Banana wine facts for kids

Banana wine is a special kind of fruit wine that is made only from bananas. It's different from banana beer, which has been made for a very long time and is important in the culture of East Africa.

How Banana Wine is Made

In countries like Tanzania, banana wine is made by companies. They use ripe bananas and follow a few steps:

1. First, ripe bananas are peeled. Then, they are put into large plastic barrels filled with water.
2. The bananas are then mashed up. This banana mash is moved into big metal pots and boiled for several hours. This creates a base of juice and pulp.
3. Next, the boiled banana mash is strained to separate the juice. Sugar is added to this juice, and it's boiled again.
4. The boiled juice is then left to cool down.
5. Once cool, special wine yeast is added to the sweetened banana juice. This mixture is put into plastic tanks to ferment. This process takes about 15 to 20 days.
6. Finally, the fermented liquid is mixed with clean, sterilized water. It's then put into bottles and sent out to stores.

What Kind of Bananas Are Used?

For making banana wine commercially (by companies), a type of banana called ‘Cavendish’ is often used. However, people who make it at home or on a smaller scale might use many different kinds of bananas. These can include cooking bananas, beer bananas (like East African Highland bananas), ‘Pisang Awak’, ‘Gros Michel’, and apple bananas.

What is Banana Wine Like?

Commercial banana wine is usually clear and has a few bubbles. It is an alcoholic drink that can be stored for a longer time compared to banana beer. Banana beer spoils quickly, so it's not kept for long. The taste and how much alcohol is in the banana wine can change. This depends on the type of yeast used and how much sugar is added during the making process.

Where is Banana Wine Made?

Most banana wine is made on a small scale. However, some companies, like Banana Investment Ltd. in Arusha, Tanzania, are trying to make it on a larger, more industrial scale.

Since the early 2000s, people have tried to make banana wine in other countries where bananas grow a lot. For example, the government in the Philippines has worked to grow their local banana wine industry. In India, people have also made award-winning banana wines and are doing research to make even more.

Images for kids

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  A banana plant, where the fruit for banana wine comes from.