🍌How to make Banana Brandy + Chocolate Banana Liqueur!🍌

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In this video I show you how to make Banana Brandy and a Chocolate Banana Liqueur! Recipe Below:-)
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Bearded’s Banana Brandy Recipe
15 pounds (6.8Kg) organic bananas
7 pounds (3.1Kg) sugar
1/2 lemon - juice
Water to top up to 5 gallons (20L)
Yeast Nutrients - Fermaid K - amzn.to/3Sgq4Fg
1 packet of Lalvin K1V-1116 Yeast - amzn.to/3eLwrCM
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1. Bruise all the bananas and allow them to sit for 1-2 hours to allow amylase enzymes in skins to convert starches into sugars.
2. While the bananas are resting, boil 2 gallons (8L) of water with your sugar and lemon juice for 20 minutes to invert the sugar. Let the invert sugar cool to room temp.
3. Mash bananas and combine with cooled inverted sugar syrup. Then chop up the banana peels and add them to the mash.
4. Top up the mixture with water until you have 5 total gallons, then oxygenate the mash and take a hydrometer reading.
5. Add yeast nutrient and yeast, then stir it well.
6. WARNING: The mash will foam up a lot, so split it into 2 fermenters to allow adequate head space.
7. Close up the fermenters and allow it to ferment down to dryness, hydrometer reading of 1.000 or lower.
8. Hypothetically, you can distill the mash in a single slow pot still run. If you have a thumper, you can add some of the wash to increase the flavor.
Bearded’s Chocolate Banana Liqueur
3-5 Banana Peels chopped
At least ½ cup sugar
400ml Banana Brandy
3 Tbsp Olive Nation Cacao Nibs
Water
Disclaimer: This video may contain a simulation of the process of distillation filmed for entertainment and educational purposes only. The equipment depicted is solely for the production of distilled water, essential oils, and brewing. The information on the process is provided for its entertainment and educational value only. Distillation of alcohol is currently illegal at the U.S. Federal level if done without a license, even for the sole purpose of personal consumption. Understand and follow Federal and State laws when making alcoholic beverages. If you attempt this project, you assume all risk. Please drink responsibly.
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[@BeardedBored]

Click here for 20% OFF Olive Nation Products - bit.ly/33cdUqn Use Coupon Code BB20 for 20% OFF your order!

[@availxe8639]

pro tip, after you bash the bananas chuck them in a brown paper bag and put them somewhere in your house, they will brown up in a couple of hours.

[@jsEMCsquared]

I just made a first time banana, pineapple, coconut rum. I used 25 lbs ripened, baked, and peeled bananas, molasses, pineapple chunks! It is fabulous!

[@mykeechoes]

Glad to see you uploading again! Keep up the great work.

[@BeardedBored]

Thanks 👍

[@badgyalmeme2025]

definitely going to try this!!!

[@fabbricaitalianaautomobili5859]

Looks yum, Thanks Broer, Must try! Ciao

[@Hippyslacker]

Good to see you Bearded. Great stuff man!!

[@BeardedBored]

Hey, thanks!

[@citylotgardening6171]

Great video thanks for sharing 👍

[@sharlenev8421]

Thanks!

[@stevevet3652]

Once again, another great video. Thanks

[@BeardedBored]

Thanks!

[@alexjohnson3696]

They’re awesome. Liked and subscribed 👍

[@larrybarker1784]

Totally going to try this! Always a good watch and learning experience. Thanks for all the hard, but fun work, you do.

[@BeardedBored]

Thanks Larry!

[@thomasstadaas3599]

Great stuff Bearded! 🙏👍 Love from Norway!

[@BeardedBored]

Thanks Thomas!

[@TheJdm2203]

GREAT to see you again!!!

[@BeardedBored]

Hey, thanks!

[@ndagirejudith1085]

Very cool video, thanks

[@smokinjay]

With my banana brandy, I use olive nations banana extract to boost the flavor and also add a tad bit of simple syrup to add a touch of sweetness. Works very well 👌

[@BeardedBored]

I was almost going to try that, but I read about the banana peel syrup thing and really wanted to try it. It's not as strong as extract, but it's pretty tasty.

