Bananas Foster Creamy Ale (All Grain) **pic intensive**

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Mine turned out great with Cascade.

As for the Rum I would not increase the amount it gets stronger as the beer ages. My other experience is that as the beer ages the banana aroma and flavor decreases.

(Been kegged for about a month and a half now.)
 
I picked up 9lbs of naners today for my stout. I figured once peeled I'll end up somewhere around 7.5lbs or so. I'll be stealing the idea of a paint strainer bag for the mushed up bananas.
 
nsrooen said:
Mine turned out great with Cascade.

As for the Rum I would not increase the amount it gets stronger as the beer ages. My other experience is that as the beer ages the banana aroma and flavor decreases.

(Been kegged for about a month and a half now.)
Click to expand...

Do you think adding more banana would make the flavor and aroma last longer? Or would that throw off the balance of everything?
 
I'm not sure if this has been mentioned before as I didn't read all 17 pages, but has anyone tried zesting the banana peel to get the banana flavor? I don't know if this works the same as orange peel zest does but thought it might be worth a try. And should take up a lot less space in the fermenters.
 
Sippin37 said:
I'm not sure if this has been mentioned before as I didn't read all 17 pages, but has anyone tried zesting the banana peel to get the banana flavor? I don't know if this works the same as orange peel zest does but thought it might be worth a try. And should take up a lot less space in the fermenters.
Click to expand...

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but from my experience with cooking, that only works with citrus type fruits (lemons, oranges, limes, etc.)
 
whats up people?! Im actually drinking one of my B-Fosters right now and I think the head retention got alot better as it has been aging. I am a big fan of this recipe, I thank my wife for the idea. The only thing I would consider is adding more rum, possibly. At one time during this adventure I considered adding more rum, about 6oz, but never did.

Im not sure about other peoples that have taken a stab at this, but my banana flavor has not weakened.
 
I'm getting ready to blend and add my bananas tonight I think. They're finally ripe enough. I've moved slow on this stout but it'll get done. I'll be blending with some Goslings Black Seal.
 
jeremydgreat said:
Okay, I hate to be "that guy"... but any thoughts about converting the base recipe to extract?
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OGM - YOU'RE *THAT* GUY!!! :D

i'm no expert on making extract versions, but this is how i'd do it... the OP's recipe calls for:

Grains & Adjuncts
Amount Percentage Name Time Gravity
10.00 lbs 71.43 % Briess 2-Row Brewers Malt 60 mins 1.037
1.00 lbs 7.14 % Oats, Flaked 60 mins 1.037
2.00 lbs 14.29 % Caramel/Crystal Malt - 10L 60 mins 1.035
1.00 lbs 7.14 % Briess Corn, Flaked, Yellow 60 mins 1.039

you're going to need to mash the oats and the corn with an equal amount of 2-row (this is approximate, please correct me if i'm wrong). so that means you can cut 8 ls of 2-row from the recipe and replace it with extract. the replacement rule is 1 lb malt = 0.75 lb LME = 0.6 lb DME. so 8 lbs malt = 6 lbs LME = 4.8 lbs DME (AKA 4 lbs 13 oz). so the recipe now becomes:

2.00 lbs 2-Row Brewers Malt 60 mins 1.037
1.00 lbs Oats, Flaked 60 mins 1.037
2.00 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt - 10L 60 mins 1.035
1.00 lbs Briess Corn, Flaked, Yellow 60 mins 1.039
6.00 lbs LME **or** 4 lbs 13 oz DME (one or the other, not both)

mash the first 4 ingredients in 6 quarts of water for 60 min @ 152.0°F (that's 1.5 qt/lb, change per your preference... some people prefer 1.33 or even 1.25). after an hour, have your second pot with sparge water heated to about 174-176*F. pull the bag out, let it drip, then plunge it into the second pot. it should stabilize down to about 168. let the grains soak in that for 15 mins, pull bag out and drip/squeeze. start your boil. you can add your LME/DME at the start and use the same hop schedule as described by the OP, or do a late addition of extract (you might need to scale them back just a little, say 10% or 15%, since you'll get better extraction in the less sugary water).
 
one8tvw said:
i always freeze bananas to speed up the ripening of them and make them mushy. I learned this from my mother 20 years ago, its her trick when she is making banana bread.
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Won't blending them make them pretty mushy? :)

Only asking because I'm making this recipe for an event which is about 20 days away, and my initial fermentation is almost complete. I didn't leave time for the week in the freezer.

I was going to just get some bananas, cut them up, spritz with StarSan, blend with rum, let it sit for like a day in the fridge, and then dump it in.

Think that will be okay?
 
Shoot, one other question. Do you think bananas would work well with a Dunkelweissen? I was thinking about using this recipe as a base:

9# Wheat LME
6oz Munich malt (steeping)
6oz Special B (steeping)
6oz Crystal40 (steeping)
2oz CarafaII (steeping)
1oz Hallertau (4%) @60min
WLP300 Hefeweizen Ale yeast

That's pretty far off the original recipe in this thread, I realize. I just thought the idea of a super-banana-y Dunkel sounded great. Any red flags raised here, or should I just give it a whirl and pray for the best?
 
