WI1 -- Banana Wine

Brewed 20100211.

Sliced 39oz of overripe bananas, put in a nylon straining bag and simmered in 2qts of water for 30 minutes.  Removed banana bag and added 30oz of sugar (about half granulated and half powdered.  Squeezed banana bag to remove as much liquid and combined with the boiled must into a 1gal fermenter.  Added 1tsp pectic enzyme and topped of with RO water to 1 gallon.  22.7% brix (1.096).  Pitched 11g of Lavlin EC-1118 (rehydrated per instructions).

20100112 AM, fermenting nicely.  Sediment at the bottom looks mostly like banana chunks.  Stirred (more like swirled) vigorously.

20100221 Kept agitating about once a day.  Racked on to 2lb of chopped white raisins.  11.7% brix (1.017).  Gravity measurements are probably usless at this point with the unknown added quantity donated by the raisins.  Mild banana flavor, still quite sweet, yeasty and hot (10.4% ABV).

20100323, Most of the raisins have floated.  It's quite clear, and it appears that most of the yeast has settled out.  There's still a fair amount of off-gassing with visible bubbles ascending from the bottom.

20100404, Racked to a new vessel.  17.6% brix and super hot.  Rocket fuel.  Still sweet too, I think.  Topped off with about a liter of boiled, cooled RO water.

20101225, tasted.  Not much nose, the tiniest bit of banana runts, but basically insipid.  Mellow alcohol.