[@jeffreyschutt7451]

Bro that i have to do thanks love you and Jesse you are Awsome Guys Keep them coming

[@BeardedBored]

Thanks brother!

[@carniemike7303]

Love the still it shirt

[@BEAVERDIY]

Super cool video Brother, thank you for the shout out will be back on the Tube very very soon.

[@BeardedBored]

Anytime broer! Can't wait to see you back:-)

[@adamzamora983]

Solid project. I've been wanting to do a banana wash for a while!

[@BeardedBored]

Go for it!

[@craig.n.gaylene]

I've made Waragi and left the peels on the bananas. The banana smell and flavour really came through.

[@adammitchell3462]

Awsome video man!

[@BeardedBored]

Thanks Brother!

[@HeartPumper]

Did cacao nibs, coffee/espresso, rum liquor - it was great!!! Now I need only to add some banana to this mix 😂. Thanks Bored!! Always good to see you & your "hypothetical" endeavours 😆.

[@mauistevebear]

Great Job!!!

[@BeardedBored]

Thanks!

[@grahambeaton4803]

Hi Bearded, just made a batch of Beaver's Mielies Pap Moonshine. Awesome aromas, so I'm going to use your Cacau Liquor recipe for a 2L batch. Sooooo looking forward to it. Thanks for your amazing informative videos!

[@mikedany4030]

Ever since I heard of inverted sugar by you my bearded brother I've been doing it ever since and what a delicious difference I don't care if it's bananas or sour man what a difference thank you

[@thethirstybookworm]

Good on you for the banana warning. Bananas have produced the craziest fermentation I've ever concocted. As always thanks for the stellar content

[@BeardedBored]

Yeah, BeaverDIY gave me the warning on that and I figured I should pass that on:-)

[@jamesramey3549]

Sounds tasty, going to give it a try

[@BeardedBored]

Definitely worth a try and has the bonus of making the garage smell amazing while it's fermenting:-)

[@jamesramey3549]

@@BeardedBored never thought of fermenting with the peeling. Do you think it changed the taste?

[@BeardedBored]

Yeah, I think it amps it up during fermentation. But when I do it again, I think I'd leave them out of the thumper. Not sure I got anything from having them in there.

[@KenSellsCarolina]

Olive Nation is my favorite supplier for TTB extracts and flavors.

[@lilymcalister1825]

Ditto

[@gerryquint]

Looks so good, My batch is fermenting.. (takes awhile) and look forward to flavoring some like you suggested. I'm curious why the peels only and not the banana when making the syrup. Great stuff. !

[@thealmighty19791]

Love the video. Greetings from Belfast Ireland

[@BeardedBored]

Thanks brother!

[@westofthesoutheast1712]

So cool that this video should come out now. Several weeks ago, on a long drive, my mind was wandering and I started thinking about using bananas to achieve starch conversion because of their obvious ability to take a green starchy banana to a sticky sweet pudding. Actually, I was thinking more along the lines of using bananas in a grain conversion, but this makes me want to (theoretically) try it even more.

[@BeardedBored]

Try it! Hypothetically...and let me know how it works;-)

[@tomguitaronline]

Never has distilling been more exciting. i started about 20 years ago, had been fermenting things at home before that was even law abiding lol and the reason i am jumping back into the sport and science is because of all the wonderful info that is out there. One thing i like about your site is you get into the flavoring afterwards which i like alot. I have ten gallons of wash fermenting violently lol, in a 13 gallon fermenter so enough head space and have been knocking the pancake down every other day. I just got some cacao nibs from olive nation and will have them ready once i'm done distilling. Although im going to separate my run, i'm not sure if i'm going to double distill yet since im using a reflux for this. ill report back in a week or so.

[@ImGloomie]

howd it go?

[@NickDrinksWater]

That brandy is totally bananas!