Did we already cover the banana extract topic? I think we did but oh well...has anyone tried banana extract instead of or in conjunction with real banana? I know real fruit has a habit of fading fast. I used real coconut in a porter i made but all i ended up with is the toasted coconut flavor so i dropped a dram of extract in and it was awesome.
 
So I got a little :drunk: while making this on Sunday and forgot to add the brown sugar in the boil. Should I add it to the secondary with the bananas or just skip it all together?
 
Brett3rThanU said:
So I got a little :drunk: while making this on Sunday and forgot to add the brown sugar in the boil. Should I add it to the secondary with the bananas or just skip it all together?
Click to expand...

You could add it in the primary. Just use a pint or so of water to dissolve it in, boil it for a few minutes, cool and dump.
 
jeremydgreat said:
Won't blending them make them pretty mushy? :)

Only asking because I'm making this recipe for an event which is about 20 days away, and my initial fermentation is almost complete. I didn't leave time for the week in the freezer.

I was going to just get some bananas, cut them up, spritz with StarSan, blend with rum, let it sit for like a day in the fridge, and then dump it in.

Think that will be okay?
Click to expand...

That should've been fine, freezing really just breaks them down faster.
 
I thought about brewing this but before pureeing the bananas ACTUALLY make bananas foster with them, and caramelize some of the sugars. Maybe leave the brown sugar out of the boil too, and then just puree the bananas foster (without icecream of course)....
 
Bananas Foster Brewing Update:

I saw this recipe thought it looked great. I made the wort by following the recipe close to the description. I varied the ingredients slightly according to what was available, with two row Canadian barley, and 15L caramel malt. I used the Saaz hops, adding ounce for 60 minutes, a pound of oats, a pound of flaked corn, two cups of brown sugar with 20 minutes to go, then another half ounce of Saaz at 10 minutes, and Whirlflock at 5 minutes. I used White Labs 001, the California ale yeast.

My original gravity was an eye-opening 1.080, the highest I have ever brewed. The wort had very sweet taste, with an unusual lightness (unlike heavy store-bought maple syrup). After about a day, the thickest krausen I had ever seen had formed. By 48 hours, some of it rose through my airlock, and flowed like cake batter onto the carboy. It even tasted like cake batter, with a bitter finish.

The krausen was so thick (just like photo three of the original post) I waited 12 days until it dissolved, then transferred to the secondary. Fermentation was in the 64 to 68 degree range for the first two weeks, then 70-72 during the hot Memorial Day Weekend. I pureed 14 bananas, about 5 pounds, that I froze when the skins were brown then added them to the carboy (four cups of puree). A second krausen formed, with the airlock going full-force. The banana puree sank to the bottom and looked just like the January 5 post, but is now less visible (it is four days later).

I did not want to add the rum or the vanilla to the secondary because I was not sure if they would be left behind in the trub when I racked it for bottling. However, it’s a good thing because there is very little head space in the carboy. I was also concerned the two fermentations plus rum would have so much alcohol that the other flavors would be lost. I'm planning on 350 to 500 cc of rum. I will also use vanilla extract, and will add 1 to 2 ounces to get a sweet finish.

Banana Chemistry: Bananas contain free glucose, free fructose and about 20% sucrose. When they turn brown, the starches are breaking down into simpler sugars, which I would expect to mean sucrose becomes glucose and fructose. Does anybody know what the yeast will do to the fructose?

The banana oil is isoamyl acetate, a compound made of isoamyl alcohol and acetic acid (vinegar). I am expect this will give the banana flavor. My guess is that yeast will not ferment it. Does anybody know how I can do to prevent it from breaking down to alcohol and vinegar?

I hope this beer turns out well. It has certainly been an unusual brew! I am planning to keep it in the secondary for 14 to 21 days, which would be June 8 to 15.

Comments Welcome!
 
I just racked mine onto the bananas/rum/vanilla mixture:

IMG_20120528_165715.jpg
 
I have had this on CO2 for about three months now, which is too long. First month it was great, banana aroma / flavor and hint of rum. Month two it was still drinkable with no banana aroma and slight hint of flavor. Month three it is undrinkable, the rum has come front and center and taken over, there is no trace of banana left. Not even sure if I will keep drinking it.

Perhaps the outcome would have been different if it had been bottled. If I make it again I will probably do a 2.5 gallon batch with less rum.
 
thanks for the detailed update, DblTrbl500!

DblTrbl500 said:
Banana Chemistry: Bananas contain free glucose, free fructose and about 20% sucrose. When they turn brown, the starches are breaking down into simpler sugars, which I would expect to mean sucrose becomes glucose and fructose. Does anybody know what the yeast will do to the fructose?
Click to expand...
yeast will munch down on fructose and turn it into alcohol. fructose is highly fermentable.

