Why are Ripe Bananas Best for Making Banana Beer?
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Ingredients
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Banana beer is an alcoholic beverage that is popular throughout Africa. Known as "urwaga" in Kenya and "lubisi" in Uganda, banana beer is made by fermenting mashed bananas with a cereal--either sorghum or millet--flour. It has a sweet finish and is a rich, orange-yellow color. Containing approximately 4.8 percent alcohol per volume, it has a short shelf life of several days under proper storage conditions. Ingredients include ripe bananas, boiled water and roasted ground cereal.
Preparing the Bananas
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Choosing ripe bananas is best for making banana beer because of the high sugar content they contain. The high sugar content of ripe bananas is necessary for the fermentation process. Unripened bananas contain insufficient sugars for fermentation. The ripening process can be sped up by warming the fruit. Overripe bananas are not recommended, as they may spoil the flavor or the beer. It also causes contamination due to the micro-organisms that cause overripe bananas to brown. The bananas should then be peeled. If the peels cannot be easily removed by hand, the bananas are not ripe enough and should be left for longer.
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Brewing the Beer
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Once the ripe bananas have been peeled, knead and churn them with clean utensils in order to extract the juice. The bananas' pulpy residue should be left behind and separated from the juice. Pour the juice into a large, clean container or bucket. Add clean water (water that has been previously boiled and cooled) to the banana juice, 1 part water per 3 parts banana juice. The banana juice must be diluted the that the concentration of solids is low enough for the yeast to ferment.
Grind sorghum or millet over a heated stove and then add it to the diluted banana juice, one part cereal to 12 parts juice. This begins the fermentation process and improves the color and taste of the beer. Cover the bucket with a clean lid and leave it in a warm location for 18 to 24 hours.
Once the fermentation process is complete, filter the banana beer through a sterilized filter bag or cotton cloth into clean glass or plastic containers such a a 1-liter plastic bottle or 12-oz glass beer bottles with proper cork or metal lids. The containers should be kept in a cool, dry place for no longer than four days before consumption.
Cleanliness
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It is important that all equipment is sterilized beforehand and that it is food-grade quality. The best way to ensure sterilization is to boil all items. The banana beer itself should not be heated or boiled during the process, as it will destroy the necessary sugars and yeasts instrumental in brewing.
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