[@the_whiskeyshaman]

I love using cocoa nibs. I make a essence with it and use it a bitters but will be trying this one for sure.

[@BeardedBored]

Cocoa bitters sounds great!

[@PsycoVictor67]

Love your content, gave me a few laughs too. Keep up the great work buddy 👍

[@BeardedBored]

Thanks brother!

[@pacman10182]

got a small batch of banana wine going now 1.5 Lbs fully black banana's, peeled and frozen 1 Lbs brown sugar 1 Tsp lemon powder yeast nutrient and pectic enzyme (didn't measure, big pinch of each) 1 shelled beano (just in case there's still starch in the banana) heated in a pot with enough water to bring to 1/2 gallon, cooled, pitch yeast and airlock

[@PacesIII]

With a thicker mash, I'll loosen the media a bit and spin the hydrometer. This lets it keep moving until it finds a better equilibrium. You'll still have to go a few rounds and guess a bit but your range will be tighter. You can usually strain your test as well. If you have sanitized you can just dump it all right back in.

[@zuntabawe]

Super nice. I did a banana brandy recently, mixing banana spirit and macerated dried bananas. Divine! Cacao nibs is an excellent add. I'll through in a bit of vanilla extract next time. Cheers!

[@BeardedBored]

Dried banana sounds killer:-)

[@brucekrisko4364]

Great job Bearded! Looks too easy not to try this recipe. Going to the market now.

[@BeardedBored]

Good luck on your batch!

[@stefanleijon9637]

Nice one :) I have been thinking of this a lot as well, if you can use the peels in the wash to benefit from the natural enzymes. So thanks for answering that for me :D

[@BeardedBored]

Happy to help:-)

[@justinb2374]

That looks delicious. I saw one where they baked the bananas. Think I'm gonna try a bananas foster version.

[@BeardedBored]

Do it:-)

[@user-nk6tw1sp5m]

You got my like for that apeeling joke😂.. love it!

[@michaelbackhaus7879]

Many thanks for the helpful hints. This will help me in my brews. Think about using dark brown sugar instead of white sugar.

[@BeardedBored]

Do it! The brown sugar version is closer to rum and is delicious:-)

[@andrewbaker1449]

I hadn’t even considered the amylase in banana peels, but I’ll definitely be running some experiments now! Maybe a banana-“malted” grain for a beer, or for speeding up black fermented fruits and nuts! Another creator I follow first showed me the syrup that you made here; it’s originally a Korean technique, and the product is called cheong if you want to do some more digging. Great video!

[@ARCSTREAMS]

i would also put the bananas in the oven at lowest setting say 170deg f preferably 140 if possible to further convert starch to sugar or i would also warm the mash up to 140 and hold for 1 hr to convert a substance in the banana called inulin into fructose , but aside from using the peels for the enzymes i read they do not have any aroma or possibly flavor to add

[@danthemann]

Great video, you tied together the others really well and came up with something straight forward. I'm curious about how many pints of brandy did the fairy produce for you from those 7lbs of bananas?

[@BeardedBored]

15 pounds of bananas, 7 pounds of sugar. Got about 4 pints at 74%....hypothetically.

[@garrymcgaw4745]

Yum yum... 🦘.

[@sitealive]

When I do any baking with bananas I freeze them first. I will thaw them, trim the ends then squeeze the peels to get all the flavor from them. Maybe it could work for you in creating spirits.

[@BeardedBored]

Great idea!

[@scottclay4253]

From the mind of Bearded!!! I like the idea of using the peels. Was there an upside to not using riper banana? I knew about the amylase but didn’t realize banana peels had a “good” banana flavor. Great stuff Bearded, as always! Glad Mrs. Bearded approved of your newest creation. Thanks, Brother!

[@BeardedBored]

I could not find ripe bananas, but if you have time to let them ripen, it should be even better. This video was Mrs. Bored's idea;-)

[@Windsong_STC]

Oh this is perfect. We have some brand new copper to season up and I've spent the last couple of days trying to decide what her first run is going to be. Thanks for the inspiration. ❤️

[@BeardedBored]

Good luck with your new copper rig:-)

[@Hippyslacker]

I'm looking forward to see what youns guys are up to. And your right copper stills are like cast iron cookware the more you use them the better they get. I started building a 12 gallon copper pot few months ago. It sits on the shed waiting to be finished

[@Windsong_STC]

@@BeardedBored Ty ❤️

[@Windsong_STC]

@@Hippyslacker Looking forward to seeing it!!

[@jacobharnoy6396]

Great Idea with the peels. I did a banana/blackstrap forbidden lovechild to get a kind of a rum and it was great ( aged with pecan chips). Next time I'll add pectinase to reduce the head and foam ( waiting in my fridge)

[@TheAnyon77]

This sounds amazing. I'd like to hear how it turned out, both before and after the aging.

[@JKPlantation]

If you throw the cocoa nibs on a cookie sheet & toast in the oven before use you get more even better chocolate flavor.

[@BeardedBored]

Another commenter mention toasting them and I've been kicking myself for not even thinking of it, LoL:-)

[@Hippyslacker]

I used 90f degree ish water to make peach mash. 5lb peaches smashed up with a 2x3 in bout gallon of water. Topped to 5 gallon, added 5lb sugar, handful of wheat malt for nutrients and flavor, let it kick off fermentation on its own. I may try it the same way with bananas

[@BeardedBored]

Sounds interesting!

[@kingdarkem]

Hmmm I got an idea id like ya to try. If you got the peels left. Chop them up. Mix them by weight with an equal weight of palm sugar or pure cane sugar. Let that sit until it is fully mascerated and use the strained concoction like molasses in a rum.

[@BeardedBored]

Sounds tasty:-)

[@kingdarkem]

@@BeardedBored that's my line of thinking....a nice banana rum to go into a pina colada

[@ericboniewski2051]

I cook my bananas and use brown sugar with 71b.

[@wilsongangmei]

Great job. Can you kindly let me know whether I can use the Banana Brandy for making port wine?

[@Grandpa_RLP]

Cool idea. I have had better luck with the nibs in wine making by lightly roasting them first. Really kicks up the aroma and flavor.

[@BeardedBored]

Wow, thanks for the tip! Didn't even think of that!!! Really wish I had now. Next time I'm toasting my nibs:-)

[@vercogaming3997]

I drank my weight in dirty bananas the last time I was in Jamaica. Absolutely delicious.

[@danielanthony1054]

i wonder if you could oleo saccharum the peels with sugar to extract even more flavor.

[@Greedman456]

The intro got me laughing out loud hahaha. Nice video😀

[@BeardedBored]

Found out banana peels really are slippery. Almost busted my ass for a joke, LoL:-)

[@jameshaulenbeek5931]

The Dirty Banana... 😎🤣

[@BeardedBored]

😉🍌

[@isaacesposito3511]

Great to see more content! Rather than bruising, wouldn't it be easier to freeze your bananas for a week or purchase ripe fruit? What difference would it make? Cheers

[@BeardedBored]

Oh sure, but I was crunched for time;-)

[@johnk7093]

16:38, you took a sip didn't you.................... great content as always, Cheers from Montana

[@BeardedBored]

Of course I did:-)

[@Backdaft94]

Awesome take on banana brandy. Did the nibs give you a dark chocolate or milk chocolate flavor? I've put them in strawberry wine and gotten dark chocolate, but added them to strawberry-blueberry wine and got milk chocolate

[@BeardedBored]

Definitely dark chocolate for me. Really interesting that you got milk chocolate in your blueberry wine mix. Cool!

[@LearnAlltheThingz]

You sounded like Norm MacDonald when you said, 'giant bucket'. Rock on 😎 Good to see you back.

[@BeardedBored]

Hahaha, thanks!

[@zior8001]

I usually let the bananas age a bit to the point it begins to soften a bit and become slightly spotty. Then slice them in pieces with the peel still attached, while tossing those pieces in a Ziploc bag to freeze for a day or 2. When ready to use in your wash use pectic enzymes. It's worth doing...

[@CoreyLarobina-ji3fc]

Can anyone explain what the need for the steel wool in the thumper was for

[@RiggerBrew]

The pectic enzyme will quell the cap with any fruit mashes

[@BeardedBored]

Thanks for the tip!

[@abrad3061]

Can you use the enzymes cold

[@DansBuddhaBodega]

Waragi is very underestimated. Add Madagascar vanilla, Louisiana molasses, sugar cane, brown sugar, and caramelized pecans or almonds. Bananas foster brandy will change your life.

[@joemerrifield8633]

Love Your Video's. I was wondering if the amylase from the banana peals would convert other types of carbs, such as corn or oats? Anybody know?

[@ryanduckering]

That slip lol

[@BeardedBored]

:-)

[@kiwiprouddavids724]

Do you think I could use the enzyme in banana peels to convert starch in corn to sugar ? got some bananas growing in garden wondering if I could freeze and save up the peels when the kids finished with them and use them

[@BeardedBored]

I have no idea what the ratio of peels to weight of corn would need to be to convert all the starches., but now I'm curious. Let me know if you find out.

[@harmfpv]

I'd like to try this. So for a beginner, basicaly for a brandy you dont have 2 destilation runs? But one slow run with as many jars as possible to collect as much flavor as possible

[@brandonn102]

Hey man do you think oak would be a decent addition to a banan brandy with cinnamon? Like an oaked banana bread?

[@TheKruse601]

Great video once again! Question. Do you need to cut up the peels? I thought you'd just put them in whole and just smash them haha

[@BeardedBored]

Cut them to release the enzymes faster;-)

[@sheldoniusRex]

A suggestion; a tiny amount of citrus zest to throw some brightness into the background. Often with heavy flavors like chocolate and banana, the dessert doesn't quite hit right, but if you add a tiny amount of citrus, it brings the other flavors out and makes them taste more real.

[@Bill97128]

Papaya foams quite a bit as well!

[@robertedge7310]

Great video! I have a similar 12 gallon bucket, but having trouble sealing it to use the air lock? Any advice? Thank you.

[@BeardedBored]

Mine is a vented bucket. No way to get a true seal. No idea if there is a gasket for this size.

[@robertedge7310]

Thanks. I’ve been looking but no luck.

[@MultiTut69]

Definitely something I’ll try. Great job! I did check definition of “dirty banana” in urban dictionary. I’m thinking that was not really what you meant. 😂😂😂

[@BeardedBored]

Dude, my wife read your comment and called me at work, hahaha! We had no idea😅

[@stinkincooldesigns8469]

What proofing calculator do you use?

[@BeardedBored]

chasethecraft.com/mash-fermentation

[@paulkelley7445]

You can time up in a Plaskett bag

[@heymulen1840]

Hey , good to see you fit and back on screen 👌I was wondering 🤔🤔: Are the sugar in the banana syrup capable of bottle carbonating. ? Thinking If I could use the syrup for carbonating some pear cider, so it gets a hint of banana taste 🍐🍐🍌

[@BeardedBored]

Oh definitely. I did some fermentability test to see if there was anything in the peels that would inhibit fermentation. Diluted banana syrup fermented perfectly with my yeast. Let me know how it turns out. Cool idea!

[@Edgunsuk]

Hi buddy , what still did the fairy,s use ? had a m8 that bought me the copper dome for my t500 so have the dome and the column now so many options ......PS the room you need in the ferment is no joke i still have bananas on my bedroom celling lol i am guessing the dome is better for a brandy ?

[@BeardedBored]

Pot still. Yep, definitely use the dome. Also, no idea what kind of paint you need to cover up banana on the ceiling;-)

[@TheNumbers400]

LOL I just did my first banana mash yesterday :) Look forward what the fairy brings me :D

[@BeardedBored]

Good luck on it:-)

[@tobeyplaunty1321]

So how did it go?

[@TheNumbers400]

Better then expected actually. I cut it to be very smooth and the brown sugar gave it a very soft rumminess.

