Banana esters, how to get them?

[RobWalker]

I'm not 100% sure if we're on the same page here, but recently I've taken to drinking Tennent's Pilsner when I'm out on the lash and there's no good beer available. It's a very plain cool lager but there is a definite sweet banana flavour in there, and I've become increasingly fond of it.

i've read that you need to stress the yeast to get banana flavours, and I've recently been thinking of converting the old fridge in the garage to a fermentation chamber. If I did, could I make a sweet clean pilsner with banana esters? Some expert knowledge is required here...

 

[thejesmonddingo]

Banana flavours are usually associated with wheat beers,obtained by manipulating the fermentation temperatures of specific yeasts.I don't know wether it would be worth trying a wheat yeast with a pilsner grain bill to see what you got.Remember the wheat yeasts are top-fermenting,and you may well lose any pilsener type crispness to the beer.
Ian

 

[Mark1964]

wlp 550 belgian ale yeast will produce fruity tastes all by itself. You may find though that its considerably a stronger more prominent taste that you get from Tennants

 

[RobWalker]

That's not a problem, quite frankly I hate that moment when I stop tasting it, the first sip is always great. So wlp 550 won't require temp control?

 

[Mark1964]

no it ferments at normal temps we ferment it at 18-19 deg c

 

[RobWalker]

Interesting. As I can't do a full all grain batch yet, it's quite appealing to be able to use a pilsner kit with this yeast to get a bananery pilsner... :)

 

[Mark1964]

here is the recipe we use might help

Fermentable Colour lb: oz Grams Ratio
Pale Malt 5 EBC 9 lbs. 14.6 oz 4500 grams 50%
bohemian malt 5.9 EBC 8 lbs. 13.0 oz 4000 grams 44.4%
carabelge 5.9 EBC 1 lbs. 1.6 oz 500 grams 5.6%


Hop Variety Type Alpha Time lb: oz grams Ratio
Hallertauer Mittlefruh Whole 4.3 % 15 mins 0 lbs. 1.4 oz 40 grams 32%
Saaz Whole 3.3 % 70 mins 0 lbs. 1.4 oz 40 grams 32%
Tettnang Whole 4.3 % 15 mins 0 lbs. 1.6 oz 45 grams 36%


Final Volume: 25 Litres
Original Gravity: 1.076
Final Gravity: 1.018
Alcohol Content: 7.7% ABV
Total Liquor: 39.5 Litres
Mash Liquor: 22.5 Litres
Mash Efficiency: 75 %
Bitterness: 23.2493184087829 EBU
Colour: 15 EBC

 

[pittsy]

you could also try safbrew wb06 i use this for my wheat beers and its a dried yeast to get more banana ferment at 22c hopville beer calculus claims its an ale yeast although my packet says wheat beer yeast , only £ 2 and some pence and ferments in around 4 days :thumb:

 

[thejesmonddingo]

I'd second pittsy's idea ,the Belgian yeasts are a bit lively sometimes,try the Safale first,+ it's a bit cheaper.

 

[Swazi]

Banana seems a bit out of place here, my suspicion is that it is DMS. In the right amount it will give a slight sweet corn addition to the flavour. It's most common in light lagers and can be quite pleasant.

 

[Hirsty]

Higher fermentation temp