DblTrbl500 said:
The banana oil is isoamyl acetate, a compound made of isoamyl alcohol and acetic acid (vinegar). I am expect this will give the banana flavor. My guess is that yeast will not ferment it. Does anybody know how I can do to prevent it from breaking down to alcohol and vinegar?
Click to expand...
i'm relatively certain that yeast can't do a thing to isoamyl acetate. what was there before fermentation should still be there afterwards, unless it is volatile and gets blown off along with the CO2.
 
Well I bottled up my banana stout. I put over 2.5lbs of banana in 7.5 gallons. I ended up with 4 bottles short of three cases. I underestimated the sugar contribution of the bananas and didn't adjust my mash temp higher than 152. So I ended up at 1.008, however it doesn't have a thin feel even when warm. I will see how it ends up in three weeks, but I can certainly taste the banana. I think it'll be a good beer but it is a bit boozier than I hoped at 8.2%.
 
nsrooen said:
I have had this on CO2 for about three months now, which is too long. First month it was great, banana aroma / flavor and hint of rum. Month two it was still drinkable with no banana aroma and slight hint of flavor. Month three it is undrinkable, the rum has come front and center and taken over, there is no trace of banana left. Not even sure if I will keep drinking it.

Perhaps the outcome would have been different if it had been bottled. If I make it again I will probably do a 2.5 gallon batch with less rum.
Click to expand...

bottling may have been a better option, mine still have tons of banana flavor. i actually just waxed the last 6 and dont plan on opening them for a long time.
 
I bottled a batch of this on 4/22/12. I tried one after a week and it tasted like horrible brown bananas. I decided to give it a full month after bottling then give my full opinion. A full five weeks later i put one in the fridge for a day then opened it and it blew all but an ounce of beer all over my kitchen. However, the gross banana taste had now faded and was much more pleasant. I have a lot of banana crud in my bottles and it looks really gross so I am wondering if there is some sort of infection. Pictures will come as soon as i'm sober
 
I only have 1oz Saaz on hand so 60 min addition is good. For the 10 min addition I have a couple of choices: citra, cascade, fuggles, and magnum. Any of these work?
 
Don't waste your Saaz on the bittering addition. Use it for the late addition. Use anything else for the 60 minute. I used Cascade and it turned out great, but really pretty much anything will work for bittering.
 
How about this crazy idea? Given to me by a buddy of mine the mad scientist lol. Magnum 0.5oz and fuggles 0.5oz blend for bittering? Then saaz for aroma at 10. Or is it bad practice to blend bittering hops?
 
Another question I had was around adding the bananas, rum, and vanilla. Do they need to be boiled before adding to the secondary?

Also, any thoughts of my last comment regarding which other hops to use?

Thanks in advance.
 
No need to boil the bananas, rum, and vanilla. The rum added to the puree will help to sanitize the bananas. The vanilla beans should be soaked separately in an ounce or two of rum, which will sanitize them, for about a week before adding to secondary.

Regarding the bittering hops, I don't think there's anything forbidden about mixing hop varieties, but in this case, you shouldn't need to. Since Magnum is a high alpha acid variety (typically 13-14%) and Saaz is much lower (3-4%), it takes much less Magnum to get the same IBUs as Saaz. Fuggles, on the other hand, are just a little higher AA than Saaz (around 5-6%). So, with all this in mind, you could go with either .30 oz. Magnum or .75 oz. of Fuggles and get approx. the same bittering as 1 ounce of Saaz.
 
Hey,

Was checking out your recipe for the BF Cream Ale and I think it sounds amazing! Want to make it for my mothers birthday as we're from New Orleans and she makes BF only a few times a year.

Although i have read over the thread quite a few times I wanted to confirm with you before I set out to brew;

What was the total count of Vanilla Beans used?
I counted a total of 4
#1 & 2 - 20 minutes left in the boil w/ the brown sugar (split into 4 smaller strips total)
#3 - to infuse flavor into the 8oz of Sailor Jerry Rum added to the banana puree
#4 - to the secondary after 7 days.
Or just 3 total with my assumption that you used 1 to infuse the flavor into the 8oz of rum being wrong?

And as I have never done a secondary fermentation do I add more yeast or does the yeast from the primary transfer to the secondary when I siphon it into the carboy?

Did you do a tertiary fermentation with this one as well? (you mentioned it but never confirmed) and if so, why? (basically whats the advantage to doing a 3rd fermentation)

Did you cold crash this at all to reduce the amount of "floaties" in your final bottled product?

What was the final time frame from grain to fully carbonated bottle? (by my math from your posts it was 55 days. From Jan 2nd to Feb 25th)

Also, did you sparge at all? And if so what was the amount?

And finally, any word on your entry into the Home Brew Competition?


Sorry for all of the questions (still new at this, have only done 3 brews so far), but Im curious as I have entered everything into my iBrewMaster app for my iPad and some of the numbers/readings are different from yours.

Thanks in advanced!
 

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