[@tobeyplaunty1321]

@Agnar Áskelsson did you fallow this recipe or a different one? Jesse, at still it also did one in pretty sure he mentions it in this video that uses cooked banana and brown sugar I might like to try.

[@TheNumbers400]

@@tobeyplaunty1321 1.2kg peeled banana, 1.2kg Demerara baked together until brown and sticky. Made 10 liters @ 1.057 OG. 11.5 gr. each of BRY-97 and S-04 yeast. Yeast nutrient at 1.020 but ended up dry. My fairy made lots of cuts and picked what she liked, sent my 750 ml of hearts diluted to 40%

[@ghoppr71]

Dad jokes... Gotta love em.

[@BeardedBored]

😉

[@justincredible4314]

Weird question...when you made the banana syrup you used the the peels and sugar ...in the mashing process...could you hypothetically bruise the bananas and add the inverted sugar you made to the peels before pitching to get the same amylase action...or would the peels retain the amylase... wondering if it would increase the banana flavour level more as well

[@theweekendwarrior6355]

you got a link to that 12 gallon bucket?

[@BeardedBored]

I got mine from work, but here's a link amzn.to/3TslHsg

[@JohnFerrerAkaEric]

Do you think brown sugar would work well for making the syrup in place of table sugar? I would have to imagine it would add more depth and bananas foster style flavor to it.

[@copewy22]

I was thinking about this as well it might give some rum notes that could be amazing.

[@BeardedBored]

Yeah, definitely. I wanted to try it without heading down the rum direction this time to get the straight fruit flavor, but I'm definitely open to tinkering with other sugars next time.

[@nunyabidniz2868]

Just a PSA, FYI or what have you: the chemical component that gives bananas [& other fruit] their distinctive aroma is amyl acetate. This is also the alarm pheromone for bees, so if you drink a lot of banana brandy, don't be surprised when every bee you encounter is pissed at you: it will be entirely your fault for exuding "sting me!" from your skin...

[@BeardedBored]

Thanks for the warning!

[@mikeschickensandgarden3370]

No cooking of the bananas? What was the temp of the water you added?

[@Miata822]

Maybe use a little pectic enzyme to help with clarity?

[@Cluster-Duck]

Have your ever thought of making a liquor “hypothetically” from root vegetables like Carrots or Purple Yams?

[@BeardedBored]

I did shochu with purple yams, but carrots...hmmm:-)

[@timquesnel5232]

What do you think of freezing the bananas first?

[@BeardedBored]

Can't hurt;-)

[@mohammedabushoog4898]

I have not done stripping run or spirit runs in my life and I don’t know anything about distilling. Could you tell me how to know the head, heart, and tail.. and how to rid of the methanol and how can I blend them. In which temperature should I don’t exceed and in which temperature does the ethanol gets out. I will do my cute in the “spirit run” stage

[@TheAnyon77]

organic makes way more sense. Maybe an urban myth but they put some serious pesticides on the bananas to kill dangerous spiders that could possibly be imported. That aside, yes the peels :)

[@BeardedBored]

Yeah, I've seen picture of crazy spiders nestled in banana bunches. It was on the internet, so it's not a myth;-)

[@doveseye.4666]

I challenge you to make Pelinkovac, I just failed so lets see what you think, mine is so bitter you can’t open your mouth, eyes or nose when you taste it.

[@dannylee9138]

Add banana peels to other fruit and it will help break down the fruit in the mash naturally

[@tomguitaronline]

I realize you mentioned adding some of the heads for flavour and of course it does seem to get better once it ages a bit and plus you are flavouring it with the nibs and things afterwards. Do you use the rest of the head that you didn't add into the next run? Just wondering what to do with them. thanks, tom

[@BeardedBored]

Adding heads (from a fruit wash especially) to the next run makes the heads cut huge, so I only save tails for that. Heads go into the sanitizer/fire starter bucket:-)

[@tomguitaronline]

@@BeardedBored thanks!