Bananas

Ingredients
1

Hello!

I was wondering if anyone has any experience with adding banana flavor to brews? I am looking to make a peanut butter and banana stout. I plan to use P2B for the peanut butter but I am not sure how to get bananas into the beer.

I am worried banana extract with give me that candy/fake banana flavor. I was thinking of putting bananas in the secondary for several days but I am not sure how much banana flavor I would get with that plan.

Thanks for any info!

2

you could try a yeast strain that produces a lot of banana flavor (isomayl acetate). A lot of weizen strains are copious producers.

3

+1

4

Great idea!

So just to make sure I understand. For this beer I would do everything I would normally do for a stout but just swap out the normal stout yeast for one with more banana flavors?

5

Yuup

6

yup. that’d be a great place to start.

7

Awesome!

One last question, which yeast gives the best banana flavor? (Just banana flavor) I have been reading some stuff about WPL300 and they say it give good banana and clove flavor. I really just want the banana and PB flavors, not sure if clove with throw things off.

8

I haven’t done it, but I think adding about a dozen overripe black bananas (per 5 gallons) late in the fermentation would work wonders for real banana flavor.

I also have a suggestion for peanut butter flavor – toasted Maris Otter.  Put some Maris Otter in a 350 F oven for 15 minutes.  You’ll get a ton of nutty flavor in the final beer.

I do like the hefeweizen yeast idea too.  Ferment warm around 70 F for maximum banana.  With a big pitch and warm temps, you shouldn’t get much clove.  WLP300 should be fine for this although I’m still experimenting with weizen yeasts myself so I can’t say for sure.  Wyeast 3068 is definitely known for being a banana bomb.

9

wyeast 3068 fermented warm will give you lots and lots of banana.

10

Gee, I guess no one here has read Homebrew All Stars!  One of the brewers we interviewed is multi award winning Joe Formanek.  He gives recipes for both a banana blond and banana stout.  Made with bananas.

11

LOL.  I bought it, but I don’t read books much.  It’s on my pile.  :slight_smile:

12

Well, thanks for buying it!  One of these days you ought to look through it!  :wink:

13

I don’t currently have the book and didn’t know about but if you would like to share the wisdom of that recipe I am all ears…digitally.  ;D

14

I’d rather you bought the book!  :slight_smile:

15

My copy got signed by some guy holding a ukulele while Drew and I talked about cider.  8)

16

Who could that have been?  :wink: