Bananas Foster Mead

[ZachR]

Sorry for the new thread, but I didn't want to hijack the old one with a new/different idea. Oskaar's recipe sounded really good, and this is kind of an off-shoot idea of that.

Bananas Foster Mead (1 gal)

3 lbs of bananas (sliced thin, cooked, carmelized, and strained from a crock pot in grain bag)
2 lbs dark honey
.5 lb brown sugar,
.25 lb molasses
1 pt maple syrup
1 stick cinnamon (?)

This sounds like it would be awesome, anyone wanna provide some input on tweaking the amounts for a possible 1 gallon experimental recipe? I haven't used brown sugar or molasses in brewing, so I am not sure how they would taste after the fermentation.

 

[wayneb]

A quarter pound of molasses is what, half a cup? That seems like a pretty hefty amount of molasses relative to the other fermentables in here.

 

[ZachR]

I have no idea, I just kind of threw that amount out there as a starting point. I guess molasses is pretty potent stuff, especially in a 1 gallon batch. What do you think, cut it down to 2 or 3 tablespoons to get some of the flavor w/o overpowering the banana? There should be plenty of fermentables from the other sources, the molasses would be (or should be) more of a background flavor component.

 

[wayneb]

I think that a couple of tablespoons per gallon would give enough molasses "bite" to complement, but not overpower, the other flavors.

 

[akueck]

Yeah, a few tablespoons should do it. Also if you're going to use molasses, there is little point in adding brown sugar--white sugar plus molasses. If you want some of that raw cane sugar flavor I'd suggest something like Turbinado or Sucanat (or lots of other kinds of raw sugar).

I've seen a recipe that flames raisins with a torch (Lost Abbey), and there is also that hot-rock style of brewing to bring in that carmelized flavor, so the cooked bananas should work in that respect. Torching the bananas with sugar on top (creme brulee style) would be fun too.

You know it's funny you mention bananas foster, I almost suggested that yesterday. Another fun thing you could do would be to include mead in the sauce (I guess it is "Foster sauce"?), which would be a lot quicker than making banana mead but equally yummy.