Banana beer

People have been using bananas to ferment alcoholic beverages for the ages throughout Africa. Traditionally sorghum flour is mixed with ripened bananas (Matoke/Musa acuminata) and fermented to an orange, sweet, lightly hazy drink. Different countries have their own spin on the beer and their own names for the brew; mubisi (Uganda), urwaga (Kenya) and kasiksi (DR Congo) to name a few. In Tanzania their banana beer called mbege is even brewed commercially.

For this recipe I’d like to go a little bananas, but use instead the plantain (Musa paradisiaca), which is also an ingredient used in the warm beverage called chapo, made by the indigenous Shipibo from the Peruvian amazon.

To mix and match a little we’re simply starting off with a traditionally British mild, to which we will introduce the plantain in secondary to further accompany the chocolate and fruity flavour.

Ingredients

As this is a pilot (I might try out some more banana ideas) and I want to get to know my new brewing kettle, this recipe will be for 5L.

• 1.5 kg mild-ale malt
• 250g dark cristal malt
• 50g chocolate malt
• Northern brewer
• Goldings
• 500g of plantain
• London Ale yeast

Hopping schedule

The following hopping schedule is used:

The water was brought to a boil before hopping.

• 3.3g of Northern brewer was added at the start
• 1 teaspoon of Irish Moss was added the last 15 min
• 1.6 g of Goldings was added at the last 5 min

with a total cooking time of an hour 10 min.

Cooling

The brew was cooled to around 20°C, by submersing a cooler in the kettle and letting cold water run trough it for about 15 minutes.

Gravity measurement

• Specific gravity measured: 1.065
• Alcohol percentage expected: 7.22%

Primary Fermentation

Primary fermentation is done in a glass carboy. The brew started bubbling heavily in the morning.

Secondary fermentation

Plantain is mixed and cooked prior to adding it to the brew.