Banana wine can be made dry or sweet depending upon the recipe and can be blended with other wines to add body and flavor. Patience is required when making this wine because it takes a long time to become clear. The following recipe will show you how to make your own banana wine.
Peel 3 pounds of bananas and mash them or slice them thin. Chop up to half of the banana peels into small pieces.
Bring 6 cups of water to a boil and place the bananas and the chopped peelings into the saucepan. Simmer for 30 minutes and strain with a straining bag.
Measure out 5 cups of granulated sugar into a primary fermenter. Add 1 ½ cups of light-colored raisins, 2 campden tablets and juice from 2 lemons to the fermentor. Mix all the ingredients together.
Pour the hot banana liquid over the mixture and stir well to dissolve the sugar. Add enough cold water to make one gallon of the liquid. Let the mixture sit overnight.
Add 1 teaspoon of nutrients and 1 package of wine yeast to the fermentor the following day. Mix well and leave for 5 days, stirring daily.
Siphon the mixture from the primary fermentor into a secondary fermentor on the fifth day. Do not stir before pouring. You don't want to stir up the sediment on the bottom of the fermentor during this process.
Attach the airlock to the secondary fermentor. After letting it sit for 3 weeks, siphon the wine off the sediment and return the wine to the fermenter.
Rack the wine (or siphon it) every 3 months for a year for a dry wine. Add ½ cup of sugar after dissolving it in 1 cup of wine at each racking for a sweet wine. Keep adding the sugar until formation doesn't start again when the sugar is added.
Tips
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You can use brown or demerara sugar in this recipe instead of granulated sugar.
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Add 1 ounce of whole cloves if you would like a spiced wine. Alternatively, you can add one 4-inch cinnamon stick.
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Using very ripe bananas will make the clearing time faster.