender with some water.
I started this batch back on 10/2, and since it was only a 2-gallon batch I wasn't eager to waste a whole hydrometer flask of liquid, so I was judging it by taste. My wort refractometer arrived today, and I finally got a reading, and after adjusting it for the alcohol present, I finished up at 7.2%. I'd like to get something a *little* higher, but not much. I'm not going into this with huge expectations, I'm just hoping to finish up with some good banana booze.
Today I went to Stop and Shop, and since the Produce Guy was stocking bananas, I asked what they do with the ones that had browned already -- he directed me to a back hallway of the store, where they have plastic bags of browned bananas for something like 10-15cents/pound, so I loaded up on enough for a 5-gallon ferment, which I'll start tonight. Not only do I not have to keep bringing them in and out of the house to get them to brown in the sunlight, they're cheaper than usual too. Win-win.
I also ordered up some WLP300 Hefeweizen yeast -- it's got the banana esters that I'm after, and it's happy at 68 degrees, which is what my basement is most of the time. I was thinking of using this method to stash some of this yeast for future ferments, but I want to get it going tomorrow, and I just don't have the time. Hopefully I'll keep this mash going for a few generations, so the $6 for the yeast should be well-spent anyway.
So, tomorrow's recipe will be:
1) Slice up the 32 bananas, with skins.
2) Bring them to a boil in a paint/strainer bag, then let them simmer for 30 minutes
3) Squeeze everything out of the strainer bag.
4) Melt 12.5 pounds of sugar in the hot mash
5) Cool it to ~75 degrees and pitch the WLP300
I'm not 100% certain of how much sugar I'm going to add, I'm thinking of target 1.070 for an OG, please speak up if you think you've got a better target for it. With the new refractometer, testing this stuff should be much, much easier.
Then it all gets topped up to 5 gallons in the bucket. I'm also adding a spigot to my 6.5-gallon Ale Pail, to make refractometer and taste tests easier.
If all goes well, I plan to keep the bed in the bucket for multiple batches, we'll see how that works out. I haven't distilled any of this yet, I've just been drinking it as-is, but if this next batch comes out with a stronger banana flavor I might try distilling a few gallons of it in the little stockpot.
My first batch (targeting 2 gallons) was as follows:
12 bananas, browned in the sun
5 cups sugar
1tbsp Soylent (a very nutrient-rich dietary thing that I eat for 2/3 of meals)
EC-1118 pitched at 71 degrees
OG: 1.058
FG: 1.002 (7.2%)
I didn't cook the bananas, or use the peels, I simply peeled them and ran them through the blender with some water.
I started this batch back on 10/2, and since it was only a 2-gallon batch I wasn't eager to waste a whole hydrometer flask of liquid, so I was judging it by taste. My wort refractometer arrived today, and I finally got a reading, and after adjusting it for the alcohol present, I finished up at 7.2%. I'd like to get something a *little* higher, but not much. I'm not going into this with huge expectations, I'm just hoping to finish up with some good banana booze.
Today I went to Stop and Shop, and since the Produce Guy was stocking bananas, I asked what they do with the ones that had browned already -- he directed me to a back hallway of the store, where they have plastic bags of browned bananas for something like 10-15cents/pound, so I loaded up on enough for a 5-gallon ferment, which I'll start tonight. Not only do I not have to keep bringing them in and out of the house to get them to brown in the sunlight, they're cheaper than usual too. Win-win.
I also ordered up some WLP300 Hefeweizen yeast -- it's got the banana esters that I'm after, and it's happy at 68 degrees, which is what my basement is most of the time. I was thinking of using this method to stash some of this yeast for future ferments, but I want to get it going tomorrow, and I just don't have the time. Hopefully I'll keep this mash going for a few generations, so the $6 for the yeast should be well-spent anyway.
So, tomorrow's recipe will be:
1) Slice up the 32 bananas, with skins.
2) Bring them to a boil in a paint/strainer bag, then let them simmer for 30 minutes
3) Squeeze everything out of the strainer bag.
4) Melt 12.5 pounds of sugar in the hot mash
5) Cool it to ~75 degrees and pitch the WLP300
I'm not 100% certain of how much sugar I'm going to add, I'm thinking of target 1.070 for an OG, please speak up if you think you've got a better target for it. With the new refractometer, testing this stuff should be much, much easier.
Then it all gets topped up to 5 gallons in the bucket. I'm also adding a spigot to my 6.5-gallon Ale Pail, to make refractometer and taste tests easier.
If all goes well, I plan to keep the bed in the bucket for multiple batches, we'll see how that works out. I haven't distilled any of this yet, I've just been drinking it as-is, but if this next batch comes out with a stronger banana flavor I might try distilling a few gallons of it in the little stockpot.