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Banana wine has a unique tropical flavor that tastes amazing in the middle of a long north country winter.

I know what you’re thinking, banana wine?!?!?

Really!?!?!

How can that work?

Believe it or not, banana wine works quite well. 

You’re not mashing the thick fruit to create a puree (as you do with some other fruit winemaking recipes). 

Instead, you simmer the bananas in water to extract both their flavor and their sugars, and then strain the thick fruit out of the mix before fermenting.

Using Bananas in Winemaking Recipes

Bananas are actually common additions to fruit wine recipes because they add body to what would otherwise be a thin wine.  The sugars in grapes naturally create a full-bodied wine, but many other fruits don’t have the same characteristics.

If you look at winemaking books for recipes for country wines, often you’ll find a pound or two of bananas in the recipe because their sugars tend to give a recipe body (without imparting a banana flavor).  In those recipes, you’re peeling the bananas and adding them to a simmering pot of water, and then straining out the solids. 

Sugars are extracted, and the banana flavor is pretty minimal, especially with all the other fruit in the recipe.

To actually create a banana wine recipe, you’ll want not just the body adding banana sugars, but also the flavor.  To get that, you’ll need both the banana flesh as well as the peels.

Believe it or not, banana peels actually have a lot more banana flavor than the banana itself.  They are edible, and by extracting flavor from both the peel, and the sugars from the flesh, you end up with a lovely banana wine.

(Be sure you use organic bananas though!  Bananas are a high spray crop, so you’ll definitely want the cleanest ones you can get when using both the peel and flesh.)

Recipes for Banana Wine

I’d seen recipes for banana wine in just about all my winemaking books, and I started thinking there must be something to this.

They’re all quite similar, and all actually require you to slice ripe bananas (peels and all) and simmer to create a banana extract before adding sugar, acid, tannin, and yeast nutrients from one source or another.

I chose to make a recipe that I adapted from 101 Recipes for Making Wild Wines at home (pg. 142).  This is an easier recipe in that it doesn’t require much in the way of specialized ingredients.  No need to buy yeast nutrient, tannin powder, or winemaking acid blend (which can be hard to find unless you order online).

You will need wine yeast though.  Don’t substitute bread yeast, as the yeast actually imparts quite a bit of flavor into the finished wine.  Bread yeast makes wines taste like rising bread smells, and it’ll taint the whole batch.

If you happen to have winemaking additives already at home, feel free to add 1/4 tsp. tannin powder in place of the brewed black tea.  You can also add in 1 tsp of yeast nutrient if you like, but the golden raisins both feed the yeast and add flavor, so they’re a better option.

Ingredients for Banana Wine

• 3 to 4 lbs Bananas, Ripe (but not overripe)
• 1 1/2 cup golden raisins
• 5 cups granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 1 cup strongly brewed black tea (ie. Lipton)
• 1 packet wine yeast
• water to fill
• Simple syrup (optionally added before bottling)

How to Make Banana Wine

Start by washing and then slicing the bananas (without peeling).  There’s a lot of concentrated banana flavor in the peels, even though their lack of sugar and strange texture isn’t great for eating on their own.  

We’re basically making a banana extract here, so don’t throw away the flavorful peels. 

(I’d suggest using organic bananas, since they’re usually a high spray crop.  If you’re worried about it, you can peel them, and just use an extra pound of bananas instead.)

Place the bananas in a stockpot with 2 quarts of water and bring to a boil. 

As this cooks, the water will take on a dark red to brown color, and that’ll lighten in the finished wine.  The eventual color of the banana wine will vary based on the type of bananas, but it’ll be somewhere between dark yellow, to pink/red, or a deep red/brown.

Simmer for about 30 minutes, and then strain out the fruit and peels.

Mix the raisins, sugar, lemon juice, and cup of brewed black tea into the strained (but still boiling hot) banana liquid.  (Don’t add the yeast yet!)  Stir to dissolve the sugar.

Pour the mixture into a fermentation vessel (carboy or bucket fermenter) and allow it to cool to room temperature

Once the mixture is cool, add the wine yeast.  Be sure you’re using wine yeast, rather than bread yeast, as bread yeast will add off-flavors to homemade wine.

It’s usually recommended to dissolve the yeast packet in 1/4 to 1/2 cup of water and allow it to proof for 10 minutes before pouring it into a sugar solution.  This allows the yeast to wake up a bit before they go to work.

Allow the mixture to ferment for 7 to 10 days loosely covered with a towel or a lid.  At this point, the mixture should be very actively fermenting and doesn’t require an airlock.  An airlock is actually a hindrance at this stage, as it’s likely to just get clogged as the mixture bubbles up.

After 7 to 10 days of primary fermentation, siphon the mixture into a clean fermenter (such as a 1-gallon glass narrow neck demijohns).  Be sure to leave sediment and the raisins behind at this step.

Fill to within a few inches of the top of the fermenter.  Now it’s time to seal with a water lock.

Allow the banana wine to ferment in secondary for 6 to 8 weeks.  After 8 weeks, it’s possible to just bottle, but I’d suggest racking it again to help clarify and mature the wine.  If you do rack it again, leave it for another 4 to 8 weeks before bottling.

Bottling Banana Wine

At bottling time, taste the wine.  If it’s sweet enough for your taste, then go ahead and bottle as is.  If you prefer a sweeter wine, then stabilize the wine and add sugar.  For sugar, I’d suggest dissolving 2 to 4 ounces of sugar in 1 cup of water and add it to the wine after stabilization (but right before bottling).

Stabilization requires adding additional winemaking chemicals to prevent the wine from just starting to ferment again as you feed it more sugar. 

Here’s a good tutorial on stabilizing wine before bottling. 

I didn’t stabilize or add sugar at this point, but I don’t like overly sweet wines.  It’s up to your personal taste.

Yield: Makes 1 gallon (4 bottles)

Banana Wine

Prep Time: 1 day

Primary Fermentation: 7 days

Secondary Fermentation: 2 months

Total Time: 2 months 8 days

Banana wine has a unique tropical taste and is a fun one to pull out at parties.

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Ingredients

• 3 to 4 lbs Bananas, Ripe (but not overripe)
• 1 1/2 cup golden raisins
• 5 cups granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 1 cup strongly brewed black tea (ie. Lipton)
• 1 packet wine yeast
• water to fill
• Simple syrup (optionally added before bottling)

Instructions

1. Wash and slice the bananas (without peeling).
2. Place the bananas and banana skins into a stockpot and cover with 3 quarts of water. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 30 minutes. Strain and discard bananas and peels.
3. Pour the strained but still boiling hot liquid over the remaining ingredients (except yeast), including raisins, sugar, lemon juice, and brewed black tea. Stir to dissolve the sugar.
4. Add cool water to the fermenter until it reaches the 1-gallon mark. Allow the mixture to cool completely to room temperature (no more than 90 degrees F) before proceeding.
5. Dissolve the yeast in 1/4 cup unchlorinated water and allow it to rehydrate for 10 minutes. Add the yeast to the banana/sugar mixture in the fermenter.
6. Cover the mixture loosely with a lid or towel and allow it to ferment in primary for 7 to 10 days. (Do not attach a water lock at this stage.)
7. After the primary, siphon the mixture into a new clean carboy, leaving the sediment and raisins behind. Fill with unchlorinated water to within a few inches of the top and seal with a water lock.
8. Allow the mixture to ferment in secondary for 6 to 8 weeks. Optionally, siphon into a clean container and continue to ferment for another 6 to 8 weeks (or proceed to bottling).
9. To bottle, siphon into clean bottles and cork. If you choose to stabilize and back sweeten the wine, refer to instructions within the article. (That's optional, and depends on your taste.)
10. Allow the banana wine to bottle condition for at least 2 months before drinking. Enjoy!

Fruit Winemaking Recipes

Hoping to make more than just banana wine?  I’ve got plenty of recipes to fill your glass…

• Blackberry Wine
• Cherry Wine
• Peach Wine
• Beetroot Wine
• Parsnip Wine
• Pineapple Wine

Beyond Winemaking

Try your hand at other homemade drinks, you won’t be sorry…

• How to Make Beer at Home
• How to Make Hard Cider
• How to Make Pear Cider (Perry)
• How to Make Mead (Honey